Rathwood has entered examinership and Padraic Bermingham of Strata Financial in Dublin has been appointed interim examiner, the company confirmed on Monday.
The move follows the formal stoppage on Sunday evening of an earlier Small Company Administrative Rescue Process that began late last week when Gerard Murphy & Co entered that scheme. Rathwood published a statement over the weekend saying it would "continue to trade as normal and operate fully in accordance with all applicable laws," and repeated on Monday: "Our business remains open, and we are continuing to sell goods and engage with customers and stakeholders as usual."
The company also told customers bluntly: "At this time, we regret that we are not in a position to address any outstanding payments or refund requests relating to amounts owed up to today." That, together with the appointment of Bermingham as interim examiner, is likely to be the decisive detail for thousands of unpaid or undelivered orders placed through Rathwood's website.
Rathwood said any short-term support it receives from creditors will be "specifically aimed at new business," and that customers waiting for refunds or deliveries of products ordered before last Friday are unlikely to get clarity until the examinership process comes to an end. There are already fears that customers as unsecured creditors may be left with nothing.
Over the weekend Rathwood's directors received details of the examinership application and fresh proposals made by creditors Paleo and Anhui Living. The two creditors submitted new terms to Rathwood creditors while the earlier rescue route was formally stopped on Sunday evening.
The creditors' fresh proposals follow a strategic move by the retailer last September when Rathwood entered what it called "a strategic partnership" with Anhui. Rathwood said that partnership would give it access to "300+ factories across China, Malaysia and Vietnam" and provide "fulfilment from new warehouses in Germany and the UK." The company has promoted that tie-up as central to expanding supply and distribution.
Rathwood is a home and garden retailer based on the Carlow-Wicklow border and has been operating for more than 30 years. It grew into one of the biggest outdoor living retailers in the State, but the business has been under strain: last year customers who bought garden furniture and firewood through Rathwood's website were left waiting months for orders to be delivered, and some customers reported delays of at least two months.
The contrast between promises about new fulfilment and the immediate practical problem — unpaid orders and missing deliveries — is the core tension now playing out. Rathwood is continuing to trade and sell goods while the examinership begins, yet it admits it cannot address outstanding payments for past orders. Any cash injected in the short term is expressly targeted at new sales, not to settle previous claims.
What happens next centres on the examinership process that Bermingham will steer. Examinership is designed to give companies breathing space to reorganise while an examiner assesses whether a rescue or compromise with creditors is feasible. Rathwood says the matters it cannot address now "will be reviewed as part of the examinership process, and we will provide further updates once the appointed persons have completed their initial report."
For customers who paid and are still waiting — and for unsecured suppliers and other creditors — the single consequential question is whether the examinership will produce a plan that protects prior payments or simply preserves the business by funding new orders. If the short-term support is limited to new business, as Rathwood warns, many of those unpaid claims risk being subordinated in the process and could be left with little or nothing when the examinership concludes.
