Café Shore served winding up petition in "dispute" over a debt

Cafe Shore in Sandbanks Cafe Shore in Sandbanks

Sandbanks restaurant Cafe Shore has been served a winding up petition by the taxman.

HM Revenue and Customs has published a notice in the London Gazette after issuing the petition against Café Shore in Poole.

The petition was due to be heard at the Companies Court at the Royal Courts of Justice in London this week but the hearing has been adjourned until April Ben Brafman at Cafe Shore said the Banks Road business was not under threat of closure, saying they were in “dispute” over a debt.

He said: “We’ve got a dispute going on with revenue and customs.

“But we don’t have any problems.

“Cafe Shore is trading and it’s not going to cease trading.

“That’s the situation and in business these things happen every day.”

Cafe Shore is situated close to the Poole end of the Sandbanks peninsula, offering diners impressive views across Poole harbour.

Lisa Billard, of HMRC, said the petition had been served as a way of getting money that was “due” and not to see the cafe close.

She said: “HMRC’s aim is not to wind up companies or make individuals bankrupt, but to collect, as efficiently as we can, the debts that are due.

“HMRC only initiates winding up or bankruptcy action where it believes this is the best course of action to protect the interests of the exchequer in respect of a particular debt.

“We do not take such action lightly.

“Anyone who is struggling to pay an HMRC debt should call us.

“HMRC has an outstanding track record in supporting those who are experiencing genuine difficulty paying their debts, and this approach will continue.”

Comments(31)

LordLilliput says...
4:22pm Tue 29 Jan 13

Ben Brafman said: “We’ve got a dispute going on with revenue and customs.

“But we don’t have any problems.

“Cafe Shore is trading and it’s not going to cease trading.

“That’s the situation and in business these things happen every day.”

Not in my or most people's businesses I'd suggest. To consider a legal battle with HMRC par for the course and an everyday occurence doesn't strike me as a particularly good business ethic.

BmthNewshound says...
4:32pm Tue 29 Jan 13

I agree whole heartedly with Lord Lilliputs comment. I run a business and we pay our taxes.
.
Clearly Mr Brafman thinks that just because his wealthy customers find creative ways to avoid paying over their taxes he can do the same. Pay your taxes Mr Brafman, goodness knows with the prices Café Shore charge you can’t be short of a bob or two.

Fred21 says...
7:18pm Tue 29 Jan 13

The cynical automatic assumption that they are avoiding paying tax.

It must be nice to run a business that has no administration errors or invoice disputes!

HMRC are one of the most disorganised, inept companies in this country, if it wasn't run by the government it would have gone under.

Roband65 says...
7:26pm Tue 29 Jan 13

LordLilliput wrote:
Ben Brafman said: “We’ve got a dispute going on with revenue and customs.

“But we don’t have any problems.

“Cafe Shore is trading and it’s not going to cease trading.

“That’s the situation and in business these things happen every day.”

Not in my or most people's businesses I'd suggest. To consider a legal battle with HMRC par for the course and an everyday occurence doesn't strike me as a particularly good business ethic.
I have to agree with the above comment theres nothing everyday about it pay up Benny,although im sure theres a loud arrogant russian in the locality that will bail them out!

carr58 says...
8:24pm Tue 29 Jan 13

Hope you got your assets in a different trading Company best of luck Ben it's not easy for any of us at the moment and do not let the wet idiots that make all the pathetic comments grind you down.

Roband65 says...
8:49pm Tue 29 Jan 13

carr58 wrote:
Hope you got your assets in a different trading Company best of luck Ben it's not easy for any of us at the moment and do not let the wet idiots that make all the pathetic comments grind you down.
Hahaha wonder who that comment might be from !

LordLilliput says...
11:01pm Tue 29 Jan 13

carr58 wrote:
Hope you got your assets in a different trading Company best of luck Ben it's not easy for any of us at the moment and do not let the wet idiots that make all the pathetic comments grind you down.
Nothing wet or pathetic about my comment assuming that may have been aimed in my direction.

I use and like the place, but to make make flippant comments to the press about disputes with HMRC being an everyday occurrence in business is not clever nor does it show a decent level of integrity. Each to their own.

Azphreal says...
7:32am Wed 30 Jan 13

Tell them you serve starbucks coffee and you will get away with it.

