Get the stories that matter to you sent straight to your inbox with our daily newsletter. Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

The award-winning MacCallums of Troon empire has been sunk, reeling from massive debts.

The astonishing news emerged on Tuesday that the business - including the queued-out Wee Hurrie takeaway and busy Oyster Bar - has failed.

We can reveal unscrupulous restaurants who have failed to pay the firm’s wholesale arm bought them down.

It is thought MacCallums is owed tens of thousands of pounds.

The company - run for the past five years by the MacCallum brothers James and John - was put into administration to try and preserve it as a whole.

A total of 49 staff are employed and now a battle is on to find a new owner.

The development was so sudden that some Wee Hurrie lovers in Troon gasped in shock.

Thankfully the doors will remain open and joint administrator Scott Milne is hopeful a sale can be achieved quickly.

He told the Ayrshire Post: “There have been no job losses and we are continuing to trade.

“It is a tremendously popular business and this is very sad for the owners.”

Brothers John, 61, and James, 55, have been at the helm since May 2010 but have both been in the seafood sector for more than three decades.

Poignantly the family again supported the blessing of Troon Harbour by providing tray-loads of lovely fish at completely no charge for the crowd.

In reality WRI Associates in Glasgow had been appointed as administrators after being brought in by the brothers.

The Wee Hurrie is regularly queued out the door and tables at the adjoining Oyster Bar can be difficult to get.

Ironically last week the place was busy and the car park crammed with luxury cars.

More recently MacCallums opened a smokehouse behind the Troon site and a fish and chip shop in Bearsden.

In 2012 the Wee Hurrie became the fish and chip shop of the year in a national award.

Mr Milne confirmed he is already in talks with “interested parties” and is seeking more potential buyers.

He said: “MacCallums of Troon Limited is an established and well-regarded business, and its restaurants in Troon and Bearsden are extremely popular with both visitors and local residents alike.

“Its Glasgow based wholesale operation supplies a number of well known restaurants in Glasgow and surrounding areas.

“The information available to us suggests this is fundamentally a profitable business, however cash flow difficulties have recently arisen from bad debts and the failure of certain customers to make payment within agreed terms.

“This has given rise to rising creditor pressure, necessitating the administration appointment being made with the intention of best protecting the business and preserving jobs via a going concern sale”