Perth restaurateur opens The Butcher’s Arms, after closing The Trustee and Beaufort Local

Prominent Perth restaurant operator Scott Taylor is getting a lot of attention as he opens a new restaurant on St Georges Terrace.

The new venture is The Butcher’s Arms which, the troubled hospitality entrepreneur says, will be a “fresh start.”

Taylor has been struggling with his businesses lately.

His restaurants, The Trustee and Beaufort Local, were put into voluntary administration last month as a cash-flow crisis left landlords, banks and suppliers unpaid.

Summonses have been issued against Taylor’s Element WA Pty Ltd, with landlords, wine suppliers and others demanding he pay them $300,000.

At the same time, he has sold his Shorehouse restaurant at Swanbourne to get in some money to pay creditors and staunch negative cash flow.

Taylor admits it’s not a good look but he’s learning from his mistakes.

“Some people won’t understand this,” Mr Taylor told the West Australian.

“We’re closing a restaurant with debt and in the hands of administrators and then a week later announcing the opening of a new venture in a new corporate entity.

“We’ve been planning The Butcher’s Arms for a couple of years now.

“It was well on track before we struck trouble with the other businesses. And as I’ve said before, every single creditor will be paid from the proceeds of the sale of Trustee and Beaufort Local.

“You just can’t lie down and die when misfortune strikes in business. You’ve got to get up, dust yourself off, learn from your mistakes and do it better and wiser next time.”

He says The Butcher’s Arms, which opened on Wednesday, will be just like any pub. Customers will order food and drinks at the counter. The British gastro-pub type menu will offer classics including a roast beef sarnie, beef tartare with bone marrow, bangers and mash, carpetbag steak and spotted dick for dessert.

The second floor will have the same menu but will offer table service too.

As Taylor puts it, it will be a “proper restaurant experience for those who want it”.

13th December 2017