The collapse of the company of the richest Pole. Multimillion-dollar debts and employees without paychecks
The chain of once popular North Fish fast food restaurants, owned by North Food Polska and offering mainly fish dishes, has had problems with profitability for quite a long time, but at the end of 2025 a definite crisis began.
The company explained its reasons in notices sent to employees at the end of March. They show that it lost financial liquidity already in November 2025. In January this year, it filed for bankruptcy, which was rejected because – as “Wyborcza” reports – the court found that the company did not have money to repay its debts.
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Application for company bankruptcy and group layoffs
North Food, operating in the catering industry for over 20 years, mainly manages the popular North Fish restaurants, specializing in fish dishes. In 2021, it had ambitious plans to enter foreign markets, but in 2024 financial problems already appeared. The company, managed by an entity belonging to Michał Sołowow, found itself in crisis. Financial results dropped and the company began to close its premises.
As written in the letters to employees, quoted by “Wyborcza”, “the company lost financial liquidity in November 2025 and since then it has not been able to settle due liabilities towards contractors and public law institutions.”
And yet, back in November, it seemed that the company would recover. A new president appeared to reassure employees about the company's fate. It was supposed to get a “new life”, there was talk of rebranding and changing the operating concept. As one of North Food's former employees told Wyborcza, in December, during a meeting, the crew heard that “nothing bad was happening” and the employees could “sleep peacefully.”
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The company filed for bankruptcy in January, but it continued to operate even though it was already in shambles. There were problems with payments, deliveries and orders. On March 21, most employees received notice of dismissal as part of group layoffs. They were to receive severance pay and compensation for the shortened notice period in April. However, they have not received it so far. To some people, the company currently owes several or even several dozen thousand. PLN – informs “Wyborcza”.
The editors of “Gazeta Wyborcza” have not yet received an answer to their questions sent to Michał Sołowow – a billionaire who controls, among others, companies from the construction industry, such as Cersanit or Barlinek, the founder of Synthos Green Energy – a company that is to develop small nuclear reactors.
According to the latest ranking of the richest Poles by Forbes, the Polish businessman's fortune reached PLN 27 billion 648 million.
