70 lose their jobs as Australian engineering, fit-out firm goes into voluntary administration owing $2.5m

Staff were all let go immediately while millions of dollars worth of projects have been left up in the air from the sudden collapse.

EXCLUSIVE

It was an ordinary Friday afternoon on August 11 when around 70 staff members at an Australian firm called HME Services received an email giving them two hours notice about an important company-wide meeting.

HME Services, which has offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, specialises in designs and fit-outs mostly in the creative arts industry.

The business had recently completed an interior retrofit at the Sydney Opera House and was responsible for other major projects such as the design of the 70,000-seat Etihad stadium, lighting displays at the Barry Wilde Bridge Parramatta and the Australian War Memorial, and the acoustic set up for the ABC’s Brisbane Headquarters.

With a growing sense of dread, at 2.30pm, some employees filed into their respective meeting rooms while others logged on remotely.

For some time, they had suspected the company was on its last legs as multiple accounts had been put on hold as well as management holding multiple closed door meetings. The subsequent town hall confirmed their worst fears.

“We were told that we would be paid our base wage with no overtime up to that day and then that was it,” Terrence*, one of the workers, told news.com.au.

“Emails closed down. Those with cars and keys had to return them on the Monday morning at 9am.”

The following day, news.com.au can reveal that HME Services Pty Ltd collapsed into voluntary administration, with Simon Thorn and Mark Roufei of insolvency firm PKF appointed as the administrators.

According to a creditor’s report, the company owes at least $2.5 million with around half the creditors still with their debt amount to be determined.

The lights display set up at the Barry Wilde Bridge in Parramatta, Sydney, which HME Services was responsible for. Picture: HME Services

“It was sudden, it was a shock, we hadn’t had time to plan alternative work for the Monday,” Terrence added.

One of the administrators, Mr Thorn, confirmed to news.com.au that around 70 staff had lost their jobs due to the company going into administration.

“There’s a lot of staff, the number (owed to them) is going to be significant,” he added.

According to the report, $1.5 million is owed to staff for unpaid entitlements. Of that, there is about $170,000 owed from unpaid superannuation amounts. A further $500,000 is owed for accrued annual leave.

On LinkedIn, several staff are currently listed as working at HME Services but have added the ‘open to work’ filter on their profile.

The ATO is also owed around $500,000.

“It’s a very small industry serving a limited market, so jobs (are) limited in number. I don’t know anyone who has started a new job yet,” Terrence continued.

“Many of us are in a very precarious financial position. It is putting a strain on relationships.”

Terrence blamed the Covid-19 pandemic on the fiasco.

“The company manufactured machinery so had to buy components and raw materials early enough to cover extended post Covid lead times, allow time to manufacture and test etc,” he said.

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HME specialised in fitting out lighting, drapes and sound in creative studios.

HME Services completed jobs all over the country and had been a registered business since 2013.

On its website, which is still live, the business says it “provides innovative rigging, lifting and height safety solutions for a range of industries from the entertainment to mining and construction sectors”.

The collapse of HME Services has impacted multiple projects slated to cost millions.

One project alone, a performing arts centre in Queensland, which HME was contracted to, was expected to cost around the $15 or $16 million mark to complete.

“It had a lot of contractors and clients,” Mr Thorn said.

As well as the big performing arts centre project, “there’s a whole bunch of little projects” that have also been impacted, according to the liquidator.

The audio fit-out at the ABC’s Brisbane studios, another project HME was involved with.

HME Services also said it was involved in the design side of the Etihad stadium.

It comes as a number of other employees have been left reeling from job losses as companies in the construction sector continue to drop like flies.

On Tuesday, news.com.au revealed that 14 plumbers lost their jobs after the Victorian-based company, JL Plumbing & Drainage, went into liquidation.

Earlier this month, news.com.au reported that C & S Plumbing had gone broke, resulting in all 70 employees at the Victorian plumbing firm becoming unemployed.

Meanwhile, Richstone Group, another plumbing firm, cut all 150 employees from their roles after a restructuring attempt failed.

On top of that, seven drivers and operators also joined the ranks of the unemployed at limo company Brunel Chauffeur Drive and Limousines when it too went into liquidation.

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