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Brewery in administration


30/ 8/2008

A NORTH west brewery run by two Asian brothers has been put into administration.

The Dusanji brothers - Sudarghara and Ajmal - blamed the smoking ban for the failure of their Liverpool-based Cains’ Brewery which has an estate of 100 pubs, including several in Greater Manchester.

They took over the Robert Cain & Co brewery in July, 2002, promising to return it to its former glory after years of under-investment.

But Sudarghara, the chief executive, said that since last year pub sales had dropped by between 15 and 20 per cent because of the smoking ban, and added that the credit crunch had also helped to “cripple the business”.

Cains has 26 freehold and 76 leasehold pubs, most of which are managed houses.Last Orders and Cuba Cuba on Yorkshire Street, in Oldham Centre, and Last Order, on Huddersfield Road.

Cains is £35m in debt and HM Revenue and Customs placed a winding up order on the company earlier in the month, leading to it being placed in administration.

This placed a question mark over the future of the pubs and last week the administrators started shutting the pubs that are making losses. However, It has now been reported that there have been more than 50 bids for the brewer with Marston’s being tipped as one the leading contenders.

Kevin Guest, landlord at Last Orders, said: “It’s not really affecting us and business here is very good. It’s just a case of the administrators doing their work – and it would appear there is a good chance a buyer will be found.”

Cains is in the hands of administrator Pricewater-houseCoopers (PwC) after running into cash-flow problems following last year’s smoking ban and steep rises in the cost of commodities like malt, hops and barley.

David Chubb, PwC partner and joint administrator, said his team was working with staff at the brewery, the landlords at Cains’ pubs, suppliers and customers.

He said: “We have been very pleased with the support we have received.”


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Most recent 1 of 1 user comments

   Why are they not getting compensation? Enough people who flout the system get it. People who are forced out of business, through ill thought, vindictive bans, should get reimbursed, for their losses. What a scandal! This ban was based on lies and propaganda, the unfortunate ones are caught in the middle of this smoking ban experiment. They are in a no win situation, the smoke haters were going to fill the pubs, so where are they all. They are in the minority, which is why these bans were forced upon everyone. Ventilation/air filtration, should have been one of the ways forward. We are going back to the intolerant, eras, where human perfection was a must. freedom2choose.info for tolerant non-smokers and smokers alike, please join our forums, and consider becoming a member
mandy vincent
30/08/2008 at 21:49
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