BA Murphy Constructions: Liquidators reveal scale of debts claimed

Former staff of the collapsed BA Murphy Constructions empire claim they’re owed about $400,000 as part of almost $11m worth of debts recorded. SEE THE LIST OF CREDITORS:

Former BA Murphy group staff claim to be owed more than $400,000 as part of almost $11m worth of debts recorded during liquidators’ initial investigations.

The liquidators appointed revealed more about the scale of collapse of a major Sunshine Coast-based construction firm in a statement this week.

Documents lodged by liquidators with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and sent to creditors showed 550 creditors claiming to be owed more than $10.8m after the collapse of BA Murphy Constructions Pty Ltd and its NSW and Victorian arms.

The BA Murphy group entered liquidation on December 21, 2021.

SCROLL DOWN TO SEE THE FULL LIST OF CREDITORS

FTI Consulting’s Ben Campbell and John Park were appointed just before Christmas after a meeting of company members ended weeks of speculation about the company’s future.

Subcontractors initially feared the firm would fold owing about $3m, but liquidators confirmed their preliminary investigations had indicated about 550 creditors were “owed a total of almost $11m”.

A spokesman for FTI Consulting provided an update on the liquidation this week in a statement on January 17, 2022, outlining the preliminary investigations into the three BA Murphy companies.

The spokesman said the total figure to-date included about 30 BA Murphy employees who were owed more than $400,000, one secured creditor owed almost $1m and about 500 unsecured creditors owed almost $9.5m.

Summary of company affairs reports provided to the Commission on January 7, 2022 signed by BA Murphy director and Sunshine Coast local Ben Murphy, showed the three companies had a combined $76,917 cash at bank when they entered liquidation late last year.

The documents showed debtors recorded by the companies totalled more than $3.8m while plant and machinery tallied more than $459,000 and the construction firm had other assets of about $2.7m.

See below for the full list of BA Murphy group creditors recorded to-date as part of liquidators’ preliminary investigations, with a full report due back by March 21:

The Queensland Building and Construction Commission in December pulled BA Murphy’s licence after complaints of non-payments to subcontractors.

The building watchdog’s records showed BA Murphy had completed 98 projects worth $30.7m in 2020/21 and 100 jobs worth more than $27.5m the previous year.

However, as of December, midway through this financial year it had only completed three jobs worth $1.1m

The prominent Coast building firm had several projects in the works across the Sunshine Coast and Brisbane prior to its collapse. Pictured is a BA Murphy sign on a construction site in Pelican Waters.

Ongoing supply shortages and rising construction costs had taken a toll on the industry and more pain was tipped to come for many builders this year.

BA Murphy, founded in 2015, had been undertaking commercial projects in Brisbane, Sippy Downs and Caloundra South prior to its collapse.

Mr Murphy previously said he was “working out what needs to be done to complete the projects” and had remained committed to delivering outcomes for clients.

He declined to comment when contacted this week.

The FTI Consulting spokesman said liquidators had been in contact “with all the creditors” to advise of their appointment and the financial positions based on the companies’ records.

No creditor meetings were currently scheduled but one may be called in future, with liquidators due to report back by March 21, 2022.

Creditors listed in the documents included more than $990,000 owed to the National Australia Bank across the BA Murphy group, more than $350,000 to the Australian Taxation Office and employee creditors of more than $408,000 recorded between BA Murphy Constructions and its Victorian arm.

Other notable creditors included almost $82,000 owed to The BA Murphy Family Trust, more than $24,000 owed to Queensland Fire and Emergency Services and more than $57,000 owed to the Office of State Revenue.

Several local and interstate trade suppliers were also listed among the creditors.