Royal Croquet Club duo Stuart Duckworth and Tom Skipper’s company liquidated by creditors

FORMER Royal Croquet Club duo Stuart Duckworth and Tom Skipper had vowed to do all they could to trade out of trouble — but in the end they came up $500,000 short.

Former Royal Croquet Club directors Tom Skipper and Stuart Duckworth, pictured leaving the District Court in February, have avoided a trial over a $708,000 legal claim. Picture: Dylan Coker

• Investors sue ex-RCC duo for $708,000
• Stuart Duckworth and Tom Skipper agree to trial date
• New RCC team declare event a “cracking success”
• White knights save the RCC

FORMER Royal Croquet Club duo Stuart Duckworth and Tom Skipper had vowed to do all they could to trade out of trouble — but in the end they came up $500,000 short.

Creditors have ordered their company be liquidated, triggering potential civil claims, after the duo failed to meet a March 31 deadline to provide $500,000 in funding for contractors left out of pocket from the collapse of their company last year.

Creditors agreed in December to stave off liquidation of the former RCC Adelaide Pty Ltd, which had debts of $1.5 million, contingent on Mr Duckworth and Mr Skipper paying money into a deed fund which would have provided return to creditors of up to 20c in the dollar.

But administrator Peter Lanthois of Duncan Powell told The Advertiser that Mr Duckworth and Mr Skipper had not made any payments into the fund.

“They wanted to extend the period to raise the money by a number of years ... creditors just said let’s put it into liquidation,” he said.

He said that any creditors who have a personal guarantee against Mr Duckworth or Mr Skipper and their company, renamed Adelaide CC Pty Ltd in wake of the recent takeover of the RCC business, could take legal action to try to recoup their debt.

Mr Duckworth told The Advertiser in January that he and Mr Skipper would honour obligations to creditors as part of the voluntary administration process.

The friends were on Wednesday spared a court trial launched over allegations they owed investors and businessmen Leigh Morgan and Mat Fitch $708,000.

The pair were expected to front a half-day trial to argue against the immediate repayment of a loan to Mr Morgan and Mr Fitch who allege that the RCC founders had failed to comply with payment demands over the loan that was issued in November 2016 to RCC’s parent firm The Social Creative.

District Court documents show that Mr Morgan and Mr Fitch, through their investment company New Social Investments, had requested on March 29 that the trial be “vacated”.

Mr Fitch would not comment on the reason he and Mr Morgan requested the trial be cancelled or if they had reached an out-of-court settlement with Mr Duckworth and Mr Skipper

“I’d rather not make comment on it at this point, I’m bound by confidentiality,” he said.

The Advertiser revealed in February that Mr Fitch and Mr Morgan were seeking upfront payment of an outstanding loan debt of $674,906 and $33,177 for legal fees and associated costs in setting up the loan.

Mr Skipper and Mr Duckworth did not dispute the outstanding loan amount but said in court documents they had into a subsequent agreement to pay instalments of at least $18,000 and had not missed any payments.

Mr Duckworth did not respond to requests for comment.

Mr Duckworth and Mr Skipper relinquished control of the RCC earlier this year as part of a takeover by Adelaide businessmen Mr Cardone and Mr Di Iulio, who formed the New Royal Croquet Club.

Mr Cardone and Mr Di Iulio have no involvement in the legal claim and are not obliged to repay creditors owed money by Mr Skipper and Mr Duckworth