Old Canberra Inn operators The Meem Collective appoint restructuring partner to settle debts

The Meem Collective Pty Limited appointed a restructuring practitioner on June 14 for the purpose of undertaking a small business restructure.

But it remains business as usual at the Lyneham pub, The Meem Collective Pty Limited co-director Ben Johnston said.

"The business is continuing to operate as normal as we recover from a couple of tough years of trade," he said.

The Meem Collective operates the business out of the Old Canberra Inn but does not own the venue.

He confirmed The Meem Collective was not in external administration, rather, had taken the opportunity to use a small business restructure to repay debts accrued during the pandemic.

The small business restructuring process was introduced by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission in 2021 as a means for businesses to deal with the economic impacts of COVID-19.

The process allows businesses to pay back their debts partially or in full and enables owners to stay in control of the business during the restructure.

"The company has taken this course of action to restructure its balance sheet as a result [of] debts accumulated during the COVID-19 period, during which we met our full rental obligations and supported staff and suppliers even when the business was closed and when patron numbers were limited," Mr Johnston said.

Canberra firm Worrells, the restructuring practitioner for the company, declined to comment on the matter.

Alongside the Old Canberra Inn, The Meem Collective also operates Dickson Taphouse.

The group previously owned Queenies bar in Kingston but sold it recently in an "unrelated business decision", Mr Johnston said.

The Meem Collective purchased the Steampacket Hotel on the NSW South Coast in February and is preparing to relaunch the venue in the coming weeks.

The latest business risk index by Creditor Watch found businesses in the food and beverage services sector had the highest probability of default over the next 12 months.

"While the construction sector continues to gain the most media attention due to insolvencies, the food and beverage sector has the worse insolvency rate in the country," the index stated.

"These businesses tend to be smaller so get less attention, but there are clearly challenging conditions as supply and labour costs are still high, and customers are tightening their belts."

James Hawketts, general manager of the Australian Hotels Association's ACT branch, said Canberra hospitality businesses were facing new challenges on the back of COVID-19.

"For pubs and clubs, just about all of their overheads have gone up," he said.

Costs of goods had increased and businesses were paying more to attract good staff, Mr Hawketts said.

He said while operating costs were increasing in "leaps and bounds", venues were reluctant to raise their prices for fear of losing customers.

Meanwhile, the territory budget, handed down in late June, had little direct support for small businesses.

"There are some positives in there, but in terms of the actual support for the current businesses that are already there, the smaller businesses, there wasn't as much support as we would have liked," Mr Hawketts said.

A fixture of local history, the Old Canberra Inn was constructed in 1857 and gained a liquor licence in the 1870s.

It became a watering hole and rest stop for people travelling from Queanbeyan to Yass. Later, it became a private home and was owned by the family of John Read until 1976 when it returned to a pub again.

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