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1880 Hong Kong club folds after 7 months, accused of owing staff unpaid wages
City’s branch of Singapore-based private club ceases operations allegedly owing rent and leaving more than 100 staff out of pocket
Emily Hung9:08pm, 1 Jun 2025
The Hong Kong branch of a Singapore-based private club that closed after just seven months in operation has been accused of owing rent and wages of more than 100 employees, with the Labour Department receiving requests for help from affected workers.
1880 Hong Kong, located at Swire Properties’ Two Taikoo Place office complex in Quarry Bay, on Friday announced it was closing, citing “cash flow difficulties” and failed attempts to raise funds. All memberships and associated privileges were discontinued.
The landlord told the Post that “rent and other arrears” were still owed but declined to disclose more details due to confidentiality concerns. The landlord has repossessed the premises.
The club, which opened its doors on November 8 last year, occupied four floors offering event spaces, a gym with spa facilities and several restaurants.
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In an internal letter seen by the Post, founder Marc Nicolson apologised to his employees for the closure, saying the “deal” they had been trying to close had been unsuccessful.
He said he had believed he could raise the capital to save the company, but he acknowledged his efforts were in vain, saying “I was wrong and I’m deeply sorry”.
In a separate letter to members, Nicolson stated that 1880 Singapore would continue under a new group, and all members of the Hong Kong branch would receive a one-year overseas membership.
Two former kitchen staff, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they were owed about HK$50,000 (US$6,376) and HK$90,000 in outstanding salaries, respectively, excluding payments in lieu of notice and untaken annual leave.
They claimed to be among more than 100 employees, ranging from kitchen staff to office workers, who had not been fully paid since April.
The pair said they only received HK$5,000 that month and were promised the remaining amount the following week, as the company had found a new investor and funds were supposedly being transferred.
But the unpaid wages never arrived, and the company continued to provide new excuses, they said.
“Some staff stopped coming to work and were given one month of salary immediately, so they came back and kept the club running,” said one of the victims.
“It was really unfair that some got fully paid, but most only got paid HK$5,000 from April.”
Another staff member said that there were signs the company was cash-strapped as early as February. He said only 60 per cent of wages were paid for that month, with the remainder disbursed a week later.
“We could see the business was not so good in the day-to-day operations, the foot traffic was not very good and there was a lot of spending on unnecessary things … like over ordering ingredients and buying expensive equipment we don’t use very often,” he said.
He added that business was not bad in the first few months but dinner was never busy, except when they had pre-booked events.
1880 Hong Kong, located at Two Taikoo Place in Quarry Bay announced its immediate cessation of operations on Friday, citing cash flow difficulties and failed attempts to raise funds. Photo: InvestHK
Business later declined even during lunch hours, which he attributed to poor planning, such as menu options taking too long to prepare.
“Some tables had to wait 40 minutes for food, but most customers were office workers,” he said.
He also highlighted that the company “strategically” paid a small number of staff who had stopped working to keep operations going.
In early May, some staff members were reportedly told that the company would file for bankruptcy immediately if they stopped coming to work.
“At the end of May, the company was still hiring new staff to cover the old staff that resigned and had not yet been paid, but they already knew they had no money to pay the new staff.”
Both former employees tried to contact the employer but only received one letter telling them to seek help from the Labour Department to claim the unpaid wages.
In response, the department said it was supporting the affected workers who sought help from them and called on other victims to come forward.
The Post has reached out to the company for comment.
Canadian Marc Nicholson founded the first 1880 club at Robertson Quay in Singapore in 2017 after spending 20 years as an entrepreneur including running his own advertising agency in the city state.
