Casa Ricura, the business set up by Ruben Garcia in 2005 seems likely to go into voluntary liquidation.  Mr. Garcia decided that the business was no longer solvent after successfully defending a claim for damages, and he has passed a special resolution of voluntarily winding up.
Last week he appointed a liquidator from the insolvency practitioners Sandalwards to advise him. Creditors, including Casa Ricura solicitors Boot, Stipley and Shore, will be attending a creditors’ meeting next week to make a final decision about the future of the company, but Mr. Garcia says that they will be advised to vote for the winding up of the company. Creditors will naturally be anxious to find out what money, if any, they may be able to recover. Iain Robertson, a partner in the firm, will offer to join the creditors’ committee to monitor the work of the liquidator and approve his fees and disbursements. Yesterday he told the Courier “In insolvency cases there is a prescribed order of priority for creditors. Of course we will expect Mr. Garcia to give us a full statement of the company’s affairs but, as far as I am aware, this should be a fairly straightforward winding-up since there are no secured creditors. Mr. Garcia is the only shareholder and he put a lot of his own money into the business. It’s a disappointment for him, and as the owner he is the last in line to be repaid. I think everyone will agree though that he has acted in good faith throughout”.

Mr. Garcia said that he had originally hoped that a receiver might be able to sell the business as a going concern, but he said that he was unwilling to invest any more of his own funds. He promised customers who were waiting for brushes that they would be offered a choice – either wait for delivery or get their money back in full.