\u201cThe grounds for the liquidation included outstanding GST, PAYE, income tax, and a Small Business Loan, with the total amount owed exceeding $692,000,\u201d Kristal Pihama, one of the KPMG liquidators appointed, told The Spinoff. It\u2019s not yet known if any other debts are owed. \u201cAt this early stage, we are still awaiting responses from other potential creditors.\u201d<\/p>\n
John Eric Craig is listed in the Companies Register as the sole director and shareholder of JCK Holdings Limited, trading as Verona Cafe and Bar. A post published to Verona\u2019s social media accounts on Friday announced that the business was to shut, albeit temporarily. It cited \u201cunforeseen circumstances\u201d and thanked followers for all their \u201csupport and love over the years\u201d. Commenters shared love for the longstanding destination, which opened in 1992 and which Craig has owned since 2017.<\/p>\n
Verona shared the news with its followers on Instagram and Facebook. (Source: @verona.kroad)<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not necessarily the end for the Karangahape Road fixture, with Pihama saying KPMG was \u201cactively\u201d looking into the possibility of selling the business. \u201cHowever, we have decided to cease trade until we have received further information.\u201d The liquidators\u2019 first report is due by May 29 and creditors have until May 25 to place claims.<\/p>\n
The news comes as\u00a0company liquidations reach a 15-year high in New Zealand<\/a>, with the majority initiated by Inland Revenue as it continues an ongoing crackdown on tax debt<\/a>. Hospitality businesses in particular have been hit hard, with 2025 figures showing a 50% annual rise in liquidations<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2018A much-loved third space\u2019<\/p>\n With its glittering gold sign, sidewalk seating and generous opening hours (9am until late), Verona has been a prominent part of the street\u2019s cultural milieu for over three decades.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s an institution,\u201d said Jamey Holloway, general manager of the K\u2019Road Business Association. \u201cIt\u2019s a much-loved third space on Karangahape Road and we hope we haven\u2019t seen the last of it.\u201d<\/p>\n Opened in 1992 by Hilary Ord and Janet Sergeant during a creatively emergent period for the famous street, Verona served<\/a> worldly, organic food under then-chef Matt Wilkinson amid striking, \u201ceclectic\u201d decor. (The name comes from a 19th century house at the address that predated the current building.) Cafe culture was hip and Verona was one of the hippest. In 2004 it was described as \u201cliving, breathing coolness\u201d by Viva.<\/p>\n After 12 years Ord and Sergeant decided to move on, selling the business in 2004 to Lisa and Robin Churchman (a restraint of trade stoush<\/a> ensued). The cafe passed through several pairs of hands after that, including KFM radio station co-founder John Greet, Annabelle Guinness and Phil Randle (who established Leigh Sawmill) and, most recently, John Craig, who was formerly a brewer at Lion.<\/p>\n Popular with the K Road community, Verona still enjoys a unique place in Auckland culture. Serving as a hub for Auckland\u2019s creative scene, there are DJ nights, album launches and open mic nights. As recently as March it was the venue for underground fashion week Te Wiki \u0100hua o Aotearoa after-parties. Verona was due to host Breakroom\u2019s \u201cimmersive audio visual experience\u201d event Broken Signal over the weekend, but relocated to nearby Acho\u2019s due to the closure.\u00a0<\/p>\n And then there\u2019s Verona\u2019s unique place<\/a> in our music annals. Fur Patrol filmed the video for their 1999 hit \u2018Lydia\u2019 there. Elemeno P went one step further in 2003, singing of love and \u201cgood fortune at the bar\u201d in their song \u2018Verona\u2019. It helped cement the place in the local psyche and nostalgia for Verona endures<\/a>. Whether the venue itself will remains to be seen.<\/p>\n Verona has been approached for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The beloved Auckland cafe and bar is in liquidation over unpaid tax debt, and its doors are closed.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":401524,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[51,138,1882,15557,111031,2739,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-401523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-auckland","tag-business","tag-cafe","tag-hospitality","tag-karangahape-road","tag-liquidation","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=401523"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401523\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/401524"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=401523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=401523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=401523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}From the famous sign outside to the interior, Verona is a fixture of K Road (Image: Google Street View)<\/p>\n
Auckland Central MP Chl\u00f6e Swarbrick at Verona in 2023 (Photo: Toby Manhire)<\/p>\n