Emily's Formby operator in liquidation a year after CVA

The company behind Emily’s, the restaurant and bar at 25 Brows Lane in Formby village, has gone into liquidation. Notices published in The London Gazette on 10 August show that Rebel Restaurants Group Ltd, trading as Emily’s, passed a special resolution to wind itself up on 6 August 2026 and appointed joint liquidators the same day. (The Gazette, notice 5188760)

What the record shows

The appointment notice records a creditors’ voluntary liquidation, the route taken when a company’s members and creditors agree it cannot pay its debts and should be wound up. Edward M Avery-Gee and Nick Brierley of Manchester insolvency firm CG & Co were appointed joint liquidators by the members and creditors on 6 August. The notice gives the company’s business as “licensed restaurants” and its trading address as 25 Brows Lane, Formby, L37 4HS; its registered office has moved from 300 St Mary’s Road in Garston, Liverpool, to CG & Co’s Manchester address. (The Gazette, notice 5188759)

This is the second formal insolvency procedure the company has entered in fourteen months. Companies House records show creditors approved a company voluntary arrangement, a deal under which a struggling company keeps trading while paying off agreed debts over time, on 30 June 2025, supervised by insolvency practitioners Gareth Harris and Christopher Ratten. The liquidation now brings that rescue attempt to an end. Companies House still listed the company’s status as “Voluntary Arrangement” when we checked on 11 August; the Gazette notices are the more recent record. (Companies House, company 14098446)

The company was incorporated on 10 May 2022. Its most recent accounts, for the year to 30 November 2024 and filed before the liquidation, record an average of 73 people employed during the year, up from 62 the year before. The same balance sheet shows £759,894 owed to creditors falling due within one year, net current liabilities of £433,922 and £99,163 cash at bank; those figures are a snapshot from more than eight months before the liquidators were appointed, and the position creditors face now will be set out in the statement of affairs the liquidation process requires. (Companies House, filing history)

The wider group is not in the notices

Emily’s sits within a family of companies run by the same director, Richard Rothwell, most registered at the same Garston address. The register lists Rebel Restaurants Group Holdings Ltd, Rebel Restaurants Southport Ltd, Rebel Restaurants Formby Ltd, Rebel Restaurants Liverpool Ltd and Penelope’s Birkdale Ltd, and all five remained active companies with no insolvency filings when we checked on 11 August. The liquidation applies to one company only, Rebel Restaurants Group Ltd. One register footnote: Companies House lists Penelope’s Birkdale Ltd’s first accounts, due by 27 June 2026, as overdue. (Companies House, director’s appointments)

The Gazette notices do not say whether the restaurant itself is continuing to trade, and we could not reach Emily’s website to check on 11 August. Anyone with a booking should confirm it with the restaurant directly.

What it means for you

If the company owes you money, whether as a supplier, a member of staff, or a customer with a deposit or gift voucher, you are a creditor in the liquidation. The Gazette notice names CG & Co as the liquidators’ firm, on 0161 358 0210, as the contact for further information. (The Gazette, notice 5188759)

If you have a table booked, the public record does not say how bookings are being handled; the restaurant is the route to a direct answer.

For Formby village, the record so far points to a restructuring within a group whose other companies remain active, rather than a group-wide failure, but the liquidators’ statement of affairs will show what this company owes and to whom. We will report it when it is filed.