HRH of Boscombe says...
9:14am Wed 30 Jan 13

Fred21 wrote:
The cynical automatic assumption that they are avoiding paying tax. It must be nice to run a business that has no administration errors or invoice disputes! HMRC are one of the most disorganised, inept companies in this country, if it wasn't run by the government it would have gone under.
Totally agree. They have me down as a year younger than I am despite sending copies of my birth cert and passport. Not to mention the tax I paid 'underage'. God knows where they got the date they did. Probably made it up like everything else there.

Redgolfer says...
9:21am Wed 30 Jan 13

Roband65 wrote:
carr58 wrote:
Hope you got your assets in a different trading Company best of luck Ben it's not easy for any of us at the moment and do not let the wet idiots that make all the pathetic comments grind you down.
Hahaha wonder who that comment might be from !
If its who we think it is, then he would know all about that side of the business, after all he had to repay a large sum to his sister, LOL.

Marcus James says...
10:22am Wed 30 Jan 13

What a shame that the green eye monster that is envy and jealousy comes out of people as soon as they see someone down.
For those of you criticising Cafe Shore, perhaps you may want to think that if you had an invoice or debt but genuinely didn’t believe it was due or that perhaps the calculation of it was wrong then would you pay it?
Sadly the Revenue are not fool proof and they often make errors, the error in this case could be £1000’s of pounds. The Revenue are happy to charge you £100 for being late in filing a return and then charge you interest daily until you pay them. If they however owe you a refund then don’t expect to be paid in less than three months with 0% interest payable on the money they owe you.
As for poster Carr58, if you are indeed Dickie then I would have thought you would have been busy preparing your defence case and concentrating on your own issues rather than worrying about Ben at Café Shore

John T says...
10:54am Wed 30 Jan 13

Oh carr58 is certainly 'Dickie'. One only has to look back, for example, at his earlier comments on Richard Carr's bankruptcy proceedings and Eddie Mitchell's flouting of rules and regulations.
Perhaps Café Shore is a client of Richard Carr's 'consultancy' service.

LordLilliput says...
11:25am Wed 30 Jan 13

Marcus James wrote:
What a shame that the green eye monster that is envy and jealousy comes out of people as soon as they see someone down.
For those of you criticising Cafe Shore, perhaps you may want to think that if you had an invoice or debt but genuinely didn’t believe it was due or that perhaps the calculation of it was wrong then would you pay it?
Sadly the Revenue are not fool proof and they often make errors, the error in this case could be £1000’s of pounds. The Revenue are happy to charge you £100 for being late in filing a return and then charge you interest daily until you pay them. If they however owe you a refund then don’t expect to be paid in less than three months with 0% interest payable on the money they owe you.
As for poster Carr58, if you are indeed Dickie then I would have thought you would have been busy preparing your defence case and concentrating on your own issues rather than worrying about Ben at Café Shore
The point being made (by me at least) has absolutely nothing to do with envy nor do I wish anyone to fail - far from it. I have merely suggested that treating a dispute with HMRC (especially when it's reached this level) as an 'everyday' affair is not a particularly sensible thing to say - especially to the media.

I'd also add that the idea of protecting one's assets whilst knowingly not paying one's debts (as has been suggested) is not a particularly honourable practise either.

I wish Cafe Shore every success, I just feel that from a PR perspective it has not show its best side on this occasion.

John T says...
11:56am Wed 30 Jan 13

LordLilliput wrote:
Marcus James wrote:
What a shame that the green eye monster that is envy and jealousy comes out of people as soon as they see someone down.
For those of you criticising Cafe Shore, perhaps you may want to think that if you had an invoice or debt but genuinely didn’t believe it was due or that perhaps the calculation of it was wrong then would you pay it?
Sadly the Revenue are not fool proof and they often make errors, the error in this case could be £1000’s of pounds. The Revenue are happy to charge you £100 for being late in filing a return and then charge you interest daily until you pay them. If they however owe you a refund then don’t expect to be paid in less than three months with 0% interest payable on the money they owe you.
As for poster Carr58, if you are indeed Dickie then I would have thought you would have been busy preparing your defence case and concentrating on your own issues rather than worrying about Ben at Café Shore
The point being made (by me at least) has absolutely nothing to do with envy nor do I wish anyone to fail - far from it. I have merely suggested that treating a dispute with HMRC (especially when it's reached this level) as an 'everyday' affair is not a particularly sensible thing to say - especially to the media.

I'd also add that the idea of protecting one's assets whilst knowingly not paying one's debts (as has been suggested) is not a particularly honourable practise either.

