Directors of VAC Group have tapped administrators to try to resuscitate their business

Administrators appointed to a Queensland civil works group this week are scrambling to save the well-established business, which employs more than 155 staff across the country and in NZ.

VAC Group chairman Neil Costello.

FIGHT FOR SURVIVAL

Administrators appointed to a Queensland civil works group this week are scrambling to save the well-established business, which employs more than 155 staff across the country and in New Zealand.

In a shock move, the directors of VAC Group have tapped McGrathNicol partners Jamie Harris and Rob Kirman to try to resuscitate five companies in the Yatala-based enterprise, which is focused on digging, vacuum excavation, soil removal and more.

“We are urgently conducting a review of options for the business, including refinancing and recapitalisation. The business will continue to trade as we assess the options,’’ Harris told City Beat on Tuesday.

McGrathNicol partner Jamie Harris.

The pair have also taken control of another five related entities in the VAC empire, including Earth Radar and Soil Transfer.

It’s too early to say how many unsecured creditors are owed money or how much they are chasing. But creditors are likely to get a few answers when they meet for the first time on Thursday next week.

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

Since its launch in 2000 with one truck and two blokes, the group has grown to have a fleet of 85 vacuum excavation vehicles and offices in Gladstone, the Sunshine and Gold coasts, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney, as well as Auckland and Christchurch.

The group has completed more than 180,000 jobs for a range of clients, including federal, state and local governments, as well as major civil and infrastructure players, such as BMD, Downer, Fulton Hogan and Broad Spectrum.

It’s not yet clear why things went pear-shaped and we couldn’t get our hands on figures for the 2019 financial year.

VAC Group chairman Neil Costello.

But City Beat obtained the three most recent financial year reports before that and they show the group was profitable through to June 2018 and revenues were growing.

They reveal that VAC generated a $524,005 net profit based on $47.6 million revenue in the 2018 financial year. That was down slightly on the $537,724 net profit earned the prior year from $39.2 million in revenue.

We had hoped to learn a bit more from company directors Neil Costello and Jack Beach, who each joined the group in 2008, but they did not return calls seeking comment yesterday.

Fellow director and CEO Ben Costello also failed to call us back. Just last year he and his missus splashed out $1 million for an acreage homestead, complete with six bedrooms and a nine-car garage, in the Logan suburb of Chambers Flat, property records show.

NOT SMILING

An IT drama has caused havoc for a national chain of dental clinics since the start of the month.

City Beat spies report that hackers tried to access the data base for the Pacific Smiles Group, forcing clinics to sharply reduce services and raising questions about the security of private medical records.

The group, which has 17 of its 89 clinics based in Queensland, is listed but there’s been no disclosure to the ASX about the issue and any potential hit to the bottom line.

Pacific Smiles spin doctor Ciara Rocks—yes, that’s really her name--downplayed the matter yesterday, acknowledging only “intermittent network issues and IT challenges’’ that did not warrant a stock exchange announcement.

“Pacific Smiles has not suffered any data breaches and would like to assure patients that records have not been compromised at any time,’’ she said.

“Some of our patients may have had difficulty booking appointments online or experienced issues claiming for dental treatment at the time of their visit.

“Despite these challenges, Pacific Smiles has provided services to patients where possible with other patients rebooked to a time that suits them.

“We are working around the clock with our partners to bring all our services back to full working capacity with the majority of our dental centres operating as normal. We are confident that a complete resolution of these issues is imminent.’’