Wright Group firm paid out €275,000 for leasehold of former celeb chef's Rustic Stone building
Gordon Deegan
Wright Group firm, Mink Fusion Ltd, has paid out €275,000 for the leasehold interest of the building that housed Dylan McGrath’s former Rustic Stone restaurant on Dublin’s South Great George's Street.
The payout by Mink Fusion is revealed in documents lodged by joint liquidators of the operator of Rustic Stone, Prime Steak Ltd, Dessie Morrow and Diarmaid Guthrie of Azets with the Companies Office.
In July, Mink Fusion secured the planning green light from Dublin City Council to transform Mr McGrath’s former Rustic Stone restaurant in Dublin into a gastro-pub.
In a planning submission to the City Council on behalf of Mink Fusion, planning consultant, Anthony Brabazon of ABA Architects, urged the Council to grant planning, pointing out that Mink Fusion, "as tenants under a lease, are paying substantial rent and would like to get the business open”.
A spokeswoman for the Swords-based Wright Group, which employs more than 700 people in the hospitality sector, confirmed today that the group is aiming to open the M.J. Wright Pub for “mid to late October”.
She said that the opening of the new pub is “a big confidence in that area of Dublin”.
The planning permission granted by Dublin City Council to Mink Fusion Ltd came 10 months after celebrity chef, Dylan McGrath, shut down Rustic Stone and Brasserie Sixty Six, both located on South Great Georges Street, on the same day on August 15th, 2024.
The operator of Rustic Stone, Prime Steak Ltd, was placed in voluntary liquidation and in the new documents, they show that Mink Fusion Ltd paid out the €275,000 for the leasehold interest on January 24th of this year.
The €275,000 received represented the bulk of the realisations of €306,850 recorded by the liquidators to date.
The total disbursements amount to €302,419, and the largest portion of that was rent arrears of €133,983 paid out to Stowford. Joint liquidator fees total €24,600.
The liquidators’ document states that at the commencement of the winding up, secured creditors were owed €794,786 and unsecured creditors were owed €957,689.
A planning report lodged with the application by Manahan Planners has stated that a gastropub operation “offers a more sustainable business model than the previous restaurant, given current market conditions”.
The Manahan Planners report also stated that the change of use “would bring a vacant commercial property back into active use, contributing to the vitality of Dublin's city centre”.
The nine-page report also stated that the proposal “would create new employment opportunities in the local area” and would contribute to the public realm by supporting footfall in the area.
The most recent accounts for the Wright Group, Treasure Trail Holdings Ltd - led by ceo, Michael JF Wright - show that its pre-tax profits increased almost threefold to €10.67 million in the 12 months to the end of September 2023 as revenues surged by 38 per cent to €49 million at the expanding food and beverage group.
The group operates a collection of restaurants, bars, food halls, cafes, event spaces and convenience retail.