I wish Cafe Shore every success, I just feel that from a PR perspective it has not show its best side on this occasion.
I agree entirely with Lord Lilliput's comments. This has nothing to do with green- eyed monsters or envy, but everything to do with justice and fairness, as should so much more with our taxation law, e.g the Starbuck's situation.
Contrary to what is implied by Marcus James, HMRC will pay interest if they make a mistake over a VAT calculation, liability decision or wrongly imposed penalty.

Marcus James says...
12:14pm Wed 30 Jan 13

Lord Lilliput and John T - I accept that your comments were not envy fuelled the others are however.

I think that having experienced it first-hand the Revenue can most definitely get things wrong and the payment they make to you does not reflect true interest. Paying a possibly large sum to the Revenue when Cash flow is needed can badly affect a business.
It’s a shame the Echo have published this story yet our friend Dickie doesn’t have his story in the papers??

ekimnoslen says...
12:58pm Wed 30 Jan 13

BmthNewshound wrote:
I agree whole heartedly with Lord Lilliputs comment. I run a business and we pay our taxes.
.
Clearly Mr Brafman thinks that just because his wealthy customers find creative ways to avoid paying over their taxes he can do the same. Pay your taxes Mr Brafman, goodness knows with the prices Café Shore charge you can’t be short of a bob or two.
Agreed. If tax is due pay it. I'm sure the accountants have minimized the liability as is usual in business.

Mikeyunibournemouth says...
1:18pm Wed 30 Jan 13

Pity such force wasn't used against big corporations. It's easy to be a bully when your victims are so much smaller than you HMRC!!!!

Redgolfer says...
2:10pm Wed 30 Jan 13

Marcus James wrote:
Lord Lilliput and John T - I accept that your comments were not envy fuelled the others are however.

I think that having experienced it first-hand the Revenue can most definitely get things wrong and the payment they make to you does not reflect true interest. Paying a possibly large sum to the Revenue when Cash flow is needed can badly affect a business.
It’s a shame the Echo have published this story yet our friend Dickie doesn’t have his story in the papers??
Your friend Dickie, your words not mine, can always tell his story IF its the TRUTH but when people doubt it is the truth, when they know the big house in Lilliput, the input to various ventures that he states, he is only acting as an advisor, did not the truth come out in the court case.
As a working taxi driver, my comments are not fuelled by envy but by the fact having that nasty piece of work in my cab with others, I would rather be poor and honest than be like him, if that's the way he behaves.

goatty says...
2:18pm Wed 30 Jan 13

I had to laugh at HMRC comment that they support people with genuine difficulties in paying.
RUBBISH. They are only interested in bankrupting the individual or business as quickly as possible. Just ask the numerous business's and people they have bankrupted!

boblister says...
2:38pm Wed 30 Jan 13

carr58 wrote:
Hope you got your assets in a different trading Company best of luck Ben it's not easy for any of us at the moment and do not let the wet idiots that make all the pathetic comments grind you down.
I guess this is Richard Carr making the comments!
He is a past master at causing grief in not paying!

Cadaichri says...
2:42pm Wed 30 Jan 13

Cafe Shore may be considered an expensive place to eat by many of us, and has priveleged clientele a HMRC mistake can still happen to them and they are still (I believe) a privately owned small business, not a big one that can afford to pay out mistake debts.

If the HMRC are saying that they owe thousands of pounds (which can happen to anyone) which they don't actually owe, It seems completely understandable that they wouldn't pay it. Would you, if HMRC suddenly said you owed thousands more than you did, pay up without dispute? No! A big business may be able to pay out big bills and claim them back later if there is a mistake, but small businesses cannot afford to do that.

J Swain says...
4:18pm Wed 30 Jan 13

Redgolfer wrote:
Marcus James wrote:
Lord Lilliput and John T - I accept that your comments were not envy fuelled the others are however.

I think that having experienced it first-hand the Revenue can most definitely get things wrong and the payment they make to you does not reflect true interest. Paying a possibly large sum to the Revenue when Cash flow is needed can badly affect a business.
It’s a shame the Echo have published this story yet our friend Dickie doesn’t have his story in the papers??
Your friend Dickie, your words not mine, can always tell his story IF its the TRUTH but when people doubt it is the truth, when they know the big house in Lilliput, the input to various ventures that he states, he is only acting as an advisor, did not the truth come out in the court case.
As a working taxi driver, my comments are not fuelled by envy but by the fact having that nasty piece of work in my cab with others, I would rather be poor and honest than be like him, if that's the way he behaves.
He has a chauffeur why would he ride in your flee ridden taxi

