A woman who poured her life savings into two Dunedin music venues is walking away after a shocking incident and is pointing the finger at previous owners.<\/p>\n
DropKicks and Errick\u2019s owner Rebecca Ellis said she could not \u2018\u2018in good conscience\u2019\u2019 continue to operate the venues and confirmed to the Otago Daily Times today both would close \u2018\u2018effective immediately\u2019\u2019.<\/p>\n
DropKicks was the latest live music venue to be housed in the top floor of the former Captain Cook Tavern, a stomping ground for many of Dunedin\u2019s seminal bands. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Ms Ellis said she paid $380,000 for both businesses \u2014 it was her \u2018\u2018life-long dream\u2019\u2019 to create a space for performing arts and culture.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018Through two decades of hard work, saving, and a little luck, in 2025 I was finally in a position to make that dream a reality.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
Those dreams were now \u2018\u2018shattered\u2019\u2019, she said.<\/p>\n
Her company had begun the liquidation process and she was facing personal bankruptcy.<\/p>\n
She borrowed \u2018\u2018as much as I possibly could from the bank\u2019\u2019 and her house was also security against the business loans.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018It\u2019s not the end \u2014 it\u2019s just the lowest point of my life.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
The double closure was the culmination of an incident at DropKicks on April 3.<\/p>\n
Ms Ellis said a \u2018\u2018highly intoxicated\u2019\u2019 person was allowed into the venue, who then passed out in a toilet stall and was left locked inside the premises after closing.<\/p>\n
They were then transported to Dunedin Hospital.<\/p>\n
This \u2018\u2018critical failure\u2019\u2019 of safety and responsibility could have had serious or even fatal consequences \u2014 it was \u2018\u2018truly unacceptable\u2019\u2019, she said.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018I accept full responsibility for this failure, and fully apologise to the person involved, and to everyone in our community.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
While Ms Ellis accepted she did not have the expertise nor experience to be a suitable licensee, she also took aim at the former owners for making what she claimed were \u2018\u2018misrepresentations\u2019\u2019 before she bought the businesses.<\/p>\n
During pre-sale negotiations, she said both venues were represented as profitable and well-run; with the proper systems, staff and training to comply with the law.<\/p>\n
Key staff who understood the challenges of the Dunedin hospitality environment, including an operations manager, would also be staying on.<\/p>\n
After the sale, the day-to-day operations of both Errick\u2019s and DropKicks \u2014 including the sale and supply of alcohol \u2014 continued under this operations manager.<\/p>\n
This was a mistake, Ms Ellis said.<\/p>\n
The venues \u2018\u2018have never been profitable or well-run\u2019\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018The proper systems, staff and training to comply with the law have never existed.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018I have accepted that the \u2018safe and well-run business’ underpinning the Errick\u2019s and DropKicks venues \u2014 the business I paid my life savings for \u2014 never really existed.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
The operations manager then left to pursue another role shortly after the April 3 incident, leaving her to learn the daily tasks herself, Ms Ellis said.<\/p>\n
Former owner Mili Oxley Lobo said she was \u2018\u2018very disappointed\u2019\u2019 to hear both venues would close.<\/p>\n
The venues were \u2018\u2018popular and well-run\u2019\u2019.<\/p>\n
Both went through \u2018\u2018considerable scrutiny\u2019\u2019 before their liquor licences were issued \u2014 that included the way both venues would be managed and operated.<\/p>\n
The sale process was conducted through a business broker and the financial statements presented to the purchaser were professionally prepared by an accountant, and accurate, Mrs Oxley Lobo said.<\/p>\n
The operations manager Ms Ellis \u2018\u2018appears to have relied upon\u2019\u2019 had continued in the role for five months after the purchase, but subsequently left, she said.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018That is a matter obviously beyond our control.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018Rebecca has now indicated she did not have the hospitality experience or expertise to run these venues.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018We did not appreciate that . . . they are of course businesses that require active management.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
Ms Ellis said she had decided to \u2018\u2018surrender\u2019\u2019 the two temporary liquor licences the businesses had been trading under.<\/p>\n
\u2018\u2018There is nothing to sell onward, unless I am willing to set someone else up for failure, inflicting what I have experienced onto someone else \u2014 something I would never do, even though it means losing my home and bankruptcy,\u2019\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n