‘We made mistakes along the way’: Billson’s Beverages calls in voluntary administrators

The Billson’s, which was founded by husband-and-wife team Nathan and Felicity Cowan in 2017, is located on the site of a historic brewery at Beechworth in eastern Victoria and is a major tourism drawcard for the township.

The business is now in the control of McGrathNicol Restructuring partners Rob Smith and Matthew Hutton, who say they will be seeking a buyer to keep the business going. They expect the sale process to garner significant interest from prospective buyers.

In the meantime, the administrators plan to continue operating the company’s restaurant, bar and retail venue at Beechworth, as well as its online store, as normal.

In a social media post, Cowan says the couple made the “excruciatingly difficult decision” to place Billson’s into voluntary administration.

“In 2017 Felicity and I moved to Beechworth with dreams of restoring the historic brewery and creating a special experience for everyone who visited,” he says.

“Together with the team, we’ve poured our hearts and souls into Billson’s and we are proud of everything that has been accomplished.”

Cowan paid tribute to the “hard work and passion” of the Billson’s team which has led to “overwhelming support by people all over Australia and some pretty incredible business growth”.

“Unfortunately, that growth masked several mistakes we made along the way as our systems and processes failed to keep up,” he says.

“We’re ultimately responsible for these mistakes and we know that we have let people down. We are devastated and sorry.”

The company is among a swag of craft breweries across Australia that have been impacted by the downturn in consumer spending and high government excise tax on spirits and beer.

“We are shattered by the stress this decision will undoubtedly cause our team, suppliers, customers and fans,” says Cowan.

“We’ve tried everything imaginable over the past six months to avoid this situation, including restructuring on two occasions, however we now believe this to be the necessary step for survival.”

The administrators say they are undertaking an urgent assessment of Billson’s business while options for its sale or recapitalisation are explored.

“We are engaging with key stakeholders to maximise the prospect of successfully completing a sale or recapitalisation of Billson’s," says administrator Rob Smith.

"Our immediate focus is to undertake an assessment of Billson’s assets and work alongside management, employees, suppliers, and customers to secure the best outcome for all parties. We anticipate launching a business sale process imminently, which we anticipate will garner significant interest.”

Cowan points out that the Beechworth brewery building has stood in place for the past 150 years and that it “undoubtedly faced many other perilous times”.

“The challenges we’ve encountered in 2024 have been vast and incomprehensible in scale,” he says.

“We will do everything possible to work through this so Billson’s can emerge more resilient as a business and ready to take on another century.

“We know how difficult the current environment is out there for everyone. With so many family businesses teetering on the edge, any support you are able to provide your local businesses, in any way at all, will mean more now than ever.”

While Cowan acknowledges the “shortcomings” that have led to the company’s current challenges, he says they will “never give up”.

“With all of its remarkable local history, we believe that Billson’s will get through this, so people can enjoy it, well into the future.”

The Beechworth brewery building is considered to be Australia's oldest tower brewery, which was founded in 1865 by George Billson. He later sold it to Murray Breweries which owned it for more than a century before the Cowan acquired it in 2017 and kept the tradition going by using some of the brewery's original recipes for their products.