J Swain says...
4:24pm Wed 30 Jan 13

John T wrote:
Oh carr58 is certainly 'Dickie'. One only has to look back, for example, at his earlier comments on Richard Carr's bankruptcy proceedings and Eddie Mitchell's flouting of rules and regulations.
Perhaps Café Shore is a client of Richard Carr's 'consultancy' service.
well done Sherlock going for a beer with him in 5

Redgolfer says...
4:27pm Wed 30 Jan 13

Ask how many other TAXI drivers have driven him anywhere and a chauffeur to drive him around, costs a lot of money, that I thought he did not have and NO flee's in my cab, vermin a times.

noggath says...
5:05pm Wed 30 Jan 13

explain why taxi drivers wear cat flea collars
should be conpulsery

Marcus James says...
5:48pm Wed 30 Jan 13

Redgolfer wrote:
Marcus James wrote:
Lord Lilliput and John T - I accept that your comments were not envy fuelled the others are however.

I think that having experienced it first-hand the Revenue can most definitely get things wrong and the payment they make to you does not reflect true interest. Paying a possibly large sum to the Revenue when Cash flow is needed can badly affect a business.
It’s a shame the Echo have published this story yet our friend Dickie doesn’t have his story in the papers??
Your friend Dickie, your words not mine, can always tell his story IF its the TRUTH but when people doubt it is the truth, when they know the big house in Lilliput, the input to various ventures that he states, he is only acting as an advisor, did not the truth come out in the court case.
As a working taxi driver, my comments are not fuelled by envy but by the fact having that nasty piece of work in my cab with others, I would rather be poor and honest than be like him, if that's the way he behaves.
Trust me he is in no way whatsoever my friend.
I think the way he folded his previous business building ventures was disgusting, he left local hardworking tradesmen and businessmen in the lurch, as he carried on poncing about in his car, being chauffer driven and hiding behind the guise of a hard done by businessman when in reality as the insolvency practitioners found and this paper published he had embezzled money to his sister abroad etc He is no better than the Eddie Mitchell’s of this world.
He has since gone on to become the “consultant” to a number of further failed businesses, spending a considerable amount of time in London at his other club, sorry I mean “Consulting” at a club.
I simply referred to him as “our friend” and that’s were it ends. Having witnessed his alcohol fuelled rants and behaviour first hand whilst trying to enjoy an evening out the last thing I would ever want to do is be associated with him.

Letcommonsenseprevail says...
8:29pm Wed 30 Jan 13

Marcus James wrote:
What a shame that the green eye monster that is envy and jealousy comes out of people as soon as they see someone down.
For those of you criticising Cafe Shore, perhaps you may want to think that if you had an invoice or debt but genuinely didn’t believe it was due or that perhaps the calculation of it was wrong then would you pay it?
Sadly the Revenue are not fool proof and they often make errors, the error in this case could be £1000’s of pounds. The Revenue are happy to charge you £100 for being late in filing a return and then charge you interest daily until you pay them. If they however owe you a refund then don’t expect to be paid in less than three months with 0% interest payable on the money they owe you.
As for poster Carr58, if you are indeed Dickie then I would have thought you would have been busy preparing your defence case and concentrating on your own issues rather than worrying about Ben at Café Shore
Jealousy is indeed a cruel mistress..........

jimmyp74 says...
9:07pm Wed 30 Jan 13

Companies House showed that after picking up a county court judgement in 2011, it also managed to make a loss.

Prehaps Ben should get back to running his Mummy's business properly instead of claiming that a winding up petition is something that happens everyday.

nermal says...
10:23pm Wed 30 Jan 13

Quote: "Cafe Shore is still trading". Pity.

Redgolfer says...
1:08am Thu 31 Jan 13

noggath wrote:
explain why taxi drivers wear cat flea collars
should be conpulsery
Maybe Spell check would be a helpful Tool in your posts and to Marcus James, I too was appalled at his behaviour when he and his cronies were in the cab and the tone of their conversations was not very nice.

Flembo says...
2:01pm Thu 31 Jan 13

This is one of the best comment boards I've read today - the sh*t flying is great to read. Everybody thinks they are right in judgements clouded by past experience... hilarious.

It would be bad to lose another pub...thats my only concern. Sandacres, Bella Rosa and now the shore..I need at least one pub for every mile I cycle this is going to be a disaster!

Best of luck Ben hope you solve whatever the problem is - I'm not going to jump to conclusions on what it is and really it's none of my business.

Regards, P

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