Bryan Byrt Auto Group founder John Crowley has passed away six years after the collapse of his Brisbane car dealership empire

The founding patriarch of a once-thriving but now collapsed chain of Brisbane car dealerships has left us for that great showroom in the sky

SHOWROOM IN THE SKY

After experiencing the extremes of great success and awful failure, the founding patriarch of a once-thriving chain of Brisbane car dealerships has left us for that great showroom in the sky.

John Crowley (illustrated) launched the Bryan Byrt Auto Group in 1972 and, at its peak, it employed nearly 300 staff across seven sites selling everything from Fords to VW.

Outside of work he built up a property portfolio, including a pad on Hamilton Island, and indulged his love of the ponies.

But it all came unstuck in 2014, when auditors raised red flags with the corporate cop and bank-appointed receivers seized control of the group. It subsequently collapsed under a $70 million mountain of debt.

John Crowley

Crowley was 74 when he passed away last week. It’s understood he succumbed to a heart attack and funeral arrangements are pending.

A tribute at Albion Park has already been paid to Crowley, who once served as the chairman of the Queensland Harness Racing Board.

GOING BUST

After stepping back from the day-to-day running of Bryan Byrt in 2007, Crowley stayed on as a co-director with his son, Brendon.

Their personal fortunes truly headed south after the company went under.

Both these gents, along with John’s missus, Judy, declared bankruptcy in 2015 after ANZ sued over $18.5 million outstanding from guarantees provided for dealership loans.

Father and son each had just $200 in the bank at the time and, ironically, no vehicles listed among their assets.

A year before all three emerged from under the shadow of bankruptcy in 2018, their trustee oversaw a public examination in Brisbane’s Federal Court to pick apart the mess.

Brendon Crowley

The court heard allegations of sham invoicing amid a tangled web of trusts and businesses.

It also emerged in court that Brendon had chalked up tens of thousands of dollars on fashion shopping, lunches and holidays just months before the company crashed. More than $60,000 alone was splashed out on a Fiji island resort stay.

Ultimately, unsecured creditors walked away with nothing and ASIC decided not to pursue legal action against any of the key players.

Without adequate funding, liquidators also threw in the towel as taxpayers picked up the $3.3 million tab for outstanding employee entitlements.

Neither Brendon nor Judy could be reached for comment yesterday.

CALLING IT A DAY

He started his working life as a cadet coal miner in the Ipswich coal fields 39 years ago.

Now, six years since taking the helm of New Hope, Shane Stephan is calling it quits and heading off for an early retirement.

The Brisbane-based coal miner revealed yesterday that Stephan, 57, would step down as chief executive on August 31 after 11 years with the company.

While sales tonnage has more than doubled under his watch, he leaves behind the unfinished business of securing final approvals for the controversial expansion of the Acland mine site.

Shane Stephan

Following the lay-off of 150 workers late last year, Stephan slammed the State Government for what he said were their failures to help get the $900 million third stage of the project off the ground.

After more than a decade spent fighting its critics, New Hope won several key legal battles last year but still remains in limbo.

Stephan notably sidestepped any mention of this drawn out saga yesterday.

Instead, he said that his proudest achievement as boss had been the series of acquisitions totalling $1.7 billion which has seen New Hope snare 80 per cent of the Bengalla coal project in NSW.

New Hope reported net profit of nearly $70 million in the December half, well down on the $120 million result a year earlier.