EMPLOYEES IN J Donohoe’s hardware and keg distribution businesses are facing an anxious Christmas after it emerged that the company had gone into receivership with certain arms of the business being sold off.
The production and bottling and the wholesale sides of J Donohoe Beverages Ltd were bought out less than 24 hours after the company entered receivership last Wednesday morning, however, staff working within the hardware and keg distribution businesses are now left facing an uncertain future as both businesses are expected to operate as normal under the receiver and sold as going concerns.
The production and bottling businesses in Enniscorthy and Waterford were officially bought out by Admiralford Ltd, trading as The Donohoe Drinks Company and the move was said to have saved the jobs of the 55 people employed there.
Admiralford Ltd, a new company set up last month, is operating with two out of four of the same directors as J Donohoe Beverages Ltd – John Kickham and Michael John Kickham.
The wholesale side of the business has been acquired by a Dundalk based company called East Coast Suppliers in a trade sale. As it currently stands, the 23 staff employed in this section of the business will transfer over and keep thier jobs.
A total of seven people who worked in the J Donohoe Beverages Ltd central office in administrative roles such as finance and IT are already believed to have been let go by the receivers and it is unclear what will happen to the hardware and keg distribution staff who are said to number somewhere in the region of thirty.
The company had run into difficulty in recent years recording a loss of €961,236 in 2013 and a loss of €215,786 the previous year. It paid out over three and a half million euro in wages and salaries in 2013 and it would come as a devastating blow to the local economy should many of these jobs be lost.
A spokesperson for Admiralford Ltd, however, has said that all of the jobs in the production and bottling side of the business are safe.
When contacted, a spokesperson for East Coast Suppliers said that there were no plans to shed any of the 23 jobs in the wholesale business in Enniscorthy either and that they were looking forward to working with those based here.
However, there were no such assurances for the staff in the hardware store and keg distribution business as they now face into Christmas unsure whether they will still have jobs in the new year.
For more, see this week’s Echo.
J Donohoe hardware where it was “business as usual” yesterday morning, but, staff are concerned following the appointment of a receiver.