The new owners of the Press Up hospitality group have handed back the lease on a site in Bray that was earmarked for a Stella Cinema.
The cinema had been slated to open at the Bray Central mixed-use commercial scheme, which was being developed by a property group called Oakmount. It was associated with Paddy McKillen jnr, who was the major shareholder in Press Up before a restructuring of the group last year that saw lender Cheyne Capital take control of the business.
As part of the restructuring at Press Up, the lease for the cinema was surrendered and is now under the control of receivers at the Bray site.
In November, Declan Taite and Sharon Barrett of corporate restructuring and advisory group Kroll were appointed as receivers by BCMGlobal, a UK loan-servicing firm, on foot of loans secured against the Bray scheme.
It is understood the receivers had been seeking to sell the cinema equipment at the Bray property and speculation has circulated that another cinema chain might be interested in taking the lease.
The receivers were contacted for comment, as was Eclective.
In February, Press Up was rebranded as Eclective Hospitality Group, which employs more than 850 staff at 24 venues across Dublin under a variety of brands, including Elephant & Castle, Wowburger, Stella, Angelina’s, the Workmans Club and Captain Americas.
[ New Press Up owners rebrand group as Eclective HospitalityOpens in new window ]
There are two Stella Cinemas in operation in Rathmines and Ranelagh. The Rathmines venue is operated by Eclective.
At the time of the restructuring last September, it was announced that the Wowburger on Parnell Street in Dublin would close. Separately, Shane McCarthy and Cormac O’Connor from KPMG were appointed as receivers by Cheyne to four entities that comprise 12 venues under the Elephant & Castle, Wagamama and Wowburger restaurant brands.
The Wagamama restaurants at Dundrum and South King Street in Dublin both closed. The South King Street venue was subsequently reopened by Eclective under the Kaldero brand.
Press Up was cofounded by Mr McKillen jnr and Matt Ryan and grew to more than 50 venues and about 2,000 employees, including a chain of hotels that were sold in 2023. Mr McKillen jnr continues to own 5 per cent of Eclective and is represented on the board of the group.
