Subbies may not see a cent from $19m building firm collapse

Subbies caught up in the $19m collapse of Sunshine Coast builder BA Murphy may not see a cent with liquidators reporting the company may have been insolvent for almost a year.

BA Murphy Constructions boss Ben Murphy. The Sunshine Coast-based construction firm went into liquidation on December 21, 2021.

Subbies caught up in the $19m collapse of Sunshine Coast builder BA Murphy may not see a cent with liquidators reporting the company may have been insolvent for almost a year.

FTI Consulting says preliminary investigations indicate that BA Murphy, which entered administration in December, was insolvent from at least July 2021 and potentially from February that year.

It said any return to unsecured creditors, which include subbies and suppliers would depend on liquidators being able to recover monies owed to the company.

BA Murphy, founded by director Ben Murphy in 2016, owes in excess of $19m to employees, subbies and secured creditors.

FTI liquidators Ben Campbell and John Park told creditors in a report lodged with ASIC that the company started experiencing cost pressure as a result of supply chain issues and price increases in January 2021.

The Queensland arm of the business sold $1.2m worth of property to fund working capital but was hit by disputes with one of its business partners over several commercial contracts.

The company had been negatively impacted by the “extended lockdowns in New South Wales and Victoria, supply chain issues, increases in the cost of materials and poor pricing on commercial projects which led to disputes and cost overruns.”

Comment has been sought from Ben Murphy.

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BA Murphy Constructions boss Ben Murphy. The Sunshine Coast-based construction firm went into liquidation on December 21, 2021.

Direct Heading

Just when his competitors thought that he was ready to retire to his South Burnett vineyard veteran legal eagle Brett Heading (illustrated) has left US giant Jones Day, where he had been for six years, to head up the Brisbane office of Hamilton Locke. Hamilton Locke is a subsidiary of Sydney-based professional services group HALO, which has flagged an ASX listing in the next couple of years and is the fastest growing law firm in the country.

City Beat spies tell us Heading has put together a formidable merger and acquisition and capital markets team including Peter Williams from his former firm McCullough Robertson and Benny Sham from Jones Day.

He also has built a serious agribusiness team with prominent lawyers Trent Thorne and Fran Becker also being poached from McCullough Robertson.

We hear Heading is still in the hiring mood with some rapid sandbagging occurring at Jones Day and McCullough Robertson to stop the flood of talent heading for the door.

In his spare time as gentleman farmer, Heading is launching a new gin label to accompany wines and olive oil from his Clovely Estate. The estate’s prominent master distiller and winemaker is the BBC educated Nick Pesudovs.

Brett Heading has new legal gig in Brisbane

Ship Ahoy

Port of Brisbane has appointed long-term executive Neil Stephens as its new chief executive replacing Roy Cummins.

Stephens, who previously served as chief financial officer, has been interim chief executive over the past eight months helping steer the country’s third-largest port through the Covid-19 pandemic. Port of Brisbane chairman Guy Cowan says the port had worked with a leading executive search firm to conduct an extensive international search to replace Cummins.

“We have been impressed with Neil’s leadership as interim CEO and believe he is the right person to lead the organisation moving forward,” says Cowan.

Stephens says it will be a privilege to lead the port. “We’ve seen the port community respond magnificently to both Covid-19 challenges and the recent flooding crisis,” he says. “As we continue to recover and as Queensland continues to grow … we have a lot to look forward to.”