Liquidators Appointed to Lanskey Constructions’ Queensland Arm

The Queensland arm of builder Lanskey Constructions went into liquidation on Monday after the company appointed FTI Consultings’ Ben Campbell and John Park as liquidators of the troubled company.

The appointment meant there was no plan or hope for a turnaround of the company’s northern arm which currently does not employ any staff directly.

While the company’s outstanding debts were not clear, according to the latest financial report lodged with ASIC, parent company Lanskey Constructions made a loss of $218,000 on revenue of $139.7 million in the 12 months to the end of June last year. 

Founded in 1986 by Paul Lanskey and Ross William, parent company Lanskey Constructions has since expanded with offices in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and across the Tasman in Auckland.

Queensland-born managing director of nationwide construction group Paul Lanskey is also a highly successful race hourