Jaxon Construction says it has paid a majority of the subcontractors on its Forrest Hall project, after days of speculation about the future of the company.
Jaxon Construction says it has paid a majority of the subcontractors on its Forrest Hall project, after days of speculation about the future of the company.
Earlier this week, it was reported construction at the Forrest Hall stage two project in Crawley was halted because of financial problems.
But a spokesperson told Business News on Wednesday night that the site remained open and a majority of subcontractors had been paid.
“The balance will be paid by the end of the month,” the spokesperson said.
“Some workers have attended the site today to complete some tasks and hopefully more will return to work in the coming days.
“We have been communicating with subcontractors on a one-to-one basis, and will continue to do so.
“In the meantime, we are working on a number of options for funding and equity to grow the business.
“All insurances for current projects remain in place.”
Contractors for the Forrest Hall project include Rent A Fence, AXS Access Management and Griffon Alpha Group.
Business News understands some payments to contractors were behind by two weeks, while others are up to date.
Rent A Fence owner Mark Turner said he had done a lot of business with Jaxon and had been paid upfront in full.
Mr Turner said he’d continue to work with the company in good faith and leave his fences onsite while the financing drive was under way.
But he had not yet heard what would happen next.
He said he understood contractors had been allowed to pick up their tools from the site, which had been better treatment than they had receieved at other businesses which faced financial trouble.
“All too often its businesses like ours left holding the debts from the behaviours of (other) organisations,” Mr Turner said.
“The government does need to put systems and processes in place, better cash flow checking in place.
“I’ve been in the game a long time (there’s) been many examples like this where we’ve not been paid.
“We’ve got that much money coming in from mining and the resources boom, how is it we can have a problem like this?”
The DoricJaxon Consolidated company had 81 employees and revenue of $221 million in the 2020 financial year, a fall of 34 per cent, according to its annual report.
While the year was profitable for the consolidated entity, the company had a cash outflow of $8 million.
It also had current assets of $43 million and current liabilities of $42.7 million at the time.
The Forrest Hall project is the second stage of a development funded by Andrew Forrest’s Minderoo Foundation to house winners of his prestigious scholarship program at the University of Western Australia.
“UWA and Minderoo Foundation are currently working with relevant parties and stakeholders to assess the situation at Forrest Hall and ensure construction continues as soon as possible,” a spokesperson for the university said.
Jaxon has completed work at the Parallel residential development in Rivervale, owned by Laudis Developments.
Doric won a Department of Defence building contract in July worth $19.3 million.
