Dún Laoghaire's Purple Ocean restaurant to appoint liquidator

PURPLE OCEAN restaurant in Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin, is on the verge of appointing a liquidator after posting notice of a meeting of creditors.

The restaurant, located at St Michael’s Pier beside Dún Laoghaire’s ferry terminal, has been in business for five years and the reasons for the prospective liquidation are not known.

The restaurant remained open yesterday, with staff preparing for weekend trade. Calls to executive chef and director Paul Lewis were not returned, while David Ellis, the second director of the company, could not be contacted.

A notice published in a national newspaper yesterday gave notice of a creditors’ meeting for Purple Ocean Limited, to be held at the start of next month. A liquidator is to be appointed at the meeting.

Purple Ocean was opened in 2004 and, according to its website, offers a menu of traditional Irish cooking and modern dishes. The restaurant seats 85 people and has an upstairs bar.

Financial statements filed at the Companies Office show that Mr Ellis owns the bulk of the company, while Mr Lewis does not own any shares. Mr Ellis, a former management consultant for the restaurant industry, is also involved in Temple Bar’s Shack Restaurant.

The most recent accounts filed for Purple Ocean show that at the end of 2008, the company had a shareholders’ deficit of €317,089, up from a deficit of €283,416 a year earlier.

The slowing economy has made life difficult for restaurants, with midweek trade in particular suffering. The nearby Bodega pub in Dún Laoghaire closed recently as part of the restructuring of the Thomas Read group. Other recent casualties in the sector include Mint in Dublin’s Ranelagh suburb and Rhodes D7 in Dublin’s Capel Street. Town Bar Grill, also in Dublin city centre, is in examinership.