Swiss Joinery in liquidation, leaving a dozen projects in limbo
A Glynde manufacturer which was supplying to major projects including school upgrades and the $44m Memorial Drive tennis centre, has collapsed.
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A joinery manufacturer supplying goods to major projects including the $44m Memorial Drive upgrade has collapsed.
Liquidators were appointed on Friday to wind up Glynde-based Swiss Joinery, which for more than 40 years had manufactured bespoke, high-end joinery and furniture for health care, education, office and hospitality fit-outs across the state.
About 24 staff were notified on Friday that the business would immediately cease trading and their employment would be terminated.
The company’s demise has left about a dozen projects incomplete and about 50 trade creditors owed close to $400,000, with the ATO owed a similar amount.
According to the company’s Facebook page, recent projects have included supplying bespoke joinery and furniture to bars and restaurants including iTL and Sôl Bar at SkyCity, and the new Meat & Wine Co steakhouse on Currie St.
It had also completed custom-built joinery work for a series of school construction projects, including at Adelaide High, Seaview High, Blackwood High and Unley High. It had also been engaged to supply high-end joinery for the second stage of the Memorial Drive redevelopment.
Liquidator Stephen James from BCR Advisory said the disruption caused by Covid-19, and the resulting surge in material costs that had hit the construction industry, led to the company’s downfall.
“At the beginning of Covid their projects stalled when the whole business community put a halt to everything,” he said.
“That caused a reduction in their turnover of around 90 per cent and that ran for about three or four months.
“Then when things started to resume again and builders wanted to get projects up and running, they found it was quite difficult to source staff for the factory floor – that put them under pressure to be able to deliver projects.”
Mr James said shortage of materials and the resulting surge in prices had put a squeeze on the company’s already tight profit margins.
“Because they were tendering for jobs pre-Covid, they were quoting for those tenders on the basis of materials costs pre-Covid,” he said.
“As material costs started to rise they were locked into the quotes that they’d already provided.
“In some cases there’s a 12-month time lag between when they quote and win a tender to when they actually start the project, so profit margins were squeezed and they did face longer lead times in the supply of materials.”
Swiss Joinery was established in 1979 by Franz Kaech and Beda Drexel – tradesmen who had moved to Adelaide from Switzerland.
Current director and owner Craig Mathews took over the business 17 years ago.
Mr James said he’d notified head contractors working on about a dozen projects across Adelaide about the company’s collapse.
Mr James said machinery and other assets held by the company would be auctioned off in the coming weeks.
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