What they call a “Cronxortium” has come together to salvage a New Addington brewery.
Coming up smelling of hops: phoenix brewer Mark Russell
But rather than save the Cronx Brewery company, the group has staged what is known as a “phoenix operation”, potentially evading tens of thousands of pounds’ worth of debts while leaving other small businesses in their supply chain unpaid and out of pocket. They will probably dodge a few quid owed to the taxman, too.
Inside Croydon reported exclusively last week that a meeting of directors of the Cronx Brewery and its Croydon High Street bar, the Cronx Tap, had agreed to file for voluntary liquidation. That meeting was staged in the London Wall offices of their liquidators on November 5.
Yet according to Companies House records, two of the Cronx directors were meanwhile busy registering new companies: Tap Community Bars Ltd, on November 4; and The Croydon Brewing Company Ltd, on November 8.
The day after Inside Croydon’s news report, a statement appeared on the Cronx Brewery’s social media page, ending a year-long silence.
It said: “In 2012, we founded the Cronx Brewery to be the first dedicated brewery in the borough of Croydon for over 50 years. Over this time we built a community with our brand and strong relationships with local people and businesses.
“With increasing overheads and the fall out of the covid-19 pandemic, The Cronx Brewery Ltd were left with no option but to enter voluntary liquidation towards the end of last year.” The Cronx Brewery had opened the Cronx Tap bar on Croydon High Street in 2023 – two years after covid lockdown.
“We would like to thank the hard work and contribution of everyone associated with the brewery and the community we built around it.”
IPA IP: Russell and his partners have bought the intellectual properties of the failed brewery business, including its logo
The statement included an admission that the new group had acquired the Cronx’s intellectual properties – the naming rights and logos – with the intention of starting up a new firm with none of the debts accrued by the liquidated company.
“In November 2024, four investors from the local area including our co-founder Mark [Russell], secured the IP to all things Cronx and have structured plans to maintain the community we built, making it even stronger for many years to come.” This appears to be an admission of a phoenix operation.
“We are excited to announce that we are continuing to brew our beers and supply our local and loyal customers under this new ‘Cronxortium’ of owners and will ensure we keep this community at the heart of everything we do.”
Companies House records show that Russell was a director of the Cronx Brewery Ltd until its liquidation, as well as a related company, The Cronx Bars Ltd.
Cronx Bars, first registered in December 2015, using the Vulcan Way address of the brewery business, first applied for voluntary strike-off in September 2024 and was duly dissolved as a business on Christmas Eve, with a couple of thousand pounds owed to its creditors.
Russell’s only co-director of the Cronx Brewery at the time of its voluntary liquidation was Joe Benedict, who had joined the board in July 2019.
Benedict is director of a number of companies, including the new Tap Community Bars Ltd with Zaffron Carmichael and Joseph Madigan, who is listed as the managing director. Tap Community Bars Ltd’s registered office is at 71 High Street, Croydon, the same address as the Cronx Tap. Benedict is listed as the person of significant control in this new company, with more than 75% of the shares.
Russell holds at least 75% of the shares in the other new, phoenix company, The Croydon Brewing Company Ltd, where his co-director is Kris de Souza.
There is nothing unlawful about closing down one company and setting up again, unburdened by debts accrued over several years, although it might leave a bitter taste in the mouths of some of Russell and Benedict’s former suppliers.
It is often the case that the biggest creditor of liquidated companies is HM Revenue and Customs, who usually have preferential creditor status and hoover up most of what’s left of the closed business’s assets.
We asked The Cronx Brewery’s official liquidators for a list of creditors, and what they were owed, and also for how much had been paid for the IP rights, the intellectual properties, of The Cronx Brewery and Cronx Tap. There had been no response by the time of publication.
Someone claiming to be “a director of the Cronx Brewery” (although not listed on any Companies House records), approached Inside Croydon saying that the group is “committed to continue to create a local product”.
He said: “The past few years have been very difficult, for both macro and micro reasons.
“What we are is four guys from Croydon who wish to develop a brand that is unique, independent and reflects our joint view that Croydon is special.”
He was either unable, or unwilling, to share the liquidated company’s 2023-2024 accounts, nor the list of creditors it has left behind.
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I know this is a dodgy move, but I hope they succeed. We all know who’s at the top of the creditors list – HMRC. I’ve been there and they take priority even over employees
If you leave a trail of debts and have been liquidated, don’t think those in the know will be too keen or trusting about exposing themselves to provide credit again. Cash up front please with you Guvnor. We have no idea of the size of the debts they have decided to leave everyone else with so other than the Taxman, we really don’t know the extent of the ill will towards them in the trade. However for anyone operating in a market based on the declining footfall in Croydon they can only be up against it.
Margaret Thatcher said that the trouble with socialists is that “they always run out of other people’s money”.
But the trouble is with capitalists, who when they run out of other people’s money are allowed to start all over again, as if nothing had happened
‘Other people’s money’ in capitalist terms are banks and investors, not poor taxpayers like us. We’re all paying for Croydon’s bail-outs through national taxes
“Other peoples’ money” in capitalist terms is quite often people like us. Pension funds are huge investors; the one that pays my pension was exposed to the thick end of £1 billion in Thames Water. Thankfully it’s well enough funded to take the hit. A smaller fund may not have been so fortunate.
Where do you think the banks and investors get their money from Chris?
Us “poor taxpayers” will have to foot the bill for the redundancy compensation provided by the Insolvency Service to the staff who got the boot.
Other taxpayers who supplied goods and services to the Cronx brewery will have to wait a long time for the merest sliver of money from the administrators of this junk company. They might even be dragged under themselves.
In business, there’s no such thing as a free lunch
Great article. I think Inside Croydon does a good job reporting on Croydon businesses – promoting those doing great things, but ‘speaking true to power’ where in the public interest!