More than 200 customers of a Dublin window and doors company that closed suddenly at the end of last November are now facing significant financial losses, says a preliminary report issued by liquidators this week.
One woman who spoke to The Irish Times stands to lose a deposit of close to €50,000. Many others, who have paid a lot more than €10,000, will almost certainly end up with nothing, the liquidators have warned.
DK Windows and Doors closed late last year, saying it was unable to pay its debts, including almost €750,000 owed to Revenue.
The High Court appointed liquidators Nicholas O’Dwyer and Colm Dolan of Grant Thornton, which has now issued a preliminary assessment of the company’s finances. It makes clear the prospects of redress for many of the 225 customers who paid deposits to DK Windows are slim.
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The report said that the company was set up in 2012 and “built a strong reputation and earned the trust of architects, builders, and homeowners nationwide”.
It grew to 50 staff members, and had two units: one which focused on new builds and another which replaced windows and doors in existing properties.
The report said a “series of events occurred that significantly impacted the business” over the last two years.
“In July 2023, a fire at one of the company’s key supplier’s manufacturing facilities in Lithuania forced [it] to relocate production to an alternative manufacturer in the same country,” the report said.
[ ‘She’s a broken woman’: Homeowner paid €9,000 to liquidated Dublin windows firm ]
That came with a significant cost and delays, forcing the company to refund some customers, something that affected its reputation.
Early last year, key members of its new-build unit left and the business struggled, leading to “an estimated revenue shortfall of around €2.5 million” a year.
By August, close to €600,000 was owed to Revenue at which point the company agreed a phased payment plan. Despite the arrangement, more payroll taxes fell due, prompting Revenue to issue a Notice of Attachment, with the company’s only bank account frozen from November 28th,
In early December DK Windows' landlord changed the locks at its premises in Dublin 12 due to non-payment of rent, after which the liquidation process began.
By then the company had about €13,000 in its bank account and was owed about €136,000, although the liquidators have since said that some of that money was in dispute.
The liquidators said they were in discussions with the landlord to sell a limited amount of stock and materials that remained on DK Windows' old premises and they said talks were “in their final stages, and we hope to gain access to the premises in the coming days”.
However, the report said there were about 225 unfulfilled customer orders when the company closed, with the total value of these orders put at about €2m.
A “significant number” of these orders were on hold with the suppliers due to non-payment of outstanding accounts. A majority of them had not started the manufacturing process, the report said.
“Based on the company records a total of €1.2m of deposit appears to have been paid in respect to these unfulfilled orders,” it said.
“The vast majority of the orders had not been started [and] our primary option to have those orders completed for customers was by way of a sale of the order book.
“As we were unable to obtain a purchaser for the customer book, we now intend to inform all customers individually about the their orders, provide any order details with the supplier and any relevant contacts details to facilitate them engaging directly with the supplier.”
The liquidators warned, however, that “a number of suppliers have indicated that they will not engage directly with members of the public regarding orders”.
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