By Leonie Lamont
Creditors of the century-old building business Kell & Rigby voted today to put the company into liquidation.
At a closed meeting of creditors, co-administrator Mark Robinson of PPB Advisory outlined a situation where 1400 unsecured creditors were owed more than $16 million, with little chance of any recovery.
By voting to wind up the company, the creditors are able to access the increased power that a liquidator has, which includes the scope to pursue directors and other parties in the courts.
Geoff Considine, whose plumbing business G.M.Considine Plumbing is owed $500,000, told BusinessDay before the creditors meeting that the few available funds should go to the employees. ‘‘What is left should fund litigation,’’ he said.
The report to creditors said Kell & Rigby may have been insolvent since November 2009, as it struggled with losses from a foray into residential projects, and inadequate working capital.
After the meeting, Mr Robinson told BusinessDay there had been no proposals to restructure the business. About 60 people attended the meeting, a small turnout in comparison with the first meeting of creditors in which about 230 attended to hear director James Kell give an account of the business.
Mr Robinson said no members of the Kell family attended today’s meeting.
‘‘The only category of creditors that will get any significant return are the employees, and even then they will be reliant to get the majority of their money back from the government (with its safety net scheme),’’ Mr Robinson said.
Despite ranking as priority creditors, the 125 employees can expect to be paid only 24 cents in the dollar of the $4.3 million they are owed from the remaining Kell & Rigby funds.