Ian Defty at Kingston Smith & Partners appointed Administrator to popular City restaurant, Moshi Moshi

Moshi Moshi was Britain’s first conveyor-belt sushi restaurant when it opened in the summer of 1994. Based in Liverpool Street Station, London, the Japanese sushi restaurant and takeaway is highly popular with lunchtime and evening sushi fans. Whilst compact, it is always busy, and has achieved consistent profitability in the past.

The company implemented a strong environmental policy and has campaigned to preserve fish stocks; as a result, it was awarded the Green Apple Award for the Environment in 2005 and, more recently, a 2 star rating by the Sustainable Restaurant Association.

Following the success of its Liverpool Street outlet, the company expanded, opening restaurants in Brighton and Bury Street, London (which trades as Soseki), as well as a takeaway outlet in Waitrose at Canary Wharf.

The failure of the company is attributed predominantly to internal difficulties, which have effectively divided the company. Ian Defty explained that he was eager to keep the popular City restaurant trading and to conclude a sale of the business, in order to achieve the best possible return for creditors and save some 27 jobs.

He commented: “It is a sad fact that popular businesses and restaurants are failing regularly in today’s economic climate. If the insolvency industry can try to soften the blow to both creditors and employees, then we’ll be doing a good job in difficult circumstances”.

There are currently no plans for any staff redundancies. Interested parties in the sale of the business should contact Christine Richardson on Tel: 01727 896000 or via Email at: crichardson@kingstonsmith.co.uk