The Tile Factory will be wound up after 40 years because of Covid supply chain issues

After 40 years in business a well-known Brisbane building supplier has been wound up because of Covid-related supply chain woes and industry insiders say builders are nervous with more business collapses anticipated.

A TILE wholesale business that had been operating for four decades has been wound up with the liquidator citing Covid-related supply chain issues as the major reason for the business closing its doors.

The Tile Factory at 1041 Beaudesert Rd, Archerfield, was for a time one of Queensland’s largest wholesalers and distributors of ceramic tiles.

They had been wholesaling quality tiles since 1982 and over that time received 15 industry awards.

However, liquidator Shahin Hussain from HH Advisory said the company shut its doors just before Christmas.

“This is a longstanding company and well known in the industry,” he said.

“From our discussions with the director and accountants at the company the closure seems to have resulted from problems with the supply chain because of Covid.

“They were very limited in terms of being able to get tiles with a good profit margin overseas and locally and when you add in all the fixed costs with rents and storage they could find no way forward and continue so they made the tough choice and closed down.”

After 40 years The Tile Factory has closed and the company is being wound up.

The company moved to its last address in April 2020 having been at 117 Ipswich Rd, Moorooka, for almost 30 years.

A company search revealed that Gregory John Eyers was the director of The Tile Factory Wholesale Pty Ltd and through Eyers Investments Pty Ltd was the major shareholder.

The Courier-Mail attempted to contact Mr Eyers but he was not immediately available.

The business was founded by David Peel who stood down as chief executive in 2007 and ceased being a director in June 2020.

Mr Hussain said at this stage they were still sorting through the accounts and stocklist, and there were no financial details available.

This year will continue to be tough for companies within the building industry with industry pandemic induced shortages of everything from timber to bathroom fixtures forcing pricing skyrocket putting pressure on the building industry.

Master Builders Queensland deputy chief executive Paul Bidwell said there would be more collapses on the way in 2022 as builders continued to face hefty hikes in building materials.

“There are a lot of nervous builders out there and the first quarter of next year will be telling,” said Mr Bidwell.

“These supply chain issues could even run into 2023.”

He said some builders were choosing to complete projects they have on their books and then permanently shut their doors. He said a majority of building materials such as timber had to be imported but faced extensive cost increases.