FOKO is gone bust

Brendan Burgess

Founder
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Many Askaboutmoney contributors had complained about FOKO. They threatened me with defamation proceedings and I had to remove some of the comments. All I could do was complain them to the Companies Office for failure to lodge their accounts on time. Now I find that a company run by the owner of FOKO had gone bust before.


From today's [broken link removed]

By Ian Kehoe
The owner of the Dublin-based designer furniture store Foko has said he was "shocked and saddened'' when he realised his business was going bust.

Foko Ltd and Foko Contract will be wound up at meetings of the companies' creditors later this month.

Robert Drennan said he "did not know what had happened to the business or what went wrong'', and that it was "a difficult time for everyone involved''.

Established by Drennan in 1995, Foko specialised in high-quality interior furniture, such as designer chairs, funky office accessories and stylish bedroom furnishings.




Foko had two retail outlets one on South Great George's Street in Dublin and the other in the Blanchardstown Shopping Centre. A related company, Foko Contract, sold a range of products to hotels, bars and cafes. The two firms employed four people.

"I will be sitting down with my accountant to see what happened," said Drennan.

It was reported earlier this year that Drennan had secured planning permission to redevelop the South Great George's Street outlet into a cafe and restaurant.

However, Drennan told The Sunday Business Post that the plan has now been scrapped.

"I am not sure what is going to happen with it all now. We will wait and see."

According to accounts filed with the Companies Registration Office, Foko had accumulated profits of more than €466,000 and shareholders' funds of €479,000 for the year ending April 30, 2002.

Foko Contract made a profit of €59,000 for the year ending April 30, 2001, according to its most recent accounts.

Earlier this year, the High Court made a judgment of €18,350 against Foko Contract, following a petition by Capco Systems from Terenure, Co Dublin.

Drennan's previous company, Foko Manufacturing, collapsed in 2000.
 
Robert Drennan said he "did not know what had happened to the business or what went wrong''

Hmmmm! I think many contributors to AAM pointed out what was going wrong. I don't know if they tried to address the issues as I never went back to them after my previous experience.

It's a shame and I'm sorry for any staff who lose their jobs as a result, but I can't say I'm surprised. Word gets around - I know I told everyone about my experience.
 
?

What exactly were the issues? Was it bad service?
Were they doing anything illegal?
 
Good advice

Thanks for the links Sarsfield. I had been looking in the wrong forum for them!

The key thing from Askaboutmoney users' point of view, is that they were advised to pay any deposit by credit card. However, anyone reading the thread, even after the editing out of the potentially defamatory comments, would probably not have gone to FOKO.

Maybe it's safe now to restore the deleted comments?

Brendan
 
Re: Good advice

After my experience with them, that doesn't suprise me one bit but thankfully I got my refund cheque off them!
 
//

"I will be sitting down with my accountant to see what happened," said Drennan.

Who is this Joker? Surely the time to be "sitting down with your accountant" is some time BEFORE you go wallop and taking some corrective action that might keep you in business.

If plonkers with this attitude can survive in business, even for a short while, sure I might give it a go myself. How bad could I be?
 
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