Familybrings fairtradeideals into business
SISTERS Rebecca, Andrea and Danielle Winkworth and their mother Sari, all from Newcastle, are the team behind White & Green. The ladies said that the company is one of the world’s first, and Ireland’s only, organic Fairtrade cotton company.
Travelling abroad, the women learned the importance of ethical consumption and were particularity troubled by the inhumane practices of the global textile industries. ‘Furthermore, we always shared the belief that a great night’s sleep is crucial to wellbeing.’ So together, these passions align to form White & Green.
The range includes bed linen, cotton throws, and scarves. They use the finest organic cotton, grown ethically in India. Their products are free from harmful pesticides and they are 100 per cent Fairtrade certified, guaranteeing safe labour practices and fair wages for all of their farmers and workers.
Sari studied interior design in the Inchibald School of Design in London. She then set up an interiors-related consultancy, with customers both in Ireland and across Europe. Her specialty in luxury beds and bedrooms led her to discover the lack of luxury, chemical-free and Fairtrade bed sheets in Europe.
Singer and musician Rebecca has toured the world as a soloist with shows such as Celtic Woman, Ragús, Celtic Nights and Anúna. Rebecca’s extensive travelling led her to question the growing global wealth inequality, and how patterns of international trade benefit some people whilst exploiting others. Inspired by the desire to create a more equitable system of global trade, Rebecca worked with NGOs in Tanzania, India and Ethiopia and completed a Masters in International Development at the London School of Economics. She is now development, labour rights and Fairtrade expert at White & Green.
As an international model with agencies such as Ford, Storm and Morgan, Danielle has been on the most prestigious catwalks in the world. She has represented brands such as Swarovski, L’Oreal, Asos, Nordstrom and DKNY. Drawing on her extensive experience in the world of fashion and beauty, she found a passion for design. She is an avid organic and natural well being advocate and is responsible for all things quality and design related at the company. Andrea earned a BA in Geography and Politics from UCD before completing postgraduate studies in Event Management and PR. Deciding to pursue her dreams in the USA, Andrea emigrated to New York anc found herself in charge of organising distinguished events across America. Andrea is roaming marketing and PR manager at White & Green.
To find out more, go to whiteandgreen.ie. USUALLY it is the directors of a company who call a creditors’ meeting to put the company into liquidation.
The directors’ first action will be to stop trading and the employees will be let go. Once the directors are aware that a company is not solvent and not likely to be solvent in the future they must cease trading.
At the creditors meeting a liquidator will be appointed by a majority vote of the creditors. The liquidator’s immediate task will be to secure whatever assets there are and advise all the creditors of his appointment.
Creditors for wages, business rates and taxes are preferential where the liability is not more than 12 months old.
Other debts, including the bank, are just ordinary creditors. They will likely receive a small proportion e.g. ten cents in the euro after the preferential creditors and liquidator costs are paid.
A bank may not worry if a company goes into liquidation and it has a registered charge on the premises. On the sale of the premises this charge will have priority for payment. Where there is no such security a bank will have got a personal guarantee from the director so that they can get their loans back from the director’s personal assets.
A smart director should only put a company into liquidation after getting the exposure to the bank as low as possible.
Normally a liquidator will walk away from leased premises as there is no further need for it. Similarly with motor vehicles on lease or on HP if more is owed on them than what they are worth a liquidator will return them to the lease/HP companies.
The chief assets of a company in liquidation will usually be trade debtors for goods and services supplied.
When a liquidator is appointed then the debtors have a habit of finding something amiss with the products that they received and will try to avoid payment. The liquidator will usually have to hire a solicitor to collect the debts.
When whatever is realisable from the debtors is received, then the liquidator will settle the preferential creditors and give the ordinary creditors a proportional payment.
A liquidator may also need to see if a director was engaged in wrongdoing and should be restricted or disqualified from acting as a director in the future. Such a course of action will have to be in court and is rare enough as the liquidator will not have the resources to fund it. Sometimes an aggrieved creditor such as the Revenue Commissioners may finance such court action.
The failure of any company is a personal disaster for the directors who often will have loaned the company personal funds to keep it going.
Only a small minority will have abused the rules and in recent years there are severe legal sanctions for them. |