A large restaurant has closed two years after opening with a spectacular refurbishment. The doors of the town centre and cocktail bar have been padlocked and the company has gone into 'creditors voluntary liquidation'. Independent Bocca Social after moving into the former home of chain restaurant Carluccio's.
A stunning interior was created, with huge floral decorations throughout the venue. There was a sumptuous function room on the first floor, which had its own bar. The restaurant, a former NatWest bank, had elegant high ceilings, and the interiors were light and bright with velvet green and rose banquettes.
But the Italian restaurant has been shut for many weeks and Companies House shows winding up of the insolvent company started on June 13. Because of this its premises licence has lapsed, said . This week, the tables and chairs, still looking as though they were ready for customers, could be seen in the darkened restaurant through the windows.
The last post on , where the restaurant had four stars out of a possible five from 69 reviews, was on July 13, 2024. The reviews varied wildly, with some raving about it: "Great food, great service! Recommend the vodka pasta and the goats cheese balls"; to others being critical, such as: "There was no visible management on site and it showed. An overall very disappointing experience".
The location for this venue looks good on paper: it is opposite Tunbridge Wells railway station, near one of Tunbridge Wells' beautiful public parks, and has the Great Hall council car park about 30 steps away. It is also positioned between the top and bottom ends of the Tunbridge Wells 'town spine' and for the winter season, it is a matter of steps away from the hugely popular Tunbridge Wells Skate ice rink and attractions. Carluccio's, which always looked busy during the day, crowded with lunching ladies enjoying wine, had shut in 2020.
The Italian chain went into administration. The decision to go into administration followed a "sustained period of challenging trading conditions, which have been exacerbated by Covid-19, . The chain was taken over but a number of branches closed.
There are currently no planning applications for the Mount Pleasant corner building. There was another Bocca Social in Beckenham, but that states on Instagram it is closed, and its last post was in July last year. explains 'creditors' voluntary liquidation'.
It said if a company could not pay its debts, it might put itself into liquidation, which is what Bocca Social has done and it is called CVL. A company is insolvent, which means it can't any more pay its debts and that means it owes money to its creditors. The main plus for a company's directors and shareholders doing CVL is it gives them can control as far as when their company goes into liquidation and who it appoints as liquidator, who would deal with any legal action against the company once it is in CVL.
tried to contact Bocca Social for comment via phone, email and social media, but did not get a response by the time this report was published..
