Court appoints examiner to troubled Northern Irish fit-out firm

The High Court in Dublin has appointed an interim examiner to troubled Newry-based fit-out firm MAC-Interiors. 

The company, which has been in business for more than two decades and has offices in Newry, Dublin, London and Birmingham, is incorporated in Northern Ireland. 

It is registered for tax in the Republic of Ireland, however, and has sought protection from its creditors in that country’s courts, on the basis that most of its employees and its biggest workloads are based there. 

A loose equivalent of administration, examinership is a process in Irish company law by which court protection is obtained to assist the survival of a company, allowing it to restructure with the approval of the High Court. 

It is only available in instances where a company is insolvent but there is a possibility of survival. 

According to accounts filed at Companies House in the UK, MAC-Interiors turned over £117m in the 18 months to 30 June 2021, recording just under £1m pre-tax profit in the same period.  

This reporting period was extended to 18 months to encapsulate the immediate impact of covid-19 in one set of financial results, according to a statement by the chief executive.  

The firm specialises in office fit-out and serviced a range of blue-chip clients including PayPal, Microsoft, Mastercard, Unilever, Workday and Bristol Myer Squibb, but ran into trouble due to losses on UK construction jobs, as well as the challenges of the pandemic and the subsequent inflationary environment. 

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Company founder and managing director, Paul McKenna, said: “This is a difficult period for us as a company but we have acted responsibly and sensibly in order to create the opportunity for future stability and the safe delivery of the projects we are working on currently and those starting in the near future.  

“We have been building MAC for over 20 years and we have taken this step because we believe strongly that we have the right team and the relationships with our suppliers and clients to come through this period with our business in a stronger position and our projects delivered on-time and on-budget.  

“We will start work with the interim examiner immediately to help bring in new investment and to chart a positive way forward for the business.”

Kieran Wallace of Interpath Advisory has been appointed as the interim examiner, with a confirmation hearing is scheduled for 14 June. 

The Irish News has reported that MAC-Interiors had taken steps to address its financial problems, including cutting more than half its staff – numbers dropping from 85 to 41.