Mad Butcher 'should have remained a franchised chain'

Financial adviser Chris Lee said Veritas should never have been a publicly-listed company.  He said Mad Butcher should have remained a franchised chain of butcheries. "The public should not have been asked to put up money."

Veritas said it would write down the value of its assets by $5.4 million. It is also looking for a chief executive.

Veritas was formed in 2011 through a reverse share market listing. It operates the Mad Butcher franchisor business, has a half share in Kiwi Pacific Foods, owns nosh Food Market and the Better Bar Company.

In a sharemarket update, Veritas said most Mad Butcher stores were trading profitably and the brand was a major contributor to the group's profitability.

But it was not without problems.

"Currently, there are five VIL-owned stores in the network that, in spite of extensive support from the franchisor, have consistently failed to achieve budgets for a number of reasons, including location and the inability to find appropriately qualified and experienced franchisees."