BREAKING
Popular Brisbane burger chain Getta Burger has collapsed into liquidation, closing 14 stores and with debts in excess of $500,000, with cost of living and inflation behind the chain’s demise.
Liquidator Ian Currie, from BRI Ferrier, told news.com.au: “I’ve been appointed to seven companies in the group that had 11 trading stores as of yesterday morning. All have now been closed and the staff terminated.”
He added that four stores were also closed prior to the business being put into liquidation on November 23 and that 107 staff members have lost their jobs, who he said were mainly casuals.
The 14 Getta Burger stores that have closed, either due to the liquidation or prior to it are in the Brisbane suburbs of Ashgrove, Underwood, Capalaba, Clayfield, Cannon Hill, Victoria Point, West End, Bridgeman Downs and Carina, along with five stores in the outer Brisbane metropolitan area in North Lakes, Springfield Lakes, Holmview, Yamanto and Yatala.
Mr Currie said wages had been paid up until last Sunday, November 19, with staff only owed wages from the past few days, along with any annual leave and redundancy payments that may be owing.
He added that his investigations so far had revealed that superannuation had not been paid for the previous quarter, “but everything else is supposedly up-to-date”.
Mr Currie is still determining the financial position of the seven companies in the group, but said that payments to suppliers also seemed to be “relatively up-to-date”.
However, he told news.com.au that the chain owed around $500,000 in payroll tax to the Queensland Revenue Office and said: “I believe there are other tax debts”.
Mr Currie added that lease liabilities to the landlords who own the 14 locations the chain had traded from would be “one of the other large liabilities”.
He said that from his understanding of the situation, the chain had failed due to higher food costs and lower sales.
“Food costs have gone up considerably and people have stopped spending on takeaway food, especially where the stores are,” which he described as the mortgage belt populated by young families.
According to its website, Getta Burger was founded by Brent and Amy Poulter and had been trading since 2014.
The couple owns several hospitality business and began running a food truck as their first foray into the hospitality business before starting chain Getta Burger.
It’s understood two Getta Burger stores in Townsville are still trading and are unaffected by the liquidation.
Mr Poulter confirmed rising costs were behind the chains’ demise.
In a statement to news.com.au he said: “Like many small businesses across the state and the country, our stores have felt the full impact of the rising cost of living.”
“Although this decision was an extremely difficult one for me to make – personally and professionally – it came after a thorough evaluation of the business’s operational costs and our future viability.”
Mr Poulter said that the chain chose not to take any government assistance during Covid, despite having to move to a takeaway and delivery only business model, but he called on governments to do more to support struggling small businesses now.
He said: “Small businesses across the country are facing severe challenges of increased rents and outgoings, increased cost of goods and staffing challenges, but without any support”.
“An example of rising costs across our stores have faced across the past twelve months are power bills alone have gone up over 30 per cent across the business.”
“It may seem insignificant, but the cost of potato chips have increased by over 300 per cent as well as the cost of frying oil, packaging, utility and shipping.”