source : the age
A string of hospitality venues in Melbourne are facing a nervous wait over their future after the dreams of a wannabe hospitality king blew up amid a major investigation by the corporate watchdog.
Popular Thornbury bar and bottle shop Carwyn Cellars was last week plunged into administration along with its owner, Fox Friday Brewers, which has taprooms in Richmond, Perth and Hobart.
The Carwyn Cellars and Fox Friday team. From left, Nicole Carwyn, Ben Carwyn, David Anderson of Falcon Capital, Ben Duval (of Carwyn Cellars), and Fox Friday founder Benn Hooper.
The venues are still open, but trading hours are under review and could be reduced to allow the business to trade through a sale process without being shut down entirely.
The venues’ troubles are tied to the collapse of Falcon Capital which had liquidators from FTI consulting appointed last week. Until earlier this month, Falcon Capital oversaw a group of investment funds that held the superannuation savings of more than 6000 Australians.
The corporate watchdog alleges its founder, David Anderson, improperly funnelled money from the fund into his own pet projects, including his aspiration to run a hospitality empire across the country and other property developments.
ASIC alleges a loan was made to Fox Friday despite investors explicitly being told their money would “not be invested in companies whose business activities involve … alcoholic beverages” and that instead their money was invested in assets – like shares, property and other investments – that could be easily and quickly sold if need be.
Another business caught up in the corporate watchdog’s investigation into Falcon and Anderson – who lives in a sumptuous $9 million home overlooking the Yarra River in Hawthorn – is led by top Melbourne chef Scott Pickett.
One of the businesses that benefited from Anderson’s investment activities was, allegedly, Rogue Traders – a company jointly owned by Pickett and Anderson.
Court documents filed by ASIC show Rogue Traders has racked up $23 million in debts, including a $12 million loan from a Falcon-related investment business, known as First Guardian funds, made in November 2020 and an earlier $11 million loan from the Commonwealth Bank.
The Rogue Traders business, which owns more than $10 million in real estate, remains ongoing and has not been placed in administration. Pickett did not respond to calls, texts or emails on Tuesday.
Chef Scott Pickett in Audrey’s restaurant at the Continental Hotel in Sorrento. Credit: Wayne Taylor
During 2020 and 2021, while most Melbourne restaurateurs faced uncertainty due to coronavirus restrictions, Pickett went on a buying spree.
In mid-2020 he scooped up the shuttered Longrain and its upstairs bar Longsong, as well as the site off Little Collins Street that he opened later that year as Chancery Lane, a plush bistro fitted out with green marble, chandeliers and stone archways.
In 2021, he opened several venues at The Continental Sorrento, including fine diner Audrey’s, and in February 2022, unveiled Smith St Bistrot featuring red leather booths, marble-topped tables and a mezzanine reached via wrought-iron spiral stairs.
Pickett has been trying to clear the $11 million Commonwealth Bank debt since late 2023 by selling a property – the $10 million Chancery Lane Bistro – with no luck so far.
According to ASIC, the First Guardian loan was supposed to be paid in June 2023, but that repayment was waived to allow Pickett to restructure the business to repay Commonwealth Bank. There is no reference in ASIC’s documents to plans to repay the loan from the First Guardian investors.
The Chancery Lane venue on Little Collins St as it was shot for the Good Food Guide in 2024.
It appears Pickett has structured his restaurant business – which includes Estelle in Northcote, Matilda 159 Domain in South Yarra and Pickett’s Deli at Melbourne Airport – so that the vast majority are insulated from the investments made by Anderson’s funds in Rogue Traders.
Anderson was also involved in the expansion of fast-growing craft beer brewer and taproom operator Fox Friday.
Fox Friday, which owns five venues, including Carwyn Cellars, voluntarily appointed administrators last week.
“Control of Fox Friday Group now rests with the administrators who intend to continue to trade on a business-as-usual basis whilst they pursue going-concern sale options or a recapitalisation through the voluntary administration process,” said administrators Keith Crawford and Robert Smith from McGrathNicol, who have already begun the process of advertising the business for sale.
Carwyn Cellars and its Tuck Shop are local favourites on Thornbury’s High Street.Credit: Penny Stephens
Carwyn’s collapse has sent shockwaves through the craft brewing industry where Carwyn’s founders, Ben and Sarah Carwyn, are well known. The pair sold their business, which they founded in 2007, to Fox Friday but the family remained involved in the business.
In an Instagram post last week, Fox Friday co-owners Benn and Sarah Hooper said they intended for the businesses to continue running, albeit on reduced hours and staff. They also apologised to suppliers for the situation they said was out of their hands.
“Unfortunately, we’ve faced significant financial challenges that have brought us to this point. Our financial lender [the Anderson-overseen fund] could not meet their obligations for our capital projects,” the Hoopers said in the social media post.
“While funding was confirmed, we experienced continual delays extending to March 2025, and now they have been placed into liquidation.”
The Hoopers added they had tried to find new lenders or equity partners.
According to court documents filed by ASIC, Anderson’s investment business had been seeking a new lender for Fox Friday and was to have the money repaid. Part of that process would include Fox Friday repaying between $8 million and $10 million of the $28 million loan and then finding a new lender.
Benn Hooper was contacted for comment, as was David Anderson. The Age is not suggesting any wrongdoing on the parts of Benn and Sarah Hooper, or Scott Pickett, simply that some of their business dealings have come to light as part of ASIC’s investigation into Falcon and Anderson.
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