By Ian Neubauer
A Sydney fringe pub owned by Stuart Laundy, the youngest son of pub magnate Arthur Laundy, has been placed in receivership.
A staff member at the Heritage Hotel in Wilberforce told TheShout today (May 18) the hotel will continue to trade in the short-term with a view to place it on the market.
The hotel’s primary lender BankWest has appointed Jack Bournelis of corporate insolvency firm PPB to recover $6 million in debt, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.
The newspaper also reported the hotel has an outstanding $1 million tax bill.
Across the state, countless publicans are suffering the same fate as banks begin to lose patience with an industry that has shed billions in value since the introduction of smoking bans since 2006 and the associated loss in gaming revenue.
But what makes this case stand out is that Arthur Laundy was unwilling or unable to bail his son out, with the development suggesting fissures in the NSW pub sector are running deeper than expected since the onset of the economic slowdown late last year.
Stuart Laundy could not be contacted for comment today.