Horan and Bird given shot at revival after 11th hour bid to save company

A highly respected Townsville-based solar power business that recently had liquidators appointed and staff locked out of a closed office has been given a second chance.

John Horan, founder of Townsville-based Horan & Bird, which claims to be one of Australia’s largest commercial solar companies. The company was voted Australian Small Business of the Year in 2012 and Regional Employer of the Year in 2014.

The ink is reportedly drying on a last-minute deal to save one of North Queensland’s leading solar businesses after the company was listed by liquidators.

An employee of Horan & Bird, which claims to be one of Australia’s largest commercial solar companies, said staff were told last Tuesday that the business was being closed that same day.

The employee of the company, voted Australian Small Business of the Year in 2012 and Regional Employer of the Year in 2014, told the Bulletin they were told there were issues with one of the major backers, Australian solar finance specialists Juice Capital.

ASIC documents reveal Horan & Bird Energy Pty Ltd went into liquidation on June 18, with external administers appointed.

A notification to wind up the company was issued on June 19, 2024.

Horan & Brid office in Hermit Park, Townsville. Picture: Evan Morgan

Horan & Bird was founded by prominent Townsville businessman John Horan, who retains ownership of part of the company that operates throughout Queensland.

Mr Horan, one of the original importers of solar panels into the country and a former president of Master Electricians Australia, told the Bulletin he had been blindsided after Juice pulled the rug out from under him.

He said himself and local staff had been denied access to phone or computer systems and were unable to communicate with existing clients, saying he had projects planned for the month ahead.

Jody and John Horan of Horan and Bird.

Mr Horan told the Bulletin on Wednesday paperwork is in the process of being signed and is soon to be finalised that will save the business, after he arranged to buy the company’s assets in a last ditch effort bring it back from the brink.

“We’re feverishly contacting all the customers and rescheduling jobs and making sure that none of them are being left worse off,” Mr Horan said.

Mr Horan said that many of the staff who were let go in the shock termination had found other work, but that the organisation was ‘regrouping’ and ‘trying to put the team back together as best we can’.

Mr Horan said that because the company had been liquidated, he was only able to purchase the assets and would have to ‘rebuild it and start it again’.

“We’re going to operate under the name Horan and Bird Solar. Legally, I wasn’t allowed to buy the existing company because it was put into liquidation,” Mr Horan said.

“But I’ve got all the old customers. None of them who paid a deposit are going to lose money, which is the most important part.

John Horan, founder of Townsville-based Horan & Bird, which claims to be one of Australia’s largest commercial solar companies. The company was voted Australian Small Business of the Year in 2012 and Regional Employer of the Year in 2014. Picture: Supplied

“We’re going to get up and running again as soon as we can. At the moment we’ve got two weeks of customers backed up that we need to reschedule and sort out.”

Mr Horan said the current plan, if succesful, would allow them to begin installing again as of Monday, July 1.

“Our plan is to be booking in customers again as of Monday,” Mr Horan said.
“I haven’t had access to anything, I haven’t been able to contact customers because all their numbers are in the operating system, but now we’ve got access to it again and we can get back into it.”

The former employee who first discussed the matter with the Bulletin said Horan & Bird executives were as blindsided as shocked staff on Tuesday.

“We had worked a full day, my bosses did not find out until half-an-hour before in a management meeting and then they sat us all down at the table and told us ‘we just got word from Juice that the business is closing and all of our employment terminated’,” she said.

“They did it on pay day so it meant that we didn’t get paid for the past two weeks.”

The employee said their hearts went out to their customers.

“I really don’t want out customers seeing us as the kind of people that would abandon them after all the time we have invested into them,” they said.

“We simply can’t answer (the phone), we can’t reply … we can’t do anything to help anymore because we’re not employed.”

The employee said there were about 30 people employed in a range of functions in Townsville, with at least 15 more in Mackay and Brisbane.

Sydney-based company Juice, “project development experts”, were not answering their phone on Friday or Monday.

Originally published as Horan and Bird given shot at revival after 11th hour bid to save company