SWC Management, Baron Force collapse leaves tradies out of pocket

Tradesmen on a high-end Elsternwick development site have walked off the job after a building supplies company went bust, owing tens of thousands of dollars to workers.

Construction workers have walked off the job in Elsternwick after building supplies company SWC Management went bust, leaving workers unpaid.

Tradies have walked off the job at a high-end apartment development in Elsternwick after a national building supplies group went bust just before Christmas, failing to pay invoices totalling about $400,000.

The Mark development, at 441 Glen Huntly Rd, was due to be finished by the end of last year but about 20 workers were each left up to $30,000 out of pocket ahead of the festive season following the collapse of stone and tile supplier Baron Forge and parent company SWC Management in December last year.

Tradies have worked off the job at an Elsternwick building site amid claims they are owed about $400,000.

Advisory firm KordaMentha was appointed voluntary administrator of the company, a major supplier of stone, tile and glass for some of Australia’s biggest property developers, including Mirvac, Multiplex, Hacer, Porter Davis and Probuild.

Signs saying “no pay, no work” and “wers (sic) our money” have been erected at the site.

Stonemason Ivo Conti told the Leader workers had “no choice” but to hang up their tools until a payment agreement had been reached.

“We just want to be paid for the work we’ve done and don’t think that’s too much to ask,” he said.

“The administrators keep meeting with the union to ‘work things out’ but there’s nothing to work out — we put an invoice in, you pay it.”

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Craig Shepard, of KordaMentha, confirmed he had been appointed administrator of SWC Management but said it was “too early for me to say how much money will be left to pay creditors, if any at all”.

“At this stage, the company is not in a position to pay them,” he said.

The project, overseen by Hacer Group, includes 173 apartments and a three-level basement carpark as well as a Coles supermarket and Liquorland bottle shop.

Coles reopened at the site in October, creating 233 new retail jobs in Elsternwick Village.

Hacer Group and the CFMEU have been contacted for comment.