Veeno Wine Bar Chain Falls Into Administration For Second Time

Italian wine bar group Veeno has entered administration for the second time in less than a decade, raising fresh concerns about the mounting pressures facing the UK’s casual dining and licensed on-trade sector.

David Kemp and Richard Hunt of Exigen Group Limited have been appointed joint administrators to Vintage Corporation Ltd, the legal operating entity behind the Veeno brand, with the appointment confirmed on 8 April.

Five UK venues — in Bristol, Durham, Edinburgh, Leeds and Leicester — now face an uncertain future, with all sites at risk of permanent closure should efforts to restructure the business or find a buyer prove unsuccessful.

The chain’s Chester location had already shut its doors earlier this year.

Commenting on the situation, co-founder Nino Caruso pointed to the well-documented difficulties confronting hospitality operators across the country. He cited escalating operating costs and a challenging property market as key factors behind the group’s financial difficulties, adding that the administration process was intended to allow the business to stabilise and build a more viable base going forward.

Veeno was established in Manchester in 2013 by Italian entrepreneurs Nino Caruso and Andrea Zecchino, built around the concept of bringing authentic Italian aperitivo culture to British consumers. The brand became known for its wines sourced from the founders’ own family vineyard in Sicily, offering customers a selection not available elsewhere on the UK high street.

At the height of its expansion, the group operated 12 company-owned wine bars alongside five franchised sites across major UK cities.

The administrators’ immediate task will be to assess options for the remaining sites, including a potential sale of the business as a going concern, restructuring of liabilities, or — if no viable solution emerges — an orderly wind-down. Staff employed across the five venues are understood to be among those most affected by the uncertainty.

Nick Stockley, partner at law firm Mayo Wynne Baxter said: “The suggestion from Veeno Bars’ owners is that the administration process is a positive way to help the business survive in the long term.

In reality, the administrators’ role will most likely be to obtain a better return to creditors than if Veeno Bars went into liquidation.

“The administrators will achieve this by trying to sell any of the business’ assets that have value, whether to a single buyer or to multiple buyers.

“The Veeno name may retain some value alongside its profitable locations.

“As the business has previously been into administration, this administration is more likely to amount to a fire sale of the Veeno Bars assets rather than a resurrection of the business.

“The profitable branches may well continue but they will have new owners.

“It is inevitable that the overall scale of the Veeno Bars operation will either significantly reduce or disappear completely. Jobs will be lost and creditors will go unpaid.

“This is another example of changing consumer tastes and behavioural patterns which has impacted restaurant businesses of all sizes.

“The way in which people dine out has changed dramatically and the marketplace is both ever changing and unpredictable.

“Veeno Bars appears to be another victim in that environment.”