Subbies, creditors vote to oust Bulkbuild administrator as debts rise to $4m

THE company-appointed administrator of collapsed Brisbane-based builder Bulkbuild has been replaced in an overwhelming vote by angry creditors.

Phil Bartsch, The Courier-MailSubscriber only|June 5, 2020 4:45pm

THE company-appointed administrator of collapsed Brisbane-based builder Bulkbuild has been given his marching orders by angry creditors.

The latest move comes as the builder’s estimated debts continue to soar.

Newly-appointed administrator Ginette Muller from accounting group Hall Chadwick said Bulkbuild’s mounting debt had now reached about $4 million.

Ms Muller said another creditors’ meeting would be called before the end of June after she had conducted further investigations into the company’s collapse.

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Bulkbuild Pty Ltd, a company with a strong track record on major projects, went into voluntary administration with initial estimates of $1.6 million in outstanding debts.

It appointed Leon Lee from Moreton + Lee Insolvency as its administrator on May 18.

But Mr Lee was ousted at a meeting of creditors on Thursday following a majority vote — based on both numbers and value of debt owed.

Creditors voted 23 to 5 — with a majority debt value of $1.362 million to $832,000 — in favour of changing the administrator.

Of the $832,000 in creditor debt value counted towards keeping Mr Lee as administrator, $800,000 was a “related party” claim from the wife of Bulkbuild’s director.

Tensions flared late last week at the first creditors meeting, which was shutdown and adjourned after a move to replace Mr Lee as administrator.

It is understood there are at least 70 creditors, many of them subcontractors.

Among them is also the developer of a West End apartment project — where work was still underway when the company collapsed — claiming it is owed more than $1 million.

Subbies United advocacy group spokesman John Goddard said the push to remove Mr Lee was “nothing personal against him”.

He said the first creditors’ meeting had “degenerated into a fiasco … and uproar when the administrator abruptly postponed the meeting” after Mr Lee disputed a vote count in which an overwhelming majority of creditors indicated they wanted the administrator replaced — “almost 2 to 1 against him”.

Mr Goddard said Subbies United was continuing to seek an independent review into the collapse of Bulkbuild as the company’s lawyers approached Mr Lee in February about its “impending administration/liquidation” but did not appoint him until May 18. There is no suggestion Mr Lee engaged in any wrongdoing.

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