1,251 jobs saved by examinership process
Examinership helped saving a total of 1,251 jobs this year, according to the latest Hughes Blake Examinership Index. That is up slightly from the figure of 1,243 in 2014.
The success rate for examinerships in 2015 stands at 83%, with 29 successful cases out of a total of 35. Last year the 90% of examinerships proved successful.
The study said that many of the firms behind those figures are retailers, which are still struggling to deal with issues from the recession, including unsustainable leases and high debts. The ability of the Circuit Court to hear examinership cases has seen numbers rise sharply in recent years and accountancy firm Hughes Blake has forecast that trend to continue into 2016.
“Despite the prevailing positivity and the upbeat consumer sentiment, we are now seeing evidence that troubled SMEs, most notably in the retail sector, are realising that they need to address fundamental issues head-on to avoid simply limping towards inevitable closure,” said Neil Hughes, Managing Partner at Hughes Blake.
He said there were plenty of examples of retail names we are all familiar with opting to take the decision to restructure and survive this year. These companies included Mothercare and Best Menswear.
“Seeing other businesses beginning to make strides and undertake ambitious expansion plans will spur those with legacy issues to address them rather than continuing to do nothing in the hope that they will go away on their own,” he added.
Examinership is a process in Irish law whereby the protection of the Court is obtained to assist the survival of a company. It allows a company to restructure with the approval of the High Court.
