Irish whiskey maker Waterford Distillery has appointed receivers for the business.
A statement on the company’s website today (28 November) viewed by Just Drinks said Mark Degnan and Daryl McKenna of financial advisory group Interpath had been picked as joint receivers.
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“As of now, all retail sales have been temporarily suspended”, the notice said.
In a statement sent to Just Drinks, Interpath said that given “financial pressures”, Waterford had been dealing with financial advisors to find a “turnaround solution” for the business.
After this failing to be a success, the company is said to have invited HSBC bank to appoint joint receivers.
Distillation at the site “ceased prior to the invitation to appoint receivers”, Interpath said.
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By GlobalDataAll 29 employees are to be kept on until the new year when a consultation period will begin.
The appointed receivers are expected to consider searching for a buyer as well as the sale of the distillery or certain assets, according to The Irish Times.
CEO Reynier founded Waterford Distillery in 2015, after he acquired a brewery from Diageo in County Waterford, south east Ireland.
In a social media post on X yesterday (28 November), Reynier said: “Yes, I’m afraid it’s true.”
He added in a separate post, “I guess, though little comfort right now: ‘better to have tried and failed – than never to have tried at all.’ Our Waterford team have been superb – I’m sorry to have let them down.”
In the Interpath statement, Reynier said he was “incredibly proud” of the business.
He added: “It has been a difficult decision to mothball our processes and seek the appointment of receivers to assist the company stakeholders, but I’m committed to working with the receivers to find a solution that can secure the future of the business and distilling in Waterford. I would like to thank the hard work and dedication of all our staff over the past number of years.”
Speaking to Just Drinks in May, Reynier spoke about having experienced a “pretty difficult period”, with high interest rates, and tall costs for barley and energy.
He also said that 2023 had been “a difficult year. It had been difficult for us , particularly reorganising our distribution post-Covid.”
Waterford’s main markets is the US, which it saw as posing opportunity for the business due to “movements for slow food and getting back to regenerative farming… growing, particularly there”. The business also sells to the UK and Europe, and has a small presence in Japan.
