O. W. Loeb Wine Merchants

Mayfair Restaurateur’s Company ‘Imperils’ London Wine Merchant | Eater London

"Purchased in 2014 by Marlon Abela, the restaurateur behind The Greenhouse, Morton's, Umu and The Square, this longstanding fine-wine importer and distributor has been engulfed in turmoil: initial optimism after the sale gave way to a wave of resignations (including several directors) by late 2017 amid what the Financial Times describes as a pattern of late payments, tax difficulties and legal disputes. Wine growers and winemakers have been particularly hard hit—some reportedly owed tens of thousands of pounds, pursuing unpaid allocations, threatening litigation, and worrying about affording upcoming harvests—while individual en primeur buyers remain uncertain whether the wines they paid for will ever arrive. The owner has acknowledged the business “has not turned out to be as profitable as was anticipated,” and filings show his wider restaurant group owed the wine businesses significant sums and posted large losses, with the owner propping up operations with loans; he resigned as a director on 10 January. Company statements emphasize recent multimillion-pound investments, a new management team and a commitment to honour obligations, but closures and setbacks elsewhere in the owner’s empire have intensified doubts about the prospect of a swift recovery." - Andrew Leitch