Pavilion Hale Café Firm Moves to Liquidation, Library Open

The company that ran the café at the Pavilion in Hale has taken the first formal step towards liquidation. The London Gazette published a notice on 19 August 2026 convening a meeting of the creditors of The Pavilion Hale Ltd, to be held at 11.30am on 26 August by telephone conference.

The building itself is not affected. Hale Library, which occupies the same premises at 25 Cecil Road, is open on its normal hours. The Pavilion was built by Hale Community Trust, a registered charity, which says the café is temporarily closed and that it is looking for a new operator.

What the notice actually says

The notice was given under section 100 of the Insolvency Act 1986 and rules 6.14 and 15.8 of the Insolvency (England and Wales) Rules 2016. That is the route a company takes into a creditors’ voluntary liquidation: the director calls the creditors together to appoint a liquidator.

The meeting was convened to consider four things:

• the appointment of a liquidator
• the establishing of a liquidation committee
• approval of the fees and costs of placing the company into liquidation
• approval of the basis of the liquidator’s fees and disbursements

The notice was signed on 14 August 2026 by Nicholas Banks, recorded as the company’s director, and names Darren Edwards (insolvency practitioner number 10350) as qualified to act. Proxy forms and proofs of debt were to be sent to Exigen Group Limited, trading as Liquidation Centre, in London (The Gazette, notice 5193418).

A section 100 notice is a proposal, not an outcome. As of 3 September, Companies House still records The Pavilion Hale Ltd as an active company, with no liquidation documents filed, and the Gazette carries no notice of a liquidator’s appointment. Its last accounts were made up to 31 January 2025 and its next set is not due until 31 October 2026 (Companies House, company 14596004).

Who the company is

The Pavilion Hale Ltd was incorporated on 16 January 2023 and registered under SIC code 56101, licensed restaurants. Both its registered office and its principal trading address are given as 25 Cecil Road, Hale, Altrincham, WA15 9NT, the Pavilion building itself.

Its filing history shows a change earlier this year. On 20 May 2026 a second director, Louise Marie Banks, was recorded as having left the board, and ceased to be a person with significant control on the same date. That left one director in place, the one who signed the August notice.

The café’s food hygiene record is clean. The Food Standards Agency register shows The Pavilion, 25 Cecil Road, WA15 9NT rated 5, very good, inspected by Trafford Council on 31 July 2025 (FSA food hygiene rating, FHRSID 1605437).

What Hale Community Trust says

The Trust that owns the Pavilion has published a community update on its own website. It carries no date, and reads in full:

The café is temporarily closed following the decision of the current operator to step away from the business.

The library continues to operate as normal and we remain fully committed to the future of our community hub.

We are now seeking a new operator to build on the foundations already established and help realise the full potential of the café and community facilities.

We look forward to sharing further updates soon.

Hale Community Trust is a registered charity, number 1166878, run by a board of unpaid trustee volunteers. Its stated first project was the library and community centre on the site of the old bowling pavilion, intended to be owned by the Trust and run day to day by a management committee of local people (Hale Community Trust).

The Trust is small on paper. Its Charity Commission entry, which the regulator records as up to date, shows six trustees and, for the financial year ending 31 December 2024, total income of £6,580 and total expenditure of £480 (Charity Commission: Hale Community Trust, 1166878). Those are the figures the charity itself has declared to the regulator.

Neither the Trust nor the company has said publicly when the café might reopen, or how a new operator should apply.

What it means for you

The library is open. Hale Library at 25 Cecil Road runs on these hours (Trafford Council: Hale Library):

The library can be reached on 0161 912 3189 or at hale.library@trafford.gov.uk.

If you are owed money, or hold a gift voucher or a deposit for a booking, you are a creditor. The route is to submit a proof of debt to the convener named in the Gazette notice. Anyone in doubt about whether they qualify should take their own advice; the free Business Debtline and Citizens Advice both cover this ground.

Nothing here says the café will not reopen. The Trust owns the building and says it wants an operator. What has changed is that the company that held the last one is now in a formal insolvency process, so any reopening will be under a new name.

We publish what the official registers record, and a company or its officers are entitled to respond. If The Pavilion Hale Ltd or Hale Community Trust wants to add anything, we will publish it in full.

Our Altrincham directory lists cafés and restaurants across Hale, Altrincham and Sale.

Sources

• The Gazette, notice 5193418, 19 August 2026 for the section 100 meeting of creditors, the 26 August meeting time, the business to be considered, the named director and insolvency practitioner, and the convener’s address.
• Companies House, The Pavilion Hale Ltd (14596004) for the incorporation date, the SIC code, the registered office, the company status on 3 September 2026 and the accounts dates.
• Companies House filing history for the 20 May 2026 director termination and PSC cessation.
• Hale Community Trust for the community update quoted in full and the Trust’s description of the project.
• Charity Commission register: Hale Community Trust, 1166878 for the charity number, the six trustees and the income and expenditure for the year ending 31 December 2024.
• Trafford Council: Hale Library for the address, opening hours, phone number and email.
• Food Standards Agency food hygiene register, FHRSID 1605437 for the rating of 5 awarded on 31 July 2025 by Trafford Council.