Justice Hildyard allowed Iguanas Holdings Limited to call creditor meetings for its las iguanas restaurant restructuring after the company told the High Court on May 6 that it had fallen into financial difficulties. The plan is aimed at avoiding administration for 47 Las Iguanas restaurants across the United Kingdom.
May 28 is now the key vote date, when creditors are scheduled to decide whether the plan can move forward. If they back it, the scheme returns to court for final sanction on 5 June.
£37 million and £3 million
£37 million owed to a single creditor sits at the center of the process, alongside £3 million in new funds pledged by Big Table Group. Big Table has also been funding the chain's operating losses, but it does not intend to keep doing so, which leaves the restructuring plan as the route the company is pursuing instead of a simple cash bridge.
The plan also calls for rent reductions and compromises on landlord debts. That gives landlords a direct stake in the vote, because the terms being proposed would cut the pressure that has built across the estate and shift more of the burden onto creditors.
Restaurant costs after the pandemic
Chad Moutray put the broader cost squeeze in plain numbers: "Well, we've seen overall labor and food costs go up 35% since the pandemic". He added, "But it's not just those costs. We've seen insurance and taxes and everything else go up, utility costs, et cetera."
Anne McBride described the demand side problem just as bluntly: "Chefs and operators feel that they can no longer pass on any additional increasing costs to their customers. We really hit a spot where consumers, diners, cannot pay any more at restaurants than they already are,". For Las Iguanas, that leaves a court process to decide whether the chain can reset its debt load and keep trading or move into administration.
