Bankruptcy looming for Brussels butcher Jack O'Shea

The three Jack O'Shea butcher shops and Chop House restaurant in Brussels have closed their doors indefinitely this week. The famous chain specialising in Irish meat faces significant financial problems, and a bankruptcy may be on the horizon for the company, writes La Dernière Heure.

Irish butcher Jack O'Shea opened his first shop in Brussels ' European district (pictured) in 1998, and has since expanded his business to include a restaurant and butcher in Rue Sainte-Catherine and another butcher in Chaussée de Waterloo in Uccle. The chain has built up a reputation in Brussels over the years, its name becoming synonymous with high-quality meat, according to many locals.

Despite its success, the company has put an end to the Jack O'Shea legacy. "Nothing has been decided; Everything is possible,” explains Christophe Hoogstoel, corporate attorney for the new manager. “A reopening of some shops, bankruptcy or judicial reorganisation proceedings are all possible scenarios for the future."

The only certainty so far is that the restaurant and the butcher shop in Rue Sainte-Catherine will not reopen, as the commercial sites have already been put back on the rental market. "I am looking for a new tenant, and will give priority to a butcher," the property owner Mrs. Gysels told the newspaper.