A company behind an iconic Southampton restaurant has ceased trading - owing hundreds of thousands of pounds in taxes and to suppliers.

It is the second time in less than two years that an entity trading as Kuti’s Brasserie at the city’s Grade II listed Royal Pier has filed for voluntary liquidation, though the restaurant itself is continuing to operate.

This time, KZCA Ltd owed £178,261 to HMRC for VAT and payroll taxes, £11,091 to Southampton City Council and £171,035 to other creditors, including £61,610 to British Gas and £42,421 to restaurant suppliers on its final balance sheet.

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The company recorded assets of £4,200 when liquidator Paul Hargreaves of Nexus Corporate Solutions Limited was appointed on September 3.

£11,325 in pension contributions and short-term financing of £25,501 was also included in outstanding liabilities.

As reported at the time by the Daily Echo, the previous business operators, Joytun Bari Limited, ceased trading with net liabilities of £838,010 in December 2022, including £338,214 owed to HMRC and £40,000 to both the council and Barclays Bank, before the then newly incorporated KZCA Ltd, with its director and sole shareholder Mrs Zinat Ara Begum, took over trading.

Both companies opted for creditors’ voluntary liquidations. This is initiated by director and shareholder approval and leads to the appointment of an insolvency practitioner, who takes over the company to sell assets and make any possible returns to creditors.

Zinat Ara Begum’s previous directorships include Kuti’s of Wickham Limited between 2006 and 2010 before that company was dissolved in 2011.

Kuti Miah (Image: Other)

The directors and shareholders of Joytun Bari Limited were Chemon Ara Begum, and Kuti Miah, the well-known local entrepreneur behind Kuti's who was separately ordered to pay nearly £20,000 after losing a court case over a debt of hundreds of thousands of pounds earlier this month.

Zinat Ara Begum and Chemon Ara Begum were also both directors of a now dissolved dormant company called Snack 786 Limited.

KZCA Limited never filed statutory accounts at Companies House, with its first period of accounts to the end of November 2023 overdue when the company was liquidated.

Kuti’s Brasserie first opened in London Road in the 80s before moving to larger premises in Oxford Street, where former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak waited tables 'for fun'. It moved to the Royal Pier in 2018.

The Daily Echo has contacted Mr Miah for comment.