Media publication and production company Packed House has sought protection from its creditors with the appointment of a Process Adviser.
Diarmaid Guthrie of Baker Tilly has been appointed Process Adviser at two Packed House operating companies, Sortridge Ltd and its parent company Castleforbes Investments Ltd. Guthrie has also taken on the PA role at Entertainment Media Networks Ltd, also owned by Castleforbes Investments.
The companies are availing of Scarp, the Small Companies Administrative Rescue Process, which has been billed ‘examinership-lite’.
Packed House online properties include Entertainment.ie, Beaut.ie, Familyfriendly.ie and The Sports Chronicle.
Sortridge director Mike Ormonde runs Pearl and Dean, the UK cinema advertising group, and its operation Wide Eye Media.
In Association with
Castleforbes Investments is owned by Step Investments Ltd, an offshore company registered in the Isle of Man.
The Sortridge Ltd accounts filing for 2020 disclosed net current liabilities of €3.9m, of which trade creditors amounted to €770,000. December 2020 tax debt was €677,000, up from €289,000 a year earlier.
Period-end trade debtors were €302,000, down from €366,000 a year earlier, and balance sheet cash was €120.
The Sortridge employee total had ben reduced from 33 in December 2020 to 19 people at the time of the Process Adviser appointment.
Sortridge lenders include Duke Royalty UK, best known in the Irish market for funding Welltel's expansion.
