Latest news with #MarcNicolson
South China Morning Post
17-06-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Singapore's 1880 club shuts down, 2 weeks after demise of Hong Kong branch
Private club 1880 in Singapore has abruptly closed down, two weeks after its cash-strapped Hong Kong branch folded, with its founder citing falling attendance and decreased spending by members for its demise, the Post has learned. In a letter sent to members on Monday at midnight and seen by the Post, founder Marc Nicolson said its local premises, located in InterContinental Singapore Robertson Quay, would be shutting down with immediate effect. He also revealed the club's holding company 38 Degrees and operating company 1880 Pte Ltd had been placed into provisional liquidation. Nicolson said in the letter that building 1880 had been a 'dream come true', but 'spending and frequency per visit of our members has been trending down'. He added that he was grateful and sorry to the club's board, staff and members, and told members not to visit the club's premises as 'the doors will be locked'. Nicolson said he had received three offers to invest in or acquire the club, and 'any one of these would have restored us to health and given a runway to building a global brand'. But he had ultimately been 'unsuccessful in getting those offers over the line' and was left without further funds to pay staff and suppliers.
The Star
06-06-2025
- Business
- The Star
Hong Kong branch of Singaporean 1880 club in liquidation with HK$20 million debt
The Hong Kong branch of a Singapore-based private club that closed after less than a year in business is undergoing liquidation with debts of about HK$20 million (US$2.5 million), former employees have said. Financial difficulties forced 1880 Hong Kong, located at Two Taikoo Place in Quarry Bay, to shut its doors on Friday last week, leaving 100 employees without pay for two months and some members angered by sales made shortly before the closure. It also owed rent to its landlord, Swire Properties. Two former employees told the Post on Tuesday that the cash-strapped club had gone into liquidation, blaming the failure on the company's poor financial planning and governance. Both said that the landlord made a substantial capital investment in the fixed assets, while the club only had to take care of operations. One said that Swire's capital investment amounted to more than HK$170 million. The club, which opened on November 8 last year, occupied four floors offering event spaces, a gym with spa facilities, four restaurants, a cocktail bar and a sports bar. Each member had to pay a joining fee of about HK$24,000 and a monthly subscription fee of HK$1,300, or HK$14,000 for a full year, according to the founding member rates seen by the Post. 'Still, the company could not run the club properly because it did not understand how Hong Kong works and did no due diligence. It just assumed the city was going to be the same as Singapore,' one middle-ranking employee said. 'It was suffering from cash-flow problems from day one.' He said the senior management made a string of poor decisions, including hiring more than a dozen staff members for each of their five kitchens long before the restaurants opened and ordering tens of thousands of cake packaging materials for an eatery that did not sell cakes. 'But when an employee at a lower rank tried to speak up, they did not listen,' he said. 'November was the last month I received my salary on time.' The company had not managed to pay all of its staff on time since December last year, with the landlord returning a deposit at one point to help it pay wages, but priority was given to junior employees. He also said the club had struggled to pay its suppliers since February and had asked to settle the payments in instalments. But it failed to honour the arrangement, placing immense pressure on frontline staff, he added. 'In the end, we were only paying those whom we desperately needed to keep the club in business,' the middle-ranking employee said. In the first week of May, founder Marc Nicolson held a town hall meeting to reassure all staff that a 'very big investor' was coming to save the business, he said. Despite being in a dire financial situation, the club kept recruiting new members, with the last one joining in mid-May, just about two weeks before the closure. The same employee said the company's Singaporean leadership had sent in support before the opening in November, but they stopped in January this year. He said he believed the company still owed staff members about HK$4 million in unpaid wages and around HK$15 million to suppliers and its landlord. Another employee, who was transferred from Singapore to the Hong Kong club in August, said he was owed more than HK$100,000 in unpaid wages dating back to April, as well as payment in lieu of notice. Comparing the operation of the clubs in Singapore and Hong Kong, he said the one in the city state had a much smaller floor area but was exclusive to its 2,000 members. But the Hong Kong branch had a larger floor size and was partly open to the public, making it far less attractive to sign up as a member. He said that all the restaurants had failed to hit their targets, even after a downward adjustment, with the amount being made by the food outlets 'definitely below HK$1 million monthly'. He also said the company did not pay suppliers for months, and they had only accepted cash on delivery since March. 'I just pray they find the money to pay the staff because they really believed in the company, even when wages were delayed for weeks and came to work until the last day. Some of us even took a loan to come to work,' he said. 'They could have been honest about it and told us the truth in the last two, three months ... it's really unethical for them to do this.' He said that returning to Singapore was difficult because it would mean breaking his lease and losing his deposit. The head office would not cover his loss either because he had signed a new contract with the Hong Kong branch, he added. The group previously announced plans to expand to Bali, with the construction of a resort largely completed before the project was shut down late last year. A spokeswoman for Swire said the landlord was unable to disclose any financial details related to specific tenants. Hong Kong's Labour Department and the Customs and Excise Department said they had received complaints and were following up on the matter. The Consumer Council said it had yet to receive any complaints related to the club. The Post has reached out to the club and its founder for comment.
South China Morning Post
01-06-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
1880 Hong Kong club folds after 7 months, accused of owing staff unpaid wages
The Hong Kong branch of a Singapore-based private club, which recently closed its doors after only seven months of operation, has been accused of owing rent and more than 100 employees unpaid wages since April, with the Labour Department receiving requests for help from affected workers. 1880 Hong Kong, located at Swire Properties' office complex Two Taikoo Place in Quarry Bay last Friday announced its immediate cessation of operations, citing 'cash flow difficulties' and failed attempts to raise funds. All memberships and associated privileges were discontinued. The landlord told the Post that 'rent and other arrears' were still owed but declined to disclose more details due to confidentiality concerns. They have repossessed the premises. The club, which only opened its doors on November 8 last year, occupied four floors offering event spaces, a gym with spa facilities, and several restaurants. In an internal letter seen by the Post, founder Marc Nicolson apologised to his employees for the closure, saying the 'deal' they had been trying to close had been unsuccessful. He said he asked employees to trust him and continue working, as he believed he could raise the capital to save the company.
