just in the news.......... THE receivers and managers of luxury boat builder Riviera have made one third of full-time staff redundant and say they will not receive entitlements.
Deloitte partners Chris Campbell, Vaughan Strawbridge and Richard Hughes today restructured the Coomera production facility on the Gold Coast.
As a result, 157 permanent full-time staff, approximately one third of the workforce, were made redundant.
While they will get what they are owed in wages, Mr Campbell said there was not enough money to pay entitlements.
"The staff have continued to operate on a business as usual basis under enormously difficult circumstances,'' he said.
"The receivers and managers have been grateful for patience shown by staff while we have thoroughly investigated the options available."
At the general employee meetings held by Deloitte at the start of the receivership Mr Campbell said he told staff that changes would result in redundancies.
Riviera customers would be unaffected by the restructure, which will not cause delays in boat production for clients, he said.
Mr Campbell said the company has been boosted by orders placed during last week's Sanctuary Cove Boat show.
"Riviera will now be in better shape to weather the current economic conditions and to meet the ongoing demand for quality Riveria products," Mr Campbell said.
"Under the new structure, production and ongoing trade with suppliers will continue."
Riviera's extensive dealer network continues as normal.
The Herald Sun - 25th May
Hope this is short term for all and they are up and running a full speed soon.
I feel sorry for the staff. My wife nearly lost all her entitlements recently in a company crash but through a lot a fighting she managed to hang onto them. Usually, if the company can be made profitable again then there is a slim chance that they will get what is owed to them.
If its true that this is the case then my respect for such companies is Zero...Originally Posted by ratbag's
If the way they are too avoid going bust is to not pay what they already owe to those who have given service to them then its an absolute disgrace and I hope they rot in hell...
Scott
Yep I agree Scott but go a step or two further, they will pay wages because in law a person has 'just' enough basic rights to chase that up even if only for show, but entitlements are gone, so easily stolen.
The are scum to me forever more, will happily shout it every time I hear of the brand. Very much doubt the scammed workers plight would bother 95% of those types that would normally buy one.
cheers fnq
herd on the news down here today Riv sold $17 million worth of boats at the Boat show!
from The Australian 21.5.09
EMBATTLED luxury boat builder Riviera, based on the Gold Coast, will soon be on the market.
The company, which employs 550 people, went into voluntary receivership on May 8.
The news that the company is for sale is contained in a personal letter to boat owners in Riviera online magazine, signed by CEO John Anderson and receiver and manager Chris Campbell of Deloitte.
"We wanted to write to you personally this week to reassure you about the future of Riviera and your new boat," Mr Anderson said in the letter.
"Following the restructure process, the receivers and managers intend to sell Riviera as a going concern and thus preserve what has become over the last 29 years an iconic Australian boating company with real international presence." However, the letter, which says it is "business as usual at Riviera", offers no reassurances to employees of the company.
"The purpose of the receivership is to continue trading and to restructure the business in order to survive the current economic climate," Mr Anderson said.
"The restructure is to allow Riviera to continue to design, manufacture and distribute the acclaimed range of Riviera boats." There appears to be good news for those who have placed orders for luxury boats.
"We are pleased to confirm that deposits previously paid to Riviera for boats currently under construction or about to commence build will be applied to those boats for the benefit of the Riviera customer."
New deposits would be the personal responsibility of the receivers, he said.
Warranty and other services would also continue during the receivership and after the sale.
Riviera operates a state-of-the-art boatbuilding facility at Coomera on the Gold Coast and exports to more than 30 countries.
In January, Riviera shed 117 of its Gold Coast staff in the wake of the global downturn, and last year it cut more than 300 staff from its Coomera headquarters.
easy fellas,
They have been giving out redundancies for over a year to over 800 people, many who could have been legitimately sacked for other reasons, and all the while getting further into debt! they have done more than their fair share.
so dont go bagging the company or brand for what a few receivers do, after all they are the ones in charge of money now!
and the government set up a company called GEERS after ansett went down, to give employees what they are owed anyway. so they wont lose anything!
BTW: i made it through the cut, thank god. How'd you go TJ ? still there.
and in a meeting today we were told a sale may take some time in this economic climate and that they had NO offers put on the table for the company, only the usual tyre kickers looking for a bargain.
i think it is a real shame and i think the sadest day is still to come as more and more big boats are getting built in china and guess what within 6 months that is were Riviera are heading with what owners who knows but our labour costs and other costs have been the biggest bullet in the heart of and Aussie icon. Good luck to all of the workers etc.
Can I also say that it is not the company that is making people redundant and forgoing their entitlements, it is the recievers, Deloitte. Deloitte will try and make the business profitable again, but as is always the situation in these circumstances, the workers normally lose. Its a real shame, but it would be good to see the company survive. It could be worse, it could be every single employee made redundant.
And there lies the rub from the moderates who control society, a corrupt and premeditated designer outcome from business, the law and politicians alike, pigs at the trough of those who break their back working for a pittance.
The company when solvent, when looking like becoming insolvent....then shock.....magically insolvent!, uses the little persons lawful funds to feather their own nest and bank account, these funds designated legally as belonging to someone else are used for monetary gain, short term money market/stocks/bonds/the lot.
There are schemes that can be opted into to ensure funds are safe although the company has free money in their eyes, this situation it seems was no different when it was solvent.
I have had super legally stolen from me, same scenario, same outcome, low cast management practice for any business who gambles with entitlements.... so the bottom line with no dumbed down fluff is if the entitlements are gone when the receivers move in and sack people it's the business that is to blame in every instance, it's simply more of the commonplace legalised theft, nothing less.
Sometimes i wonder what tryst of imagination we do need in this country to view illegal versions of theft with such disdain
cheers fnq
G'day,
Something doesn't quite gell here.
The receivers took over the Company some time ago and elected to continue trading. That means they took on responsibility for the debts of the business on the basis that the value of future cash flows was positive.
Their may have been lots of business adjustments to achieve this. These include rescheduling debt, negotiation debt with creditors and redundancies for staffs.
However, the receivers chose this course of action - not the Company and therefore the receivers assume responsibility. If the receivers did not believe that the Company could provide positive cash flows they had a responsibility to take the business into liquidation and sell the assets to satisfy creditors - with employees ranking just after secured lenders.
So what is going on? How can the employees be separated from the assets of the Company so that they have no claim as creditors?
White Pointer
I agree with both Scotts above, the company gambled with employees entitlements and lost them, who is to blame? The company, full stop.
I'd be prepared to lay everything I own on the line for a bet that this was management plans as soon as they realised they'd lost other people's money, go into receivership, bargain a deal with the receivers, then its no longer their responsibility and they can claim no fault. Sounds very familiar to me (except the part about trading again) Storm Financial tried to pull this stunt, management lined their pockets and went into receivership, from then whatever happened was no longer their responsibility, well they thought wrong, now they have to front up to court, I sincerely hope these bastards face the same treatment.
If I worked for them and was still employed, I'd hand in my resignation now, at least people that resign will still get their entitlements, and they would be showing support for their fellow workmates. These redundancies are just the beginning if they are trying to sell, get your entitlements now before its too late.
The job of the receivers is to attempt to secure money for the creditors. To do this you can either sell the company and its debt (yes, some companies like to buy debt as it can be written off) or you can make the business profitable. If you cant do either, you can then try and reduce the debt to make the business look better for buyers. If you cant do any off the above then you wind up the company and everyone loses. They sell off the assets and the banks will get their money, the empoyees will still likely end up with nothing. I would at a guess say that any money that can be secured by selling off assets will likely still be less than that owed to secured creditors.
The reason that the employees are seperated from the assets is becuase its written in the corporations act. All the receivers are doing is practicing the law. The ranking is more or less:
Unsecured creditors are also ranked, for example the receivers will get paid before the employees.
- Secured Creditors
- Unsecured Creditors (including employees)
- Ordinary Unsecured Creditors
One a side note, I think there has been some discussion by the krudd government (and prior) about making empoyees priority creditors, ie equal to or above that of secured creditors. Not quite sure how this will work, but I dont think its all bad.
My wife was in the same position recently. With 14 years of entitlements she was told that she would get nothing if made redundant. If she had quit, she would have got nothing either. If the company has no money, they cannot pay you entitlements regardless of how you depart. In her case, the receivers managed to salvage the company to some extent, and now she will get her entitlements.
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