A fine dining restaurant company collapsed owing hundreds of thousands of pounds. ALM Bars Ltd, which traded under the name Courts, is being liquidated less than two years after the bar and grill launched in a Grade II-listed building on the outskirts of Cardiff.
ALM Bars ceased trading on May 12 and went into creditors' voluntary liquidation on June 20 after falling into debt of £629,375, including some £282,727 owed to the taxman. A new tenant has taken on the premises — a 15th-century site off the Cogan Spur junction in Penarth — and is operating a restaurant under the Courts name, but the company is separate and not liable for ALM's debts.
The liquidator of ALM is a firm called Doyle Davies, which told us there have been no job losses. Doyle Davies director Dean Collins said: "We understand that a new tenant may be in occupation of the restaurant and has agreed to take on employees of ALM Bars Limited. The winding up of the company is at a very early stage so dividend prospects are currently uncertain for creditors."
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ALM's high-end Courts restaurant was based at Baron's Court in Penarth Road, a late-medieval hall house which during the 2010s was home to a Toby Carvery. According to Companies House documents, ALM collapsed last month owing £282,727 to HMRC, £43,520 to British Gas, £3,128 to Welsh Water and £300,000 to ALM's sole director, the 35-year-old businessman Alex Mules. The records state £0 in assets is available to creditors.
Courts opened in October 2022 to much fanfare, billing itself as "the ultimate venue where history meets modern luxury", with "vibrant Tudor tiles, a majestic fireplace, and an awe-inspiring ambience that captivates the senses". Shortly after its launch, our reviewer praised the "incredible" renovation, writing: "You would never be able to tell it was ever a Toby Carvery. The building now oozes luxury, from the bejewelled tree wrapped in fairy lights outside so you can't miss the restaurant even on dark and rainy winter nights, to the impressive entrance with a huge chandelier... It was a very enjoyable and delicious meal in lovely surroundings."
Some recent reviews have been less glowing. In a one-star TripAdvisor write-up from last month, one customer slammed the "simply awful" fish and chips, complaining: "The fish was 90% batter with difficulty to find the fish." This month a customer claimed they had been served "inedible" calamari, adding: "Wrong drinks order came which they tried to charge to our bill... Everything took ages and we were still there three hours later. Bill had to go back three times due to mistakes... I felt sorry for the staff who were clearly under pressure and can only hope they are not normally that understaffed. People were just leaving due to not getting served."
Neither the new tenant nor Mr Mules wished to comment on the negative reviews. Courts has an average TripAdvisor score of 4.0 stars after 104 ratings. According to its online menu an 8oz fillet steak is priced at £32.95 and a two-course Sunday lunch at £26.95.
Mr Mules made headlines in 2020 when his Cardiff-based company AM Interiors By Design Ltd remodelled the home of Love Island reality star couple Olivia and Alex Bowen into a "winter wonderland" with big Christmas trees and life-sized Nutcracker soldiers. The interiors firm's accounts have been overdue since October 2022 and there is an active proposal to strike it from the Companies House register. Mr Mules is also a director in real estate businesses Bucci Properties Ltd and Reflection Living Ltd. He declined to answer our questions about ALM's debt.
The Baron's Court building, formerly known as Cogan Pill, was in the Herbert family — who also owned St Fagans Castle — in the 1500s before becoming a farmhouse. The site was restored in the middle of the 19th century when it was the home of HS Corbett, a relative of the Marquess of Bute.
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2024-07-26T10:39:46Z dg43tfdfdgfd