The High Court has appointed provisional liquidators to a Dublin-based recruitment firm after the court was told the company was insolvent.
Barrister Ross Gorman told the court that ECS Recruitment Ltd employs 290 people, the majority of whom are agency staff supplied to various industries.
Mr Gorman told the court it was intended that the contracts for the supply of staff could be licensed out to a third party enabling the agency workers to continue working and avoid redundancies.
The court heard ECS recruitment was incorporated in 2018 and operated from a rented premises in Saggart, Co Dublin.
From 2019 onwards it mainly supplied staff to the hospitality sector but experienced difficult trading conditions during the Covid 19 pandemic.
Postpandemic, it recovered and diversified into construction and the company did well, he said.
A later change of use in many hotels to provide accommodation for migrants led the company diversify into other sectors including , finance and pharmaceuticals.
The company had been profitable up to 2022, but subsequently incurred losses and owed Revenue €1.1 million.
A significant amount of this debt had been warehoused since the pandemic, the court was told.
Mr Gorman told the court if provisional liquidators were appointed today it could avoid redundancies as the key assets of the company - contracts to supply staff - could be sold allowing them to could continue working for customers of the company.
Mr Justice Alex Owens said it was appropriate that he make an order appointing Dessie Morrow and Declan Hanley as liquidators.
