Family-owned animal feed firm in Kinsale placed in receivership

Family-owned feed milling business Henry Good was placed in receivership yesterday, brought down by a historic debt of close to €4 million.

The company, which supplies all kinds of livestock feed in the domestic market, tried to resolve its cashflow problems by seeking to cut costs while also trying to bring a new investor on board but such moves proved too difficult to achieve.

The business, which is based in Kinsale, Co Cork, and currently employs 50 people, will continue to trade as receivers Kieran Wallace and David Swinburn of KPMG look to sell the business as a going concern.

Mr Wallace and Mr Swinburn were appointed as joint receivers yesterday to the company which was established in the Cork town in 1927.

Restructuring efforts

In a statement, the receivers acknowledged that “for many months, the directors of Henry Good attempted to restructure the business, following difficulties with a significant debtor in the summer of 2012”.

Last August, it emerged that Henry Good was owed €3.9 million for chicken feed by Cappoquin Poultry in west Waterford, to whom the Kinsale-based company had been supplying feed for years.

During a High Court hearing where Henry Good successfully sought to have an interim examiner appointed to Cappoquin Poultry, the court was told that the company’s debt to Henry Good rose from €346,000 in December 2010 to €3.9 million in August 2012.

Henry Good had also been a supplier to Cappoquin Chicken, Cappoquin Poultry’s predecessor which had gone into liquidation in 2008 owing it money.

In a statement issued on behalf of Henry Good Ltd, the receivers yesterday acknowledged that it was a particularly difficult day for the directors of the company given the business had been in the family for over 80 years.

The directors thanked their loyal suppliers, customers and employees over the years and, together with the receivers, expressed confidence that a buyer will be found for the business and its assets as a going concern.

‘Sad day for Kinsale’

Local historian Dermot Ryan said yesterday’s news was a sad day for the town given the company’s long association with Kinsale, with the Goods providing employment for generations of local people.

“Tom Good set up the mill in Kinsale in the 1920s on the site of the old RIC barracks, where the car park is now, and he continued there until the 1950s when a fire destroyed the building,” said Mr Ryan, a former mayor of Kinsale. “But he rebuilt the mill and it continued to thrive.

“It’s a sad day for Kinsale because the Goods and Kinsale are synonymous.

“They provided good employment over the years for many families in the town, not just directly in the mill but also to hauliers and so forth. Hopefully a buyer can be found and the jobs maintained.”