Last company linked to bust group owing more than $45m ordered into liquidation

The Federal Court has put a limping company out of its misery weeks after all staff were brutally sacked.

EXCLUSIVE

A tradie business has finally collapsed weeks after brutally sacking all its staff right before Christmas.

News.com.au can reveal that on Wednesday morning, the Federal Court’s NSW division ordered Joinery Manufacturing Solutions Pty Ltd to go into liquidation over an unpaid tax debt.

Tristana Steedman of insolvency firm RSM Partners has been appointed as the liquidator and has been contacted for comment.

Joinery Manufacturing Solutions was the last vestige of a multimillion dollar cabinet making venture called GDK Group, operating out of a factory in Sydney’s west.

News.com.au previously reported that in the past six months, 11 businesses linked to the group have collapsed with debts in excess of $45 million.

Some of these businesses were named after obscure Lord of the Rings references, “confusing” some staff members and leaving them unaware that some of the companies were in operation.

In the Wednesday court proceeding, Judicial Registrar Nicola Colbran ordered Joinery Manufacturing Solutions to be “wound up in insolvency” as the corporation was “deemed insolvent”.

Before the court hearing, the company’s sole director, Nicholas Kalikajaros, sent an email indicating he had no plans to oppose plans to place his business in liquidation.

The factory is now in liquidation.

Joinery Manufacturing Solutions was part of the GDK Group.

Weeks before Christmas last year, news.com.au reported that all 30 cabinet makers at the company’s Wetherill Park factory were “unceremoniously dumped”.

Emotions ran high, with one worker telling news.com.au at the time “it was very sad to see grown men crying”.

Staff were called to the front of the factory in early December where they learned the news.

In a termination letter, signed off by company director Mr Kalikajaros, staff were informed “your position is no longer needed” and that “regrettably” this meant their employment was over, effective immediately.

Liquidators of other entities in the defunct group of businesses have estimated that staff are owed $2.1 million, including $885,000 in superannuation which is not recoverable through government rescue schemes.

At its peak, the GDK Group’s factory had around 100 staff and 50 contractors but employees said that number had shrunk to around 30 before it finally shut down for good.

This collapse marks the 12th company to collapse under the GDK Group banner in as many months.

Of those 12 businesses, many have been named after obscure references from the iconic book series The Lord of the Rings, such as Himlad, Hithlum, Thargeliou, Belegaer, Ossiriand, Nevrast, Dorlomin and Avernien.

Since then, liquidators have put the factory premises up for sale on liquidation auction website Pickles.

The advertisement states that at its height, GDK Group generated a monthly revenue of $3.6 million.

Expressions of interest close on February 15.

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The termination letter which devastated staff in early December.

In May, Himlad Pty Ltd, linked to the GDK Group of companies, went into voluntary liquidation with debts of $29.8 million, according to a statutory report filed with the corporate regulator.

All workers’ payroll and leave entitlements switched over to Joinery Manufacturing Solutions Pty Ltd.

Since then, the tax office has forcibly wound up multiple other companies in the Federal Court.

in July, three other companies went into voluntary liquidation – Nevrast Pty Ltd formerly trading as Imprint Furniture, Dorlomin formerly trading as Imprint Systems and Avernien Pty Ltd formerly trading as GDK Ventures. Liquidation reports say these companies were part of the GDK Group.

At the end of November, the Federal Court ordered two more companies to go belly up and Henry McKenna of insolvency firm Vincents was nominated as the liquidator.

Hithlum Pty Ltd formerly known as GDK Group (Global) Pty Ltd was ordered to go into liquidation due to unpaid tax debts of $261,000 while Thargeliou Pty Ltd formerly known as Imprint Street (Australia) Pty Ltd had $90,000 in unpaid taxes.

In early December, Ossiriand Pty Ltd was ordered to go into liquidation. The liquidators Alan Hayes and Wayne Marshall of Hayes Advisory have been contacted for comment.

Another slew of businesses collapsed by court order several days later – GDK Group Pty Ltd, Belegaer Pty Ltd, GDK Projects Pty Ltd and GDK Holdings.

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