{"id":517661,"date":"2026-07-09T14:18:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T14:18:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/517661\/"},"modified":"2026-07-09T14:18:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T14:18:10","slug":"mimi-gilmour-rebuilding-after-burger-burger-receivership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/517661\/","title":{"rendered":"Mimi Gilmour: Rebuilding after Burger Burger receivership"},"content":{"rendered":"

Of course she has a plan. If wealth was measured in sheer force of will, Gilmour would be a billionaire.<\/p>\n

\u201cEntrepreneurs are optimistic,\u201d she says. \u201cWe have to be. You\u2019d never f***ing do it otherwise.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a quiet room in the bowels of NZME, Gilmour scrunches herself into a couch, knees pulled close to her chest. \u201cYou don\u2019t even understand this process until you\u2019re in it,\u201d she says. \u201cWhich is wild.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s eight days after the receivership news broke and Burger Burger is in voluntary administration. Independent experts are considering the future options. Five stores continue to trade (a sixth, in Takapuna, is closed for a refit).<\/p>\n

Can the business be saved? That\u2019s always the plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf only hospitality was a straight line,\u201d Gilmour says. \u201cIt\u2019s like being in a washing machine, where you\u2019re just constantly thrown around and you just can never quite see the next turn.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still \u2013 you don\u2019t rack up that much debt in a weekend.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s made millions and millions of dollars and given hundreds and hundreds of jobs,\u201d Gilmour says of the gourmet burger chain that opened in 2014 with a single store in Ponsonby, Auckland.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s paid millions of dollars of GST and PAYE. It is a successful business. The reality is that where we\u2019re at right now … the last 18 months have been absolutely brutal to hospitality.\u201d<\/p>\n

June figures put hospitality company liquidations up 47% year on year. Running costs are up and customer spend is down.<\/p>\n

At the individual consumer level, credit reporting agency Centrix says nearly 15,000 accounts are reported to be in financial hardship \u2013 an increase of 300 from the previous month and 14.4% higher than a year ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cHave I made perfect decisions?\u201d Gilmour asks.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe not, because I\u2019ve gone through the hardest year of my life, but also we\u2019ve just dealt with blow after blow after blow. It feels short-sighted to judge Burger Burger on what\u2019s happened in the last 18 months, when it had 10 years. And we have a really good plan.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MimiMimi Gilmour, photographed last year ahead of the opening of Italian restaurant Mama, on the former Burger Burger Newmarket site.
\nPhoto \/ Babiche Martens<\/p>\n

I first met Gilmour last September for a Viva profile<\/a> before Burger Burger Newmarket\u2019s transformation into Mama, the new Italian restaurant she was creating with friends (she still works in that business, and there are still plans for a Greek counterpart on the North Shore, but her financial stake is minimal).<\/p>\n

Back then, Gilmour spoke about the death of her father, post-natal depression after the birth of her third child, and what it was like to care for a daughter with complex needs \u2013 Olympia, her eldest, born with a brain injury and diagnosed with quadriplegic spastic cerebral epilepsy. She acknowledged Burger Burger was in a tough space but she was looking at franchise options and, with her husband Stephen, had downsized and moved house.<\/p>\n

The couple, who had been married for 12 years, have since separated. <\/p>\n

The upturn the business experienced over summer was short-lived. <\/p>\n

The weight of responsibility was, she says, like walking around with someone\u2019s foot on your chest; it literally knocked the air out of her lungs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so easy for people to look at things from the outside, isn\u2019t it? To watch Instagram or presume you know things …<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had a very privileged life. But I\u2019ve also worked my f***ing a*** off. I don\u2019t get handouts, I haven\u2019t inherited a huge chunk of money. I\u2019ve got some great support around me, but I\u2019ve got nothing to show for it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to have to start again, and I\u2019m going to have to rebuild my life and figure out how I can support my children. And that\u2019s … I\u2019m not afraid of that, you know.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MimiMimi Gilmour with chef Adrian Chilton before the 2014 opening of the first Burger Burger in Ponsonby, Auckland.<\/p>\n

It took a few days to pin Gilmour down to this interview. Her life was moving fast and she had a lot of people to talk to. She kept in touch by phone, email and text.<\/p>\n

