Last month, two companies linked to the Sydney-based Apollo group, which manufactures kitchen and bathroom joinery, collapsed into liquidation after 56 years in business.
Following in quick succession was the collapse of Brownlen Pty Ltd later in March, which was placed into voluntary liquidation. Brownlen was the employing arm of Apollo’s head office staff and has resulted in a further 29 job losses. Apollo Kitchens Pty Ltd’s $7.8 million tax debt is made up of unpaid PAYG and superannuation, according to one of the liquidators, Kathy Sozou of insolvency firm McGrath Nicol.
The appointed liquidators of sister company Brownlen Pty Ltd, Edwin Narayan and Domenic Calabretta from restructuring business Mackay Goodwin, said it was too early to know how much the business owes.The text message staff received about the delay to their pay, and then the compulsory meeting where they learned they were of a job.
Apollo’s HR department had sent a text message to staff revealing that the company’s accounts had been frozen, which turned out to be a result of the liquidation.“The factory opens at 6am,” he told news.com.au. “It would have been 10.30am, maybe 11 until they came down .” James, who has worked at the company for 14 months, thinks he is owed around $15,000 from unpaid wages and unpaid super.“I’ve got a mortgage, I’ve got a family, I’ve got a little bit of savings, I’ve applied for some jobs, it has taken a long toll,” he said.Staff in the head office, which was upstairs from the Western Sydney factory plant, were kept employed for longer.