Sami Jarvela tips Pop Concrete Pty Ltd and Pop Concrete Services Pty Ltd into liquidation
Trouble has emerged in this concrete design group of companies overseen by two Brisbane brothers. While they continue to trade, two companies have been tipped into liquidation.
City Beat
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CRACKS IN CONCRETE
They’re the brothers of Finnish descent who launched an unlikely business in Brisbane five years ago designing and making trendy furniture and fittings out of concrete.
But trouble has emerged in the group of companies overseen by Sami and Jouni Jarvela.
Sami tipped two of the entities, Pop Concrete Pty Ltd and Pop Concrete Services Pty Ltd, into liquidation this week. They previously operated out of a showroom in Fortitude Valley.
Despite the setback, the pair still control an intact related company that trades under the banner of Pop Concrete Supplies and Training Pty Ltd, which just relocated from its original Rocklea factory to the West End in July.
Jouni also continues to operate a separate business called Pop Plus, which sells all kinds of benchtops, lighting and furnishings from its base in Salisbury, including a coffee table priced at nearly $4500.
Neither of the brothers returned calls seeking comment on Friday. We also didn’t hear back from liquidator Michael Dullaway at insolvency outfit Pearce & Heers.
Chris Born, a director of the supply and training company, declined to comment.
The Pop concept came naturally to the brothers, who helped out in the family concreting business as teenagers. Sami later worked as a carpenter and primary school teacher, while Jouni trained in industrial design.
They started out modestly, making stuff in a tiny space under an old Queenslander in Highgate Hill.
Eventually they began churning out custom products for residential and commercial projects, including restaurants and resorts.
UNDER PRESSURE
To say mental health professionals Dave Ferguson and his partner Anita Boettger are feeling the pressure would be putting it mildly.
Fit out work on the couple’s new Easy Times Brewing venue in Brisbane kicked off this week and they’re dead set on having the doors open before the AFL grand final on October 24.
Why? Well, they’re located right across from the Gabba, with frontage to both Logan Road and Stanley Street. Indeed, the stadium’s Gate 1 is directly opposite one of the entrances to the new pub.
The couple are transforming a two-level building in the hospitality precinct that formerly housed a violin shop and motorcycle repair business. Luckily for them, much of the costly renovation work had already been done.
Still, Ferguson told City Beat this week that he’s tipping about $1m into the project, raising half that sum from the sale of his home. The balance comes from a group of friends and family.
A Pom who is mad keen on home brewing, Ferguson said he’s been getting plenty of advice from his brother, who runs seven restaurants and bars back home in Manchester.
He’ll also benefit from the expertise of his new head brewer Curran McCarthy, who previously worked at award-winning Black Hops Brewing on the Gold Coast.
Joining them is Ryan Lane, who runs Proof BBQ & Booze in Windsor. He will occupy the upstairs area, where he’ll dispense his delicious slow-cooked meats.
It’s the first time Lane has expanded in the city since opening Proof last year and he’s now also looking to open up in Toowoomba, Townsville and Rockhampton.
Ferguson aims to have a soft launch on October 14 and make it official two days later.
DESIGN GONG
The hubby of former Governor-General, Dame Quentin Bryce, has snared the nation’s most prestigious gong for graphic design.
In recognition of his lifetime contributions to the field, Michael Bryce won the Australian Design Prize this month from Good Design Australia.
Bryce, a former architect who is now retired, dreamed up plenty of well-known logos over the course of his lengthy career, including that for the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
He was also responsible for coming up with signage for the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, as well as logos for the Wallabies, the National Parks and Wildlife Service and the Queensland Government.