Security group Titanium Security Australia’s long debt-list of unpaid wages, taxes

More than 100 employees of the insolvent security business are owed nearly $600,000 in unpaid wages, with another $5m-plus in tax debts.

Titanium Security Australian founder Danny Grotegoed. Photo Sam Wundke.

Titanium Security Australia owes close to $600,000 in unpaid wages, including superannuation entitlements, while in excess of $5m is owed in total in state and Commonwealth taxes, according to a creditors report.

The major Adelaide-based security services business, with a presence across SA, Queensland, Victoria and NSW and servicing at least 2000 clients, appointed Mackay Goodwin as administrators on July 30.

Founded by Danny Grotegoed in Adelaide in 2007, the business is a former sponsor of the Adelaide Lightning basketball women’s team and naming rights sponsor of the Adelaide Arena

A creditors’ meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, August 11.

The creditors’ report lodged with ASIC shows the two major creditors on its books are RevenueSA, owed more than $3m, and the Australian Taxation Office’s debt at $2.5m.

In total, Titanium Security owes 83 creditors, including a number of security contractors and suppliers, in excess of $6.3m, besides the nearly $600,000 to about 108 employees.

Ahead of the meeting, the business continues to operate and employ all staff.

The company and the administrators are continuing to receive support from staff, customers and suppliers, Mackay Goodwin said in a statement.

“We are continuing to work with, Mr Grotegoed in respect of his intention to put forward a proposal for the Company to execute a Deed of Company Arrangement,” it said.

The reason for the insolvency is not known, including if there was an impact of the pandemic, but it came just two years after Mr Grotegoed shared plans to become the biggest security firm in the country on the back of a series of acquisitions and growth in interstate markets.

At the time, Titanium had more than 2300 clients across the private, commercial, corporate and local government sectors, including SA Water, Coopers and Santos and major retail chains.

An SA Water spokesman said Titanium Security was continuing to meet its contractual obligations.

“Titanium Security are continuing to deliver their services as per our current expectations and have kept us informed of the situation as they navigate their way through the process,” he said.

A 2015 Fair Work Commission decision in relation to a dismissed unfair dismissal claim against Titanium Security referred to the security industry’s “complex series of contractual and employment arrangements” which were considered by the FWC to be “business arrangements reflective of dubious business ethics”.

In March this year, the Fair Work Ombudsman recovered $389,982 in unpaid wages for 163 security guards following an investigation into 19 unnamed security businesses just in Queensland after it investigated anonymous tip-offs and job ads between September 2019 and 2020.

Mr Grotegoed did not respond to requests for comment.

Originally published as Security group Titanium Security Australia’s long debt-list of unpaid wages, taxes