THE former owners of the award-winning Potted Hen restaurant in Belfast's Cathedral Quarter have each been disqualified from being directors for eight years following the collapse of the popular eaterie.
Dermot Regan (41) from Dungannon Road in Moy and his wife Catherine (43), whose address was given as Ross Mill Avenue in Belfast, accepted the banning orders in a case brought before the High Court by the Department for the Economy.
The case was in relation to their directorships at Oregano Belfast Limited, which operated as a licensed restaurant under the trade name of The Potted Hen.
The 72-seater French bistro-style restaurant opened in November 2010, the first eaterie in the £100 million St Anne's Square development, and was seen at the time as blazing a trail in Belfast's up and coming Cathedral Quarter.
In 2012 it was named the best restaurant in Northern Ireland at the National Restaurant Awards in London, and expanded in size that year to create a private dining area on the second floor.
But its difficulties began in April 2014 when Oregano Belfast Limited, under the directorship of the Regans, went liquidation owing £365,453.
Then in July 2015 the Regans were declared bankrupt following an insolvency order, though The Potted Hen continued to trade until October that year, when a letting agent was instructed to lock its doors and unsuspecting customers arrived but were turned away.
A number of areas of unfit conduct alleged against the Regans by the Department in respect of their conduct as directors were accepted by the court..
They were said to have diverted £64,000 of funds away from the company and its creditors, and instead used the money for the benefit of their partnership business.
The couple also held on to more than £330,000 due in various taxes including VAT (£232,092), national insurance (£92,848) and income tax (£7,254), owed over different trading years going back to 2012/13, during which time the company was making significant payments to its trade creditors.
A number of other failures were found, including failing to deliver up all company books and records to the joint liquidators, and failing to file accounts on time.
