Cashmans bookies owe creditors €500k

The directors of one of Cork’s oldest chains of bookmakers have told a creditors meeting that the company owes €500,000 to creditors but holds just €10,300 in assets.

Cashmans Bookmakers went into liquidation earlier this month, having been in business in Cork for 40 years. It has six branches around the county, having sold off five other branches to Ladbrokes in 2009.

A statement of affairs presented to creditors and seen by the Irish Examiner revealed that the company owes €221,654 to the Revenue Commissioners, €54,465 to customers such as phone-betting account holders, €51,538 to creditors such as Crowleys DFK accountants, SIS, which provides television services to bookmakers, Openbet Retail, and to Turf TV.

The company also owes its directors €115,000 and €7,778 in rates to Cork County Council. It also owes €54,000 in wages, redundancy, and holiday pay.

The company’s directors are Paul Cashman, Patrick O’Sullivan, Bradford O’Donoghue, John Keegan, and Damien O’Sullivan.

The bookmaker chain had come under increasing pressure in recent years, notably from rivals Ladbrokes and Paddy Powers. It also failed to invest in online gambling, the sector of the industry that is experiencing exponential growth.

Cashman sold five of its best performing shops to Ladbrokes in a deal worth €1.4m.

The five shops bought by Ladbrokes include the shops located on Maylor St, Shandon St, and Dillon’s Cross in the city. The other two shops were in Kanturk and Mitchelstown.

Ladbrokes said the sale was “the right deal at the right time”. It invested more than €750,000 in refurbishing and upgrading all the units.