Well-known Nama developer, Gerry Gannon, has bankrupt the owner of "May of the Cuppa-licious" café in Sussex. The owner of the cafe, Sean O’Riordan, failed to pay Mr Gannon £10,000 (€11,800) in rent.
Mr O'Riordan ran the cafe with his partner in Haywards Heath in West Sussex for 3 years. The couple set up business beside Lloyds pharmacy. The chemist closed this year resulting in fewer customers going into the cafe. The couple then had to pay £875 per month in rent to Gannon Properties, rather than the £1,400. His offer to pay a reduced, albeit rising rent was rejected. The bankruptcy order against Mr O’Riordan was made on October 2nd.
“Things were okay at the beginning. It was great for us because we lived in the village.They closed us in May. We came in one morning and the locks were on and the bailiffs were there.I have lost everything,” Mr O’Riordan, told The Irish Times. He has since resorted to working in a pet shop.
700 people in the Sussex village signed a petition pleading with Gannon Properties to cut the café’s rent. Chairman of the Bolnore Village Residence, Carlos Leon, told the Mid-Sussex Times that the closure of the cafe was "terribe news".
Mr O'Riordan's bankruptcy will be discharged in October 2014, providing a court accepts that he has co-operated and has no hidden assets.
