Builder busts with big debt

STAFF REPORTERS
A Hawke's Bay building firm has gone into liquidation owing hundreds of thousands of dollars and leaving 49 unsecured creditors and at least two customers out of pocket, liquidator John Managh said today.
Britton Built Ltd, which specialised in building transportable homes, collapsed on April 14. Mr Managh said the company had been building houses of up to four bedrooms on leased land on Omahu Road, and had sold about 35 since the business was established in 2004.
However, sales had dried up this year and the call had been made to stop the business.
The company employed eight staff, most of whom had been paid out.
Mr Managh said there was no good news for creditors or those who had paid deposits for houses. There was no prospect of a return to unsecured creditors.
"The company's assets are subject to secured creditors, in this case a bank and a building materials supplier, and I don't see any prospect of anything coming down," he said. " It's a situation where no one is happy, and I don't have good news for anyone.
"It's a difficult time for people who made a deposit, and a difficult time for people owed money."
Mr Managh said company bosses had likened this year to somebody "turning off the sales tap".
He believed Britton Built would not be the only company feeling the squeeze.
"I can say, anecdotally, that this company is not alone in having their sales stopping."
The manufacturing industry is also feeling the bite, with one Hawke's Bay company specialising in fittings and furniture now facing a liquidation sale.
Mr Managh said the demise of HB Manufacturing, which went into receivership on April 1, was unlikely to be the last this year.
"I think we are in for a rough time," he said, citing low-cost imported products, particularly from China, as the harbingers of doom for mainly smaller, specialised firms.
HB Manufacturing had been taken over by new owners last September and Mr Managh described the management as very professional.
It was the tough economic climate, and battle to compete against cheaper imported items which had sunk the company, he said.
"It is the pricing. People look at the price tags for something and if they are $100 and $30 they go for the $30." Mr Managh said.
"It is a sign of the times and I suspect we will see more."
It was understood almost all the eight to 10 staff at HB Manufacturing had been offered other work and that the amount of debt owed to trade suppliers was relatively small compared to some other cases he had dealt with.
Mr Managh said while it was his job to act as a liquidator he would prefer not to have a busy year ahead as he saw the impact on individuals and communities.
"I am mindful the people I deal with all want to be able to pay the rent, be able to enjoy a beer or play a round of golf ... just be able to get on with life," he said.