A burger chain boasting a tie-up with Ed Sheeran has been plunged into a row with HM Revenue & Customs after pleas for more time to pay a tax bill fell on deaf ears.
Honest Burgers was slapped with a winding-up petition by the taxman last week after talks to agree a “time to pay” arrangement collapsed.
Bosses at the burger chain, which employs about 700 staff, said they were shocked by the speed at which HMRC launched legal action that could have resulted in the company being liquidated. Honest Burgers paid the outstanding tax bill last week.
Business leaders report that the taxman is clamping down on time to pay arrangements, which give firms more time to settle their tax bills. Many of the debts are a legacy of the pandemic, when HMRC used such arrangements to avoid forcing companies into bankruptcy.
Honest Burgers started out in 2011 with a pop-up site in Brixton that did not even have a toilet. It now operates across 40 restaurants, predominantly in London and the southeast, and is backed by Active Partners, the private equity firm whose previous investments have included Soho House, Leon and Secret Cinema.
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