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Ely Medical looks on bright side despite examinership
Sunday, February 15, 2009 By Ian Kehoe
The group owns the Optima laser eye surgery business and the Body Clinic in Dublin and has annual revenues of about €12 million. However, it has petitioned the High Court for protection from its creditors, while it attempts to restructure its finances.

The High Court has appointed Neil Hughes, managing partner of accountancy firm Hughes Blake, as interim examiner following the petition by the company’s directors. The petition for the appointment of an examiner will be heard in the coming days.

Ely Medical is backed by Paul McGlade, the Belfast entrepreneur who previously owned Champion Sports, and by Kernel Capital, the Cork based venture capital firm.

In a statement, the company said: ‘‘The appointment of an examiner is a positive step for our group of companies as well as our creditors, and follows a period of difficult trading conditions. A reorganisation will take place, as well as investment into the business to ensure a positive future.”

According to the statement, ‘‘the staff jobs are secure, as well as the future of the business’’.

The company said that McGlade had invested €5 million in the business over the last three years.

‘‘In the last year, he has injected a total of €1.6 million into the group and is very confident that the group will succeed with our new three-year business plan,” according to the statement. It said that McGlade had returned to the business full-time in recent weeks, after spending much of the past three years developing property interests in Argentina and India.

Established by McGlade in 2005, Optilase has carried out more than 10,000 procedures. The Body Clinic on Wicklow Street in Dublin offers a range of treatments include teeth whitening, acne skin-lasering, facial fillers and hair restoration.

McGlade has also been a backer of sports retailer Sports 2000,Dublin shoe retailer Schuh, fashion label outlet USC and the Wagamama restaurant in Dublin.

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