Portuguese clothing retailers Throttleman and Red Oak have been forced to file for bankruptcy after fruitless months waiting for a government-backed rescue package.
The two companies had been hanging on for a decision on PER funding (a plan that is meant to help companies that are in the financial doldrums but still economically viable) but as the months went by with no news, the cash-strapped owners had to admit defeat.
“The waiting game became unbearable,” Luís Gomes, the administrator for the process of insolvency, told Dinheiro Vivo. “The company no longer had the resources to keep working.”
Both retailers had requested PER funding early in 2013, but the authorities weren’t interested. Shareholders then stepped into the fray, appealing to the Supreme and Constitutional Courts – but neither of these came up with any decision in time.
Ironically, the Social Security department had agreed on the firms’ rescue plan. As Throttleman’s Pedro Pinheiro remarked, “the State does not speak with one voice.”
