Hong Kong dining group Castelo Concepts fails to make pension fund contributions to 140 employees, regulator says

The MPFA has helped around 370 affected employees recover pension fund contribution arrears since 2018

The dining group was founded by the late restaurateur Wayne Parfitt who passed away in June 2019

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Dining group Castelo Concepts fails to make pension fund contributions, says regulator. Photo: SCMP / Edmond So

Published: 8:40pm, 28 Jul 2023Updated: 11:21pm, 28 Jul 2023

Castelo Concepts, the dining group that closed nine of its eateries across Hong Kong after creditors pressed its investors into liquidation, did not make Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) contributions for 140 of its employees between April and June this year, according to the city’s pension regulator.

The catering group, which owns a number of restaurants including Jaspa’s, K Town Bar and Grill, Little Lucie’s Hong Kong, Pepperonis, Piccolos, St. Barts, and Ollies, has a record of repeatedly defaulting on its MPF contributions to employees, according to a statement by the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority (MPFA) on Friday.

The MPFA has helped around 370 affected employees recover pension fund contribution arrears and associated charges since December 2018, totalling HK$7 million (US$900,000).

Since Castelo Concepts has started the creditors’ voluntary winding-up process, the MPFA will submit the proof of debt on behalf of the 140 affected employees to the liquidator, hand over the arrears to the MPF trustees, and deposit the money directly into the affected employees’ MPF accounts, according to the statement.

The dining group, founded by the late restaurateur Wayne Parfitt who passed away in June 2019, is one of the companies still struggling with financial wounds in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and anti-government street protests that began in 2019.

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