\u201cI promise this is the last one,\u201d she messages, late one night.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been thinking about our conversation on failure. Strangely, music has explained it better than I ever could. Last night I listened to Everybody Hurts through tears. Tonight it was Both Sides, Now. Two songs written decades apart, yet both arriving at the same place. They reminded me that none of us are the first to carry something heavy. We all just carry different things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another night, another message: \u201cI don\u2019t think my biggest mistakes were strategic. I think my biggest mistake was believing that caring more, working harder and carrying more responsibility would somehow solve every problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Olympia was born, she says, \u201cI spent so long wondering what I\u2019d done wrong. I searched for an answer because I wanted there to be one. Eventually, I realised there wasn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

Life, biology and people aren\u2019t perfect, Gilmour says.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost people see Olympia\u2019s disabilities. I see my daughter, the greatest teacher I\u2019ve ever had … love has nothing to do with perfection. She taught me humility, patience and perspective. When life doesn\u2019t turn out the way you imagined, you don\u2019t stop living it \u2013 you learn to see it differently. I think that\u2019s why this chapter doesn\u2019t feel like failure to me. It\u2019s changed what success looks like.\u201d<\/p>\n

Years ago, she says, she met grief and resilience expert Lucy Hone, whose daughter died, aged 12, in a road accident.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the most important lessons I\u2019ve taken from her work is the understanding that capacity matters … sometimes the weight accumulates; circumstances simply exceed a person\u2019s capacity to carry them. I think many people interpret that as failure. I don\u2019t anymore. I think it\u2019s part of being human \u2013 and perhaps that\u2019s the conversation we need to be having more often.\u201d<\/p>\n

She describes the day Burger Burger Holdings went into receivership as one of the biggest of her life. That afternoon, \u201cI signed a document appointing administrators to a business I have spent 12 years building. It was one of the hardest things I\u2019ve ever done\u201d.<\/p>\n

What happened next \u201ccompletely floored me\u201d.<\/p>\n

Gilmour says former team members, customers, suppliers, friends, other business owners and people she hadn\u2019t spoken to in years made contact, reminding her of first dates, family dinners, celebrations, friendships and memories \u2013 all the things that had happened inside a place that also happened to sell burgers, cocktails and fries.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople ask why anyone would choose hospitality? On paper, you probably wouldn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

She makes a list \u2013 brutal hours, razor-thin margins, enormous risks, relentless emotional investment \u2013 and suggests there are easier ways to make money.<\/p>\n

\u201cDespite all of that, there are thousands of us who continue to do it. Why? Because hospitality was never really about food. Food is the excuse. What we\u2019re really creating is human connection.\u201d<\/p>\n

That doesn\u2019t always show up on a balance sheet, she writes in an email.<\/p>\n

\u201c[But] we raised a white flag and said we needed help and an incredible number of people stepped forward and offered it. That gives me hope … Tomorrow the real work begins.\u201d<\/p>\n

In truth, Gilmour wrote considerably more than that. A second message, moments later: \u201cAlso, in hindsight, this sounds like a crazy person \u2013 but best to get all the thoughts down whilst they are in your head.\u201d<\/p>\n

The three weeks that follow are huge for hospitality. At New Zealand\u2019s inaugural Michelin Guide ceremony, Gilmour watches a chef who once worked the fryer at Burger Burger take the stage to accept a Bib Gourmand distinction for his own restaurant. In other headlines, it is revealed chef Nic Watt is enduring his third liquidation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Gilmour cries most days \u2013 especially when she helps craft Burger Burger\u2019s \u201cfor sale\u201d notice:<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not simply the sale of a hospitality business. It\u2019s the opportunity to acquire an established Auckland institution.\u201d<\/p>\n

This week, she confirms about 20 expressions of interest have been received.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m hopeful one of the very interested parties will come forward with a solution early next week. There has been a lot of interest from experienced operators who are working through the due diligence process.\u201d<\/p>\n

The prospect of a sale is \u201cvery exciting, but also very overwhelming. I feel like I\u2019m stuck in limbo\u201d.<\/p>\n

In the background, the repercussions of one of the measures Gilmour took last year to keep everything afloat. On the day it all came crumbling down, her personal finances were frozen.<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t even see any of my bank accounts … I\u2019ve got three children at home, by myself … I am currently still in personal receivership, yes, but I do hope [a sale] will resolve that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gilmour and her sister Sophie grew up in this precarious business.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was raised to believe that it is a privilege to host,\u201d Gilmour says.<\/p>\n

She also knows customers don\u2019t remember their meals nearly as much as they remember how they felt sitting across from someone they love, sharing birthdays, proposals, first dates and special occasions. <\/p>\n

\u201cHospitality sits quietly in the background of those moments. That\u2019s why so many of us fight so hard for it. Not because we\u2019re obsessed with restaurants \u2013 because we\u2019re obsessed with people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"HospitalityHospitality queens Mimi Gilmour and her mother Emerald, photographed together in 2016.<\/p>\n

Her mother Emerald was synonymous with Auckland\u2019s Clichy, Tatler and Club Mirage. Her sister co-founded (and sold) Bird On A Wire. Gilmour\u2019s own earliest ventures included District Dining and the Mexico chain.<\/p>\n

Does her hospitality lineage make what has happened harder?<\/p>\n

\u201cMy mum was the first to say, \u2018you\u2019re not the first darling, and you won\u2019t be the last\u2019 … if the extraordinary women who have shaped my life have taught me anything, it\u2019s that time is precious. Don\u2019t spend it looking over your shoulder to see who\u2019s waiting for you to fall \u2013 spend it looking into the eyes of the people right in front of you.\u201d<\/p>\n

She came into this story hoping to put a \u201csold\u201d sticker on the final paragraphs. <\/p>\n

Watch this space?<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know whether we will be able to pay back every dollar … but I think it\u2019s a better result than liquidating. We could have done that, and we haven\u2019t. Our administrators have been amazing, they are really gunning for a successful outcome, and it\u2019s been, in a weird way, nice having the guidance and support and that impartiality.\u201d<\/p>\n

On reflection: \u201cThe problem, when you\u2019re financially drowning, is you need help. But you can\u2019t really pay anybody to help. I\u2019ve said I should have pivoted sooner \u2013 in hindsight, I was so in this fog of stress and responsibility and weight that I couldn\u2019t see the wood for the trees.<\/p>\n

\u201cBusinesses rely on this person who starts something because they love it and they\u2019re passionate about it and good at it. Then you get drowned in this responsibility … losing sleep over what is the next thing that is going to break? We can\u2019t control the economy, the weather, the export prices of beef.\u201d<\/p>\n

She imagines a future where there is a Government-led business recovery fund for small to medium operators; free access to pre-approved advisers and someone to speak to before it all goes belly up.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo start a company, someone has to be the director. Is everybody who is starting a hospitality company doing a director\u2019s course? No. Are they working their a*** off and doing 50 jobs at once? Yes.\u201d<\/p>\n

In our last conversation before this story hit its deadline, Gilmour asks whether she\u2019s told me about the piece of paper her mother put by her bed when she was a kid. It contained two words: \u201cdiscipline\u201d and \u201cpersistence\u201d.<\/p>\n

Suggest that, aged 42, she embodies \u201cindefatigable\u201d and Gilmour counters with \u201cemotional and scared but doing my best to look forward\u201d.<\/p>\n

Her hope is a sale will keep the Burger Burger sites open \u2013 and close to 90 staff in jobs. Nothing is guaranteed. And optimism and sheer force of will only go so far.<\/p>\n

What she does know is that every time she walks into Mama, she thinks, \u201cmy God, this restaurant\u2019s beautiful and it\u2019s busy and people love it. We still need this\u201d.<\/p>\n

Whatever happens: \u201cThis will not be the death of Mimi Gilmour\u2019s love for hospitality.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kim Knight joined the New Zealand Herald in 2016 and is a senior reporter on its lifestyle desk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Of course she has a plan. If wealth was measured in sheer force of will, Gilmour would be…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":517662,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[74,28824,36595,1459,36302,156,36597,85915,296,541,15220,36596,32033,111,139,69,48886,26820,106382],"class_list":["post-517661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-after","tag-arrived","tag-burger","tag-email","tag-ending","tag-entertainment","tag-gilmour","tag-holdings","tag-into","tag-limited","tag-line","tag-mimi","tag-moved","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-rebuilding","tag-receivership","tag-subject"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517661","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=517661"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517661\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/517662"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=517661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=517661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=517661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}