Rooftop Gardens Ltd, one of several companies involved in running the venue in Rose Lane, appointed liquidators on February 5.

In total, the company owes creditors more than £2.6 million, including £1.8 million to its sole director and shareholder, Antonia Hillier, according to its statement of affairs on Companies House.

The 50-year-old is also the sole director of Oceanfront GOS Ltd, a company listed on the Rooftop Gardens website which entered liquidation last month owing creditors £1.2 million, including £408,000 to HMRC.

Oceanfront GOS was put into voluntary liquidation on January 27, a day before it was due in court after the tax office filed a winding-up petition to shut the company down.

Rooftop Gardens is located at the top of the Union Building on Rose Lane, Norwich (Image: Archant)

Norfolk County Council and Norwich City Council are among the creditors of both companies after giving the businesses Covid grants worth up to £25,000 to support the bar and restaurant during the pandemic.

Another company, Norfolk Business Management Ltd, is also listed on the Rooftop Gardens website.

It was renamed Eastern Energy Group Ltd in 2021 and currently has no active directors or shareholders after Jamie Rennie resigned from both positions earlier this month.

Rooftop Gardens, which is still trading and taking bookings, is located at the top of the Union Building on Rose Lane.

Antonia Hillier could not be reached for comment.

HMRC said it could not comment on an individual business.

The Union Building on Rose Lane (Image: Denise Bradley)

A company called ODR Management Ltd is now believed to be running Rooftop Gardens.

The company, which also has its registered address at the Union Building, was set up in April last year, with Mr Rennie listed as its sole director.

Among Rooftop Gardens Ltd's 17 creditors was JRR Management Ltd, which is owed almost £63,000. The company is also owned by Mr Rennie and is based at the Union Building.

The Union Building was raided by HMRC in September 2024 as part of an operation to tackle suspected abuse of the research and development (R&D) tax relief scheme.

Warrants were executed at two companies in the building, Green Jellyfish and Kirby and Haslam.

Eleven arrests on suspicion of tax relief fraud were made across the country.

An inquiry is understood to be ongoing.

The Union Building on Rose Lane (Image: Denise Bradley)

The licensee of Rooftop Gardens is listed as a company called Harold and Sons Ltd.

Its sole director is Sotiris Christophi, 54, the brother of Ms Hillier.

Oceanfront GOS' largest creditor, owed £540,000, was Caps Property Ltd - a company Ms Hillier and Mr Christophi are joint directors of.

Caps Property Ltd also owns the Cliff Hotel building in Gorleston.

Mr Christophi owns the Union Building and is linked to a web of companies occupying the building.

He is named as the person with significant control of Kirby and Haslam, and internal company documents described him as a stakeholder in Green Jellyfish, which has since ceased trading.

After the raids, both Green Jellyfish and Kirby and Haslam said they were "fully cooperating" with the investigation and had "nothing to hide".

Last year, Mr Christophi was involved in a High Court battle over the ownership of Great Yarmouth’s Atlantis Tower.

Atlantis Tower in Great Yarmouth (Image: Archant)

The judge said he had "likely" attempted to bribe Besnik Ademaj, who was involved in the dispute, with a £50,000 Cartier watch, according to court papers.

Mr Christophi said the gift of a Cartier watch was a demonstration of trust and friendship, not a bribe.

However, the judge said “on the balance of probabilities” it was likelier that it was an attempted bribe, which proved unsuccessful.

At the time Mr Christophi said he had always conducted himself "lawfully and with integrity".

© Eastern Daily Press