Revolution Roofing falls into administration, director working on rescue plan

The collapse of major steel products supplier Revolution Roofing has left 200 workers in limbo ahead of a last ditch bid for the company’s survival.

A major steel manufacturer and supplier of roofing, fencing and cladding products has collapsed amid soaring steel prices and ongoing supply chain constraints.

Administrators from PKF have been appointed to Adelaide-based Revolution Roofing and sister company Nexteel, leaving about 200 workers across three states in limbo as company director John Easling makes a last ditch bid to restructure and salvage parts of the business.

Mr Easling is finalising a deed of company arrangement proposal which will be put to creditors next month.

Most of the affected workers operate from the companies’ head office in Regency Park, north of Adelaide, with others located at manufacturing sites in Perth and Newcastle.

A spokesman for administrators Glenn Franklin and Paul Allen from PKF Melbourne said the company’s major financier would continue to support the company, enabling it to continue to trade during the administration process.

He said it was too early to provide an estimate of the company’s outstanding debts.

“The main contributor towards the cash flow situation are Covid-19 related issues that were primarily in relation to the increased price of steel and its related costs affecting the companies’ margins, and supply chain challenges brought on by Covid-19, as well as global instability connected with the Ukraine crisis,” he said.

Revolution Roofing and Nexteel director John Easling at the Booth Transport hub in Burton. Picture: MATT LOXTON

“The companies’ director is putting forward a deed of company arrangement to the administrators to restructure the businesses, which will be voted on by creditors in approximately five weeks’ time.”

Mr Easling established steel roll forming company Revolution Roofing in 2009, with manufacturing sites in Adelaide and Perth supplying processed steel roofing, fencing, cladding and other products into the residential and commercial markets.

Over the years the company has been a major supporter of the Adelaide Crows, and former captain Mark Ricciuto was a director of the company during its early years.

In 2019, Mr Easling and a group of investors acquired painted coil company ColorGuard, before revamping its product range and relaunching it under the Nexteel brand.

His plans were to shake up the industry and compete head-on with industry giant BlueScope, which holds a virtual monopoly in the market.

Former Essendon Football Club president and steel industry doyen Ray Horsburgh was brought in as a shareholder and the company’s inaugural chairman before his death in August this year.

With Revolution Roofing as Nexteel’s major customer, Mr Easling told The Advertiser last year that the new brand had already secured 25-30 per cent of the South Australian coated steel market, and 10-15 per cent of the West Australian market.

Major projects included the Kwinana Waste to Energy plant south of Perth and a series of school upgrades across South Australia.

It also supplied product to the Ahrens family’s $10 million luxury expansion of Kingsford Homestead.

BlueScope posted a full-year profit of $2.8bn last financial year - a 135 per cent increase on 2020-21 and the company’s best-ever profit result, on the back of strong demand in Australia and the US for building products.