Inventis furniture companies kicked out of Sydney site, owing almost $30m

A decades-old ASX-listed Sydney furniture group has been locked out of its site and left customers waiting for orders, after it went into administration owing almost $30 million in debts.

Inventis managing director Anthony Mankarios. Several companies within the Inventis group have gone into administration. Image: LinkedIn/Inventis.

A company which made furniture in Sydney for decades has been locked out of its site and left customers waiting for $500,000 worth of orders after it went into administration owing almost $30 million in debts.

ASX-listed group Inventis has had multiple businesses selling technology and furniture since 1985, including three of its brands - Bassett Furniture, Gregory Commercial Furniture and Workstations which operated out of its Arndell Park site in Western Sydney.

Five companies which primarily make up the Inventis furniture division, including Bassett Furniture, Gregory Commercial Furniture and Workstations, went into voluntary administration and stopped trading in late June.

The entities owed an estimated $29.8 million to creditors, according to documents lodged with ASIC.

The furniture companies were locked out of the Arndell Park premises by their landlord in mid-June due to unpaid rent, administrators Simon Cathro and Andrew Blundell from Cathro and Partners wrote in a report.

The landlord issued a termination notice and required the property to be vacated from June 30.

Customers were left waiting for $500,000 worth of stock, according to an order book found by the administrators - but the lead time to produce the goods was too far into the future.

Trading was ceased as soon as administrators were appointed to prevent further costs accumulating.

Inventis managing director Anthony Mankarios. Photo: Inventis

One of the companies in administration, Inventis HR Services, employed the staff working throughout the wider group and had the largest bundle of estimated debts, at $18.5 million in total creditor claims.

The Inventis Group had 55 employees at the time of their last annual report in FY24.

All employees working at the five companies now under external administration were terminated when they went into administration.

The company was estimated to owe $1.6 million to staff, not including retrenchment payments for their recent terminations, and $2.6 million to the Australian Tax Office.

The ATO issued a director’s penalty notice to Inventis managing director Anthony Mankarios in the order of $1.4 million in June for unpaid PAYG withholding tax dating back to August 2020.

The furniture makers have been in business for decades. Photo: Inventis

Much of the company’s debts (about $14.1 million) were to related parties, including the Inventis Technology division.

Inventis Properties owed an estimated $4.4 million in total debts to creditors, while Gregory Commercial Furniture owed about $5.6 million, Workstations had $715,752 in claims and Bassett Furniture owed $490,650.

The administrators have warned the companies may have traded while insolvent since June last year.

They also wrote sales had declined over time and a restructure and cost cutting measures hadn’t resolved the group’s issues.

The Bassett and Workstations operations were being rolled into the Gregory business and gradually wound down as part of the restructure.

Peter Bobbin, director and chair of Inventis. Image: LinkedIn

Total sales across Bassett, Gregory and Workstations had more than halved in the past two years from $10.1 million in FY23 to $4 million in FY25, the report said.

A storm in May had also caused leaking and unsafe working conditions at the Arndell Park site, delaying the delivery of a $200,000 order and cutting off manufacturing.

The group had reduced staff, incurring $321,000 in termination costs, it told investors in a presentation in March.

Creditors could vote to liquidate the companies, as recommended by the administrators, at a meeting on Friday.

The administrators had not yet received a proposed deal for creditors in the form of a deed of company arrangement (DOCA).

Under a liquidation, the creditors are not expected to receive any returns.

The company directors told the administrators they were pursuing asset realisations in the broader Inventis group, which may include co-investment.

Chairman Peter Bobbin

If successful, this could result in the secured creditor, business financier THN Group, and staff being repaid, as well as some returns for other unsecured creditors, the report said.

The administrators flagged they are also pursuing a sale of the businesses and assets and there had been three offers submitted.

This included an offer which had been provisionally accepted, but negotiations are ongoing, the report said.

The proposed sale was for the business and assets, and wouldn’t include the transfer of any employees, the administrators added.

Inventis Group suspended trading on the ASX on June 25 amid its restructure - last going for 1 cent per share.

At its peak, it reached about $6.67 per share in 2006.

Gregory Commercial Furniture was founded by physiotherapist Peter Gregory in 1988, who designed its first offering, an ergonomic office chair.

Bassett claimed to have made furniture locally for 40 years and provided seating for commercial settings and offices including McDonalds restaurants and Parliament House in Canberra.

News Corp has contacted Inventis and directors Anthony Mankarios, Peter Bobbin and Jeffry Stone for comment.

Originally published as Inventis furniture companies kicked out of Sydney site, owing almost $30m