Taranaki construction company in liquidation, 79 creditors owed money
Thursday, 1 November 2018
New homes under construction have been caught up in the collapse of a Taranaki building company.
On October 3, Grato Construction Limited, which traded as Navigation Homes Taranaki, was put into liquidation.
The initial liquidator's report said the company had five builds on the books.
Grato Construction's voluntary liquidation was initiated by its joint shareholders, Michael Van Prehn and Sara Greensill.
The couple voted to undertake the action using a special resolution under the Companies Act. Messages left with Van Prehn, the company's director, to discuss the liquidation went unanswered on Thursday.
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The initial report by liquidators Philip Macey and James Eden, which was written on October 10 and is publicly available, indicated liabilities for the business totalled about $887,000.
But work was continuing to ascertain the exact amount of money involved.
'At this stage creditor claim forms are still being processed and until they have been an exact figure cannot be confirmed,' Macey said in a written reply to questions.
The report shows there were 79 creditors listed at the time of the company's liquidation, the majority of which are based in Taranaki.
It also said Van Prehn and Greensill owed the company about $226,000 but this figure had yet to be officially confirmed by the liquidators.
The company operated from premises on South Rd and was registered with the Master Builders Association.
The report said early inquiries revealed the company had experienced cash flow problems 'for several years' prior to liquidators being appointed.
'In late September 2018, the directors of the company attempted to put in place a creditor compromise, however this was unsuccessful,' the report said.
On the morning of the liquidators' appointment, tools, vehicles and other assets were taken away from the South Rd property and all the building sites were visited apart from one outside of New Plymouth.
In a written statement, Scott Matthews, general manager of Master Build Services, said it was working with home owners caught up in liquidation fall out.
'We understand that this is a very stressful time for the home owners and we have been in touch with clients of Grato Construction Limited who hold a Master Build Guarantee. Several guarantee claims have already been resolved and we are working with the remaining home owners who have a guarantee. Due to confidentiality, we are not able to comment on individual contracts,' he said.
Navigation Homes New Zealand managing director Aaron Hall confirmed Van Prehn and Greensill's company was one of its franchisees.
He said he became aware of Grato Construction's financial difficulties only two weeks before the company went into liquidation and flew down from Auckland to meet with contractors and sub-contractors who were not being paid.
Hall said he had been committed to helping Van Prehn trade his way out of the problems so was disappointed with the decision to enter voluntary liquidation instead.
He said he was only aware of four builds, all of which were at the preliminary stages, and that three of those were subject to a Master Build Guarantee.
Hall said he was in regular contact with the liquidators and others parties involved and was committed to doing what he could to help resolve matters.
'We're doing everything we can to try and lessen the impact on everyone in the area.'
Hall said Navigation Homes New Zealand was one of the creditors owed money by Van Prehn and Greensill.
'We're out of pocket like all the others are.'