Synergy10 claimed to have Queensland’s best consultants but it’s now gone bust
A firm set up by entrepreneur Scott Maclean that aimed to save the Queensland Government and other clients millions in fees has gone to the wall.
City Beat
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LACK OF SYNERGY
His firm aimed to save the Queensland Government and other clients millions in fees usually forked out to high-priced consultants and contractors.
But it’s all come unstuck for entrepreneur Scott Maclean, a transplant from the UK.
He’s just tipped his solely-owned company Synergy10 Pty Ltd into liquidation, tapping SV Partners operative David Stimpson to handle the clean up.
Maclean launched the venture in Brisbane three years ago as “a strategic consortium of Queensland’s best independent and freelance professional consultants, contractors and subject matter experts’’.
The pitch was enticing. “With no expensive agency overheads, we have simply cut out the middleman and slashed traditional agency margins,’’ a marketing blurb said.
Maclean declined to comment when City Beat rang for a chat on Monday. “It’s a private matter,’’ he told us.
That means we can only speculate on what might eventuate with a newly-created entity, Synergy100 Pty Ltd, which Maclean registered in August.
SEEING UPSIDE
Brisbane-based Rich Lister Bevan Slattery clearly sees a bit of upside for his NBN-focused outfit Superloop.
The serial tech entrepreneur has just lightened his wallet to the tune of nearly $275,000 to acquire more stock in the company he launched and now chairs.
Slattery picked up another 308,385 shares last week, taking the combined holdings with his missus, Jodie, to 64.3 million.
The move follows a tough year for Superloop, which saw it lay off 30 staff as pandemic pressures ate into its internet services for student housing and the hospitality industry.
The company also continues to spill red ink, suffering a $41m net loss in the last financial year, although that was down from a $72m loss in 2019. Revenues slipped 9 per cent to $106 million.
But new blood may shake things up.
Former NBN executive Paul Tyler just assumed the role of CEO this month.
Tyler, who also previously spent time at Telstra and Nokia, took over from Drew Kelton.
The board also saw change this month with the departure of director Greg Baynton, who remains busy over at State Gas and battery player Novonix.
Meanwhile, Slattery’s vote of confidence in Superloop probably won’t go unnoticed by stock pickers.
Back in July, Slattery shelled out $2.5m to pick up a swag of 5 cent shares in 3D data specialist firm Pointerra, which he thinks could become a global leader in the field of geospatial data.
His vote of confidence acted like rocket fuel for the stock, sending it as high as 12 cents on the day. It closed Monday at 36 cents so you can see how well he’s done out of the deal.
TICKET BUNGLE
We hear there were quite a few irate footy fans chasing up missing tickets for the AFL grand final at the Gabba on Saturday night.
City Beat spies tell us several fans who had shelled out thousands of dollars never received emails with their tickets.
“I ran into one guy who spent $30,000 for a 10-seat box and never got his ticket,’’ a source told us.
“This happened to one of the six people in our party as well.’’
That’s despite 15 phone calls over three days and then multiple emails to the AFL to clear up the drama.
“They continuously promised the email with the tickets would arrive. But it never did and still has not,’’ he said.
“Most folks had to go to the ground two hours early and stand in the rain, then present two forms of ID to Ticketmaster, which eventually gave them their tickets.
“There was some very pissed off people.’’
A Ticketmaster spin doctor was unaware of the issue when we sought comment on Monday, saying there were no major technical glitches impacting ticket distribution.
Following the game, the AFL after-party at the swish Calile Hotel in Fortitude Valley got pretty boisterous. Apparently guests started complaining about the noise, forcing organisers to move the gathering inside.