Chef Carlos Abellán has not managed to recover from the ravages caused by the pandemic. After closing the restaurants in the W hotel and the Camp Nou, Abellán has lost the Tapas 24 stores (the one on Diagonal Avenue) and l'Altre Taller, which will pass into the hands of the workers by judicial decision. The other two Tapas24 restaurants are not affected since they were not owned by the chef (who only exploits the brand).
Abellán has reached this situation when he was forced to request at the beginning of this year the pre-bankruptcy of creditors of the two companies that operated the restaurants. The total liabilities amounted to 3.7 million euros. “The objective was always to find a buyer for the production unit that would maintain continuity,” comments Lluís Bielsa, who together with Judit Fajula has served as an independent expert and bankruptcy administrator through the firm Ast Insolvency Law, appointed by the commercial court number 11 of Barcelona.
During these last few months, several people have been interested in acquiring the production unit. Among them, chef Nandu Jubany, a group of five historical workers and two more companies linked to restoration. "Finally, the judge opted for the workers' offer since it guaranteed the continuity of the 40 employees on staff, unlike Jubany's offer, which only kept half of them," says Bielsa, who adds that the rest offers lacked solidity.
The acquisition price is confidential. The five workers have taken over the employees, the facilities (especially the kitchens) and a warehouse located in El Born. The premises are rented to third-party owners.
Once the award is formalized and the companies are liquidated, the workers will assume (through two new companies) the management of the restaurants that at their peak had a turnover of 2 million each. In the last year, they were close – l’Altre Taller had a turnover of 1.9 million, and Tapas24 1.5 million – and generated a net profit of 60,000 euros, far from the 200,000 euros of losses in 2020.
Bielsa comments that this recovery was not enough to maintain the solvency of both businesses. They accumulated a debt of 3.7 million since they had guaranteed the activity of other restaurants (already closed) and had financed, through bank loans, renovation works. Of the total debt, there were 600,000 euros of ICO credits. Now, thanks to the court decision, workers have the opportunity to maintain businesses without carrying this heavy backpack.
