Business Confidential: Your way in to the boardroom

LEGALLY Blonde star Reese Witherspoon’s team were the only winners out of the collapse of a $3000 a head speaking gig in Brisbane that left hundreds of ticket holders out of pocket.

Legally Bonde actor Reese Witherspoon was supposed to be a guest speaker at a $3000 a head event in Brisbane. Picture: Supplied

LEGALLY Blonde star Reese Witherspoon’s team were the only winners out of the collapse of a $3000 a head speaking gig that left hundreds of ticket holders out of pocket.

The actor was scheduled to appear in Brisbane in July as the headline speaker for Simpatico Connection’s event to “inspire women.”

A screen shot of the Instagram post that Reese Witherspoon used to promote the Simpatico Connection’s event. Picture: Instagram/@reesewitherspoon

But only two weeks after posting a cheeky Instagram photo announcing her visit, with Witherspoon featured with photoshopped koalas, the event was cancelled and the company was wound up with debts of $2.24 million.

Stanley Morgan Solvency Accountants liquidator Brendan Nixon said only $191,844 worth of prepaid tickets were sold, falling shy of Witherspoon’s appearance fee of $US1 million organised through her agents, Creative Artists Agency.

Although Mr Nixon confirmed that the chance of ticket holders getting their money back was virtually “nil”, Witherspoon’s team pocketed two payments in the lead up to the company’s collapse including one fee of $150,000 in October 2015 to talent booking agency Markson Sparks and another $154,097 to Creative Artists Agency in March 2016. The payments were for Witherspoon’s “stylists, personnel, security” in relation to booking the star and payment for initial publicity.

Mr Nixon said the payments are unable to be recovered.

In a statement to creditors, Simpatico director Jacqueline Nagle said that the success of the event hinged on “educating the Australian public” why they should spend between $1997 and $2997 a ticket to see Witherspoon speak as many saw her as “an actress, the blonde lawyer toting a chihuahua”.

Simpatico director Jacqueline Nagel. Picture: Supplied

To help spread the word Witherspoon’s contract included two social media posts and a national media call in Australia in March last year.

But constant changes due to Witherspoon’s own commitments pushed the media call back and she knocked back media appearances, which Ms Nagle said had a “severe” impact on ticket sales.

Faced with losing her headline act, she decided to cancel the event believing an insurance policy would cover the company’s debts.

But Mr Nixon confirmed the insurance was unable to cover any losses because of conditions stipulating coverage would not apply in the event of “contractual disputes, reduction in attendance and the financial failure of the venture”.

“There is one large pool of unsecured creditors including everyone from the tax office to individual ticket holders,” Mr Nixon said.

“It is unlikely they will get any money back.”

Simpatico Connection will have a second meeting of creditors in Brisbane on March 3.

END OF A CHAPTER

ONE of the gentlemen of Brisbane property, Paul Day, will close the Savills page on his extensive property career at the end of this month.

He is stepping back from full-time employment, ending a more than 15-year stint with Savills, mostly in the role of head researcher and more recently in a consultancy capacity.

Paul Day will leave Savills at the end of the month. Picture: Peter Bull

Paul, who was previously an ANZ property banker, has compiled countless research reports, graphs, spreadsheets and presentations over the years and has always been a passionate advocate for the industry.

He may now have more time to indulge his love of jazz music and red wine, but intends to keep consulting to the property industry and dabbling in boutique development.

A LEGAL LOOPHOLE?

DO QUEENSLAND’S anti-corruption laws have a loophole Sir Humphrey Appleby could drive a truck through?

State Member for Lockyer Ian Rickuss . Pic: Darren England.

State Member for Lockyer Ian Rickuss seems to think so after trying to get the Crime and Corruption Commission to investigate the awarding of a contract by government-owned Stanwell Corporation to a company called Coal Reuse that subsequently went bust.

Last year, Rickuss wrote to CCC chairman Alan MacSporran asking for an investigation into the awarding of the contract and an alleged connection between a former Stanwell employee and Coal Reuse.

MacSporran wrote back to Rickuss just before Christmas, noting the concerns he raised are “serious and would meet the definition of corrupt conduct” as defined by the Crime and Corruption Act 2001.

However, MacSporran said that because Stanwell was a government-owned corporation, rather than a “unit of public administration” the CCC was restricted in dealing with the matter until the Stanwell chief “forms a reasonable suspicion of corrupt conduct and reports the matter to the CCC”.

Stanwell says the alleged connection between a former employee and Coal Reuse had been investigated by an external expert in 2013-14.

The CCC had endorsed the findings of the external expert and agreed that the allegations were not substantiated. In relation to the Coal Reuse contract being awarded by Stanwell, it has responded to the CCC and awaited further advice.

City Beat is not suggesting Stanwell or the former employee did anything wrong in this matter, but surely the law needs to be tightened in relation to the CCC’s powers to investigate powerful government-owned corporations.

ROOFTOP BUZZ

ROOFTOP gardens are now common place as high-density living becomes more popular. But Brisbane’s Hilton Hotel has gone one step further, with its own beehives on the roof of its Queen St establishment.

Hilton Global Vice President Paul Hutton in the Brisbane Hilton, which is buzzing after its latest rooftop addition.

Hilton general manager Chris Partridge says that since the two hives were installed in October, 60kg of honey have been harvested.

Guests at QUT’s Business Leaders’ Forum Sponsor lunch yesterday enjoyed the honey in a sorbet taster as part of their meal. Partridge says the honey is also given away as gifts to guests.

TAKE IT TO THE BANK

ANNA Bligh’s post-political career would do any dyed-in-the-wool Tory proud.

First, the former Labor premier joined Medibank Private as a non-executive director, while last week it was announced she would head the Australian Bankers Association.

Private health insurers and bankers used to be high on the list of class enemies in old Labor, but it appears the modern breed of pollies are much more open-minded.

Already one Liberal Senator, Zed Seselja, has accused the ABA of a policy of “appeasement”, given the ALP has been bashing banks so hard.

ABA members are predominantly big listed banks such as CBA or NAB, so what do smaller lenders think? “I was a bit surprised,” said Peter Lock of Toowoomba’s customer-owned Heritage Bank.

“She is obviously a very, very talented person, and to have somebody of that calibre represent the association, I think that’s a good thing.”

ROYAL FLUSH

BRISBANE-BASED dunny maker GWA were talking up their new Caroma Clean-flush range of toilets this week with the hopes of selling about 25,000 of them this year.

The toilets, which retail for about $1000, use the latest flushing technology including a “flow splitter” and a “flow balancer”.

Not so impressed is local broker Charlie Green, who quipped yesterday that they are not “nearly as useful as my Auntie’s old dunny from the ’60s, which actually did the job it was designed to do, in just one flush!”