A major national construction company with 100 employees has collapsed.
NPM Group, standing for National Projects and Maintenance, went into voluntary administration on Monday.
The business specialised in construction, fit-outs, minor works and maintenance projects in the commercial sector.
It has ceased operating immediately.
NPM Group had 10 companies under its banner across NSW, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia and the ACT.
Those 10 companies were operating under different trading names.
The business had a head office in Sydney which had been a registered entity since 2014.
Over the duration of its tenure as a business, NPM Group completed more than 45,000 projects across six states and territories.
Prior to its administration appointment, all 100 full-time employees were let go.
On its still-active website, the business claims to employ 192 staff.
Graeme Beattie, Christopher Darin, and Aaron Lucan of insolvency firm Worrells have been appointed as administrators.
All 10 companies are now under external administration.
They are National Projects and Maintenance Pty Ltd, NPM Group Holdings Pty Ltd, NPM Projects (NSW) Pty Ltd, National Projects (HQ) Pty Ltd, NPM (VIC) Pty Ltd, National Projects QLD Pty Ltd, National Projects (ACT) Pty Ltd, National Project (WA) Pty Ltd, NPM Home Pty Ltd, and CREO Design Group Pty Ltd.
The company’s director, Mr Daniel Afonso, said that the economic downturn made it impossible to keep operating.
“The ongoing market pressures have made NPM’s continued operation untenable, due to skilled labour shortages, inflationary pressures, interest rate rises and a commercial sector that continues to suffer from flow on effects of Covid-19 pandemic,” he said in a statement shared with news.com.au.
One of the administrators, Mr Beattie, said that his investigations were still in their “infancy”.
“We are working hard to immediately establish the group’s financial position, including identifying assets available for realisation and quantifying creditors’ claims with the assistance of the director and the senior staff of the NPM Group,” he said.
“We are conscious of the impact the appointment will have on everyone involved.”
He encouraged impacted creditors to get in touch with his office directly or through emailing npm@worrells.net.au.
Do you know more or have a similar story? Get in touch | alex.turner-cohen@news.com.au
It comes as the entire building industry is in strife.
ASIC insolvency statistics show 2213 building companies collapsed during the 2022-23 financial year — a 72 per cent increase on the previous 12-month period.
The alarming trend has been blamed on a “perfect storm” of factors, including fixed price contracts, escalating costs, supply chain disruptions and tradie shortages.
The previous Morrison government’s HomeBuilder grant, which was introduced in June 2020 and handed out $2.52 billion to owner-occupiers who wanted to build or substantially renovate a home, turbocharged the sector.
More than 130,000 customers signed on for the program, with many tradies agreeing to the work under fixed-price contracts that soon became unsustainable as prices began to soar.
This year alone, news.com.au has reported on dozens of major builders that have collapsed.
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Australia’s 13th biggest builder, Porter Davis, also collapsed earlier this year, placing 1700 projects and another 779 empty blocks of land in jeopardy across Victoria and Queensland, while more than 1000 unsecured creditors are owed a whopping $71 million.
In one week in July, news.com.au reported on a new builder going into external administration every day.
alex.turner-cohen@news.com.au
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