Korova Corporation, owner and operator of several Liverpool restaurants and bars, has placed two of its venues into administration. Administrators at Begbies Traynor in Preston this morning told Insider that KVRP Ltd, which trades as Korova, and Babycream Ltd, were in their hands, but said that both bars were still operating. The companies are listed in official journal The London Gazette, alongside Babycream subsidiary Stagestyle Ltd, as having appointed Begbies on 8 August. Karen Gutmann, marketing director at Korova Corporation, told Insider: “We are trying to come through the recession fighting. We are shedding unprofitable companies and moving forward with our city centre portfolio.” Earlier this month the company, which was founded by Liverpool leisure entrepreneur Rob Gutmann, sold its Negresco Nord restaurant on Manchester’s Deansgate. His previous venture, the Lyceum Restaurant Group, went into liquidation in December 2005.

Liverpool’s professional services firms aren’t experiencing a significant slowdown as of yet, according to Professionaliverpool’s chief executive Mark Chadwick. Speaking to Insider after the CBI published its quarterly service sector survey, he said that its members remain “cautiously optimistic” and should look to attract opportunities away from London. “Clients there are becoming increasingly resistant to high fee structures and recognise that genuine value and experience is available in centres of professional excellence, like Liverpool,” he said. The CBI survey found that consulting, accounting and legal services firms are experiencing the worst decline in business volumes and values since it began in 1998. One quarter of the 176 UK firms surveyed also reported declining profits since May, while employment has also fallen for the first time in four years.