Millionaires give up on deal to take over Chester city centre Got Wine! bar

Feb 27 2009 by Allison Dickinson, Chester Chronicle

THE millionaire backers who ploughed £30,000 into buying ailing city centre bar Got Wine! have walked away from the deal.

Kevin Hindley and Tim Wheeldon, owners of Bolton-based Fluent Money, bought stock and furniture back from bailiffs after it was taken for a debt to the Inland Revenue.

But just 13 days after reopening, the decision was taken to put it all into storage because of difficulties agreeing the lease on the building.

Kevin said: “The terms that were presented to us for the main building, pretty much at the death, were just wholly unacceptable.

“We paid the rent despite an independent review which stated that the amount we were paying was 50% above the market value, and we continued to pay bills and buy further stock from our own pockets to allow it to continue trading.

“But in the end we just couldn’t reach an agreement with the landlord.

“Between Tim and myself, we put around £30,000 into the business, so it is unfortunate that we fell down at the last hurdle.

“A part of me still wants to own a wine bar and Chester is a great place, but this just wasn’t to be.”