Cains faces anxious wait over future
29 July, 2008
Liverpool brewer to find out in next 48 hours whether bank will come to its rescue
Liverpool-based brewer Cains faces an agonising wait over the next 48 hours to see if its bank will help secure its future.
The company, which announced half-year losses of 4.5m yesterday, is expected to find out in the next two days if the Bank of Scotland will help it repay an outstanding tax bill.
Sudarghara Dusnaj, Cains’ joint managing director, told thepublican.com: “We need a lifeline from the bank. We are not asking for more money, we are asking for the same facility.”
He added that the Bank of Scotland needed to take a “long-term view”, saying Cains had only had “one bad year”.
Cains has agreed a schedule to repay the tax bill with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).
The company faced a winding-up with a hearing scheduled for August 12 if it did not repay the bill. However Dusanj insisted this matter had been "resolved" with HMRC.
Cains yesterday blamed its results on the smoking ban, the consumer downturn, soaring costs, higher beer duty and the credit crunch.