THE company behind a popular York restaurant offering authentic Portuguese food has entered a creditor’s voluntary liquidation, with debts approaching £500,000.
However, its owner says he has had to restructure the business to ensure it continues, also saving the jobs of 40 staff employed across several companies.
Frango Eduardo Limited opened the Frango Eduardo restaurant in Stonebow in 2022 after trading successfully for a year in Spark:York.
The licensed restaurant business was founded in 2021 by York couple Ted Hustler and Emma Hargreaves with Emma's dad, businessman Steve Hargreaves, the third partner in the venture.
In addition, the business also had Tasca Frango in Colliergate, which now trades as Tasca York, and replaced the Stonebow restaurant when it opened in 2023.
In autumn 2024, the couple opened CAVO, a brunch café and wine and pizza bar within York’s iconic Cocoa Works development.
And in March this year, Tasca Easingwold opened in The Old Police House in Market Place, Easingwold.
Records on the Companies House website show Emma and Steve resigning as directors on June 18, leaving Ted as the only director.
The Frango Eduardo team in Stonebow in 2022
(Image: NQ)
Ted Hustler is also listed as the sole director of Café Frango (Haxby Road Ltd) and also the sole director of Tasca Easingwold Ltd, which until last December traded as Frango Food Market Limited.
A report known as a Statement of Affairs says Frango Eduardo Ltd had secondary preferential creditors, who are paid first, owed £126,997- namely HMRC owed £53,676 in VAT and £73,324 in PAYE.
In addition, there were two trade/expense creditors owed £114,312; a bank owed £18,009. There was also corporation tax owed of £24,287, plus a connected party claim of £197,560. This gave a total of £354,168 owed to unsecured creditors.
Altogether, this gave a deficit of £481,165. But with £99 of shares and capital, this left an overall outstanding debt or deficit of £481,264, the Statement of Affairs added.
The liquidator- Leeds-based Aurora Equity and Development Limited - was appointed on July 31.
Frango's Food Market
(Image: NQ)
Ted told the Press: “Frango Eduardo Ltd has entered voluntary liquidation. I’m sure everybody is well aware of the pressures facing the hospitality industry at the moment, and recently we have had to restructure the business to ensure we can continue to employ over 40 members of staff across our various companies.
“We have great relationships with our local suppliers and have worked hard to ensure those relationships continue.”
He continued: “Since starting out at Spark five years ago, we’re incredibly proud of how the business has grown. We now have TASCA York, TASCA Easingwold and CAVO, where we’ve recently introduced Hustler’s Pizzas as we continue to adapt and diversify in response to the challenges facing the industry.
“As a family-run business, our focus now is very much on the future, supporting our fantastic team and continuing to deliver great food across our venues for the York community.”