It has been revealed that a recently-collapsed Victorian caravan builder had massive debts of over $2 million … the latest in a growing list to do so.
The Herald Sun reports that newly filed ASIC documents show Coolaroo-based JCP Group – which traded nationwide as Great Aussie Caravans and Flexi Caravans – left behind more than $2.14m in trade bills.
The caravan builder, which went under back in June, had previously made headlines after being fined $60,000 over an industrial incident in which an employee’s intestine was ruptured when a colleague fired an air compressor into his anus.
As well as outstanding bills owed to WorkCover and the Australian Taxation Office, a string of trade suppliers have also been left empty-handed.
Another caravan manufacturer has gone into administration. PIC: RDNE Stock
The Herald Sun reports that these include outdoor retailer Dometic Australia which is owed $194,636, caravan material provider AZQ Wood ($134,007), building materials store Urban Republic ($109,981), and business Oz Tech ($123,207).
Other suppliers still owed money reportedly include caravan makers JB Caravans ($110,673), Equalizer RV ($96,600), and Northern RV Services ($104,906).
And then there are the employees facing a battle to recover a combined $238,822 in unpaid entitlements.
The company has just $33,952 owing to it.
Court-appointed liquidator Andrew MacNeill of SMB Advisory previously told News Corp he was conducting an urgent assessment of the company’s affairs, including customer deposits and outstanding orders.
The Herald Sun says it remains unclear how many, or if any caravan buyers have been left out of pocket by the collapse.
Sadly, several other Australian caravan firms have run into trouble in recent years.
Network RV – which owns Vancraft, Nextgen, and Victory brands, as well as three Fair Dinkum Caravan dealerships – went into administration in June.
And the same month, another Victorian caravan maker, Ourgen RV, was also ordered into liquidation by the state’s Supreme Court.
Last year, Queensland-based Zone RV went into administration, with many customers losing significant amounts of money. However, the brand – which specialises in luxury off-road caravans – was eventually bought by Essential Caravans and is still in production.
Other recent examples of RV firms going to the wall include:
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bet more firms will be going to the wall soon ?
I would never order a new van for this reason, not worth the gamble.
It’s been interesting seeing the tone of recent press on caravan companies going bust. It is the typical negative framing that seems to always accompany businesses going under. It’s true that buyers bare the brunt of company failures as do workers. But the bigger picture is often missed. 1. The explosion in demand around covid was never going to be sustainable. Businesses who started up or expanded without properly assessing that risk only have themselves to blame. 2. The silver lining in all this is that many of the workers employed by these companies can now be freed up with transportable skills to fill the major shortfall in housing construction. 3. Caravan companies themselves may also have the opportunity to retool to provide temp accommodation, in Queensland for the troves of skilled workers we are going to need to import from nterstate, tge pacifuc and Asia to meet the massive need we will have for temp construction labour for the triple whammy of Olympics, data centres and housing needs all landing simultaneously over the next 5 years. To be honest I see only upside . We need to elevate our thinking from the constant doom and gloom perpetuated by politicians and news networks and start to look for opportunities to get ourselves where we should be. The Mayor of Whyalla disappointed the ABC recently with his upbeat tone when talking about how the town will handle the shutdown of the steelworks. He was future focused and uobeat. We need more of that attitude.