The company behind an award-winning Edinburgh “gourmet” burger chain – which started off in a shipping container – has run aground leaving potential debts of almost £120,000.
Secure Kitchens Ltd, the company which launched Luxford Burgers, was placed into liquidiation on 9 January but its owner Alexander Galpin is shortlisted in a prestigious business awards ceremony to be held later this week.
Luxford Burgers was started from a shipping container in Leith in 2020 as a “click and collect” and delivery service before opening its first restaurant in St Leonard’s Street in March 2022. A second restaurant in Brandon Terrace opened last September and delivery-only units operated in Glasgow, Manchester, Nottingham and Leeds.
Mr Galpin’s LinkedIn profile states he is Executive Director of hospitality management business Galpin Group which “owns and operates a portfolio of restaurants across the UK, with a combined gross turnover of £6m+ per annum”.
Last year his business acumen was recognised when he received the Rising Star of the Year Award at the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce Business Awards and he was also the recipient of Deliveroo’s 2024 Independent Restaurant of the Year Award in Scotland.
In the 2025 Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce awards – due to take place on Thursday – Luxford Burgers is shortlisted in the High Growth Business of the Year category, which prompted Mr Galpin to say: “Incredibly proud that we have been nominated for the High Growth Business of the Year by Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce for the second year running! Let’s hope we smash it this year.”
But The Edinburgh Reporter can reveal that on 9 January the company behind the Luxford brand, Secure Kitchens Ltd, was placed into liquidation with 17 creditors owed a total of just under £135,000. This followed the compulsory striking off from the Companies House register and dissolution of another Galpin owned firm, Galpin Holdings Ltd, in October 2024.
Insolvency specialists Begbies Traynor have been appointed liquidators of Secure Kitchens Ltd and lodged a “statement of affairs” at Companies House which shows Secure Kitchens Ltd.’s largest creditor is His Majesty’s Revenue & Customs who are due £75,661 in unpaid VAT and PAYE, with almost £3,000 also due to HMRC in respect of corporation tax.
Other creditors include Bookers (£18,812), British Gas (£7,969), City of Edinburgh Council (£6,900), American Express (£5,959) and Borders supplier Shaw’s Fine Meats Innerleithen (£3,402). Smaller Edinburgh creditors include Change Waste (£3,515.08), Pace Print (£373.80) and Caledonian Heating & Plumbing (£312.18).
The Begbies Traynor report shows that Secure Kitchens Ltd had assets available to preferential creditors of £48,768, but once the £76,000 debt to 2nd preferential creditor HMRC’s was factored in, there was a deficit of approximately £26,893. Non preferential creditors including trade creditors, banks, pensions and utilities are due a further £91,976 taking the total deficit of £118,869.
On his LinkedIn profile Mr Galpin said he has launched, acquired and scaled several virtual and physical concepts and to have been a pioneer in dark kitchens and ghost kitchen models, adding: “…I bring diverse perspectives and experiences to the team, thanks to my academic background in politics and my interest in global affairs.”
Mr Galpin also owned and operated bao bun street food specialist Ozen Street Foods located at St James Quarter in Edinburgh but this was sold to UK City Foods last November for an undisclosed sum.
When contacted by The Edinburgh Reporter, Alexander Galpin said Secure Kitchens Ltd started to experience cash flow problems in March 2023 and after seeking independent financial advice it was discovered management accounts had been prepared inaccurately and the business was found to be trading at a loss. Cost cutting measures to address the situation included closing its operations in Nottingham and Leeds.
Luxford Burgers and the two Edinburgh restaurants are continuing to trade through Got Buns Ltd, a company set up on 14 June 2024 with Mr Galpin and Alexis Bedetti-Dato listed as directors, and Mr Galpin as the majority shareholder with Andrew Hinchcliffe named as a minority shareholder.
Mr Galpin said: “I am proud that because of our actions, we saved 37 jobs (27 of which are Edinburgh-based) and our new trading company has paid over £100,000 to HMRC already. Whilst we leave a shortfall behind in our last trading company, the net total is positive.
“I was 18 when Luxford first opened in Edinburgh, and a university side-project has evolved into a multi-city enterprise with people and product at its core. A situation caused by no fault of our own, had to be rectified and the actions we took were tough but necessary: we cut off a limb to save the body. I myself am a creditor of the company to the sum of £20,000 – this was not an action to make a gain for ourselves or to profit.”
Stephen Rafferty is a former crime correspondent at The Scotsman and was a staff reporter for the Daily Record and Edinburgh Evening News. He has freelanced for many of the Scottish and UK national newspaper titles. Got a story? Get in touch - stephen@theedinburghreporter.co.uk
