The company behind Bracklesham Bay's famous beach cafe went into liquidation on 30 July. The venue, relaunched as The Beach, is still trading daily.

The company behind Bracklesham Bay’s best-known beach restaurant has gone into creditors’ voluntary liquidation. Billy’s on the Beach Limited, whose trading name is recorded as The Beach Bracklesham, resolved at a general meeting on 30 July that it be wound up voluntarily, according to a notice published in The Gazette on 31 July. The seafront venue itself was open as usual this week, according to its own website.

The Gazette notice records that the meeting found the company “cannot by reason of its liabilities continue its business”. Andrew Ryder of JT Maxwell Limited was appointed liquidator, and the meeting was chaired by Jamie Hawkins. The appointment notice records the nature of the business as licensed restaurants, with its principal trading address at Bracklesham Lane, Bracklesham Bay.

From Billy’s to The Beach

Billy’s on the Beach Limited was incorporated on 16 April 2013, according to Companies House. The cafe on Bracklesham Lane traded for years as Billy’s on the Beach before relaunching as The Beach, as the district’s official tourism service The Great Sussex Way records.

The venue now runs under The Beach Company banner, a group whose website also lists a seafront restaurant at Littlehampton, a pop-up at Bognor Regis and a venue at Goodwood racecourse. Its Bracklesham pages advertise the site as open seven days a week, from 7am to 7pm Sunday to Wednesday and to 10pm Thursday to Saturday, with events running through August.

Neither the Gazette notices nor the group’s website says what the liquidation means for how the venue is run. As of 12 August there was no announcement about it on the site.

What it means for you

If you are heading to the beach: the venue’s website shows it open daily, with the kitchen serving from 8am. Bracklesham Bay and the Witterings also feature in our guide to things to do in Chichester.

If the company owes you money: the liquidation is being handled by JT Maxwell Limited, which The Gazette notice lists on 02892 448110 and corporate@jtmaxwell.co.uk.

The liquidator’s formal paperwork, including the statement of the company’s assets and debts, is filed at Companies House in the weeks after appointment. We will report what those filings show for this Bracklesham business when they are published.