The Business Post is reporting today that an interim examiner has been appointed to the owner of 12 hospitality venues in Dublin including The Workman’s Club.
The examiner was appointed after a demand for payment of €4.5m for guarantees on loans was called in by Relm Finance, which were initially given by former directors of the company, which include Paddy McKillen jnr, the High Court heard.
Workman’s Club Limited is a company with 362 employees under the control of Press Up Ltd, now called Eclective Hospitality Group, after its take over from London-based financial firm Cheyne Capital earlier this year.
Workman’s Club Limited runs the music venue The Workmans Club, along with hospitality venues like Angelina’s, Bison Bar, John’s Bar, Mary’s Bar and Hardware, Vintage Cocktail Club and Doolally among others.
“The decision to petition the courts for protection for Workman’s Club Limited is a necessary step to protect jobs, maintain operations, and to secure the long-term sustainability of the business,” Patrick Sheehan, the chief restructuring officer of Eclective said.
“Despite these efforts, it is clear examinership is required to address these historic issues, to put the company on a sustainable path, and it is business as usual at all our venues.”
Despite that, it emerged this week that the basement venue The Workman’s Cellar is to undergo some changes from late June.
This week, all scheduled gigs and club nights previously booked into The Cellar after late June were cleared for the remainder of the calendar year to allow for the refurbishment to take place.
It’s not clear as yet if The Cellar will return as a music venue and club space after the refurbishment.
Niall Byrne is the founder of the most-influential Irish music site Nialler9, where he has been writing about music since 2005. He is the co-host of the Nialler9 Podcast and has written for the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Sunday Times, Totally Dublin, Cara Magazine, Red Bull and more. Niall is a DJ, co-founder of Lumo Club, event curator, Indie Sleaze club promoter, and producer of gigs and monthly listening parties & events in Dublin.
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