7Bone bought out of administration, saving Bournemouth site

It comes after the company experienced "significant cash flow pressures" this summer, caused by a number of factors including the hot weather and a fire at one of their branches in Southampton.

7Bone, which has a branch at Gervis Place in Bournemouth town centre, entered insolvency on November 3 – having accrued debts of more than £1million.

However, the business was saved when 7Bone co-founder Matt Mollicone appointed administrators to complete the sale of the business and the majority of its assets transferred to another one of his holding companies.

Known for its ‘dirty’ burger menu, 7Bone first opened in Southampton in 2013, before setting up the Bournemouth site two years later. The business then received significant investment in 2016 and rapidly expanded, growing from four sites to 13 by 2022.

7Bone Burger Co in Bournemouth (Image: Newsquest)

In June, the Southampton site was destroyed in a fire – which administrator Interpath described as a significant blow to the business.

The brand also closed two of its restaurants earlier this year in Eastbourne and Maidstone, citing industry challenges.

In its report, Interpath said: “During the summer of 2022 [7Bone] began to experience significant cash flow pressures.

"This was due to a number of reasons including, but not limited to, the forced closures of the group’s profitable Southampton site in July due to a fire, the unusually hot summer of 2022 which resulted in weaker than forecast trading, and the general headwinds facing the hospitality sector.”

It was also stated that recently opened 7Bones restaurants were not performing as well as the legacy sites such Bournemouth. Staffing issues following the Covid pandemic and insufficient cash to invest in marketing were also reasons cited for the financial issues.

Fire at 7Bone, Southampton, in July 2022 (Image: Newsquest)

At the date of the administrator’s appointment, the company had just £94,000 in the bank and owed approximately £1.1million to HMRC.

The report also stated it was “highly unlikely” HMRC would receive any of the £1.1m owed. They said: “The company’s secondary preferential claims (HMRC) – based on current estimates, it is highly unlikely there will be sufficient funds available to enable a dividend to secondary preferential creditors.”

However, following the business’ transfer to Mr Mollicone’s Bones Restaurant Group Ltd, all 183 employees of the company will remain in employment.

Bournemouth’s 7Bone restaurant is regarded as one of the brand’s legacy sites and popular among diners. From more than 2,000 reviews on Google, the site averages ratings of 4.5 stars out of five.