Funds splashed upstairs at Forge leave nothing to trickle down
More than a thousand workers have been sacked after the collapse of engineering company Forge Group, some small towns are worried for their workforce, but reports say the company has been spending-up on executive perks.
So far 1,400 people have lost their jobs from the Forge Group going down, with receivers Korda Mentha saying there is simply no money to give for their years of effort.
Some of the major reasons blamed for the collapse of Forge were ongoing cost blow-outs at the Diamantina Power Station Project in Queensland, as well as the West Angelas iron ore mine in Western Australia.
Forge has reportedly racked up losses totalling $400 million, despite running a diverse range of projects in the areas of coal, iron ore, base and precious metals, salt, rare earths and silicon.
But the repeated warnings of significant downturn did not influence the Forge executive Christmas party last year.
Company insiders’ comments published in News Corp media outlets say the extremely ritzy event went on with the threat of collapse already looming.
With several hundred guests attending the Middle East-themed event in the State Reception Centre at Frasers Restaurant in Perth, reports say not a single expense was spared, despite the company outwardly claiming it was desperate to cut costs and save jobs.
Forge also appears to have splurged on its higher-ups in the last days of company, with a relocation of the entire executive team from Perth to Sydney.
The chiefs of the company had 12-month leases covered by Forge, as well as tens of thousands in stamp duties and other relocation costs. The big spend came just a few months after a team of Sydney executives were moved to Perth, and now needed to move back.
As the company went into receivership last week, thousands of workers expected their final paycheques at the very least, but the monetary well was so dry that many will not be paid for their last two weeks’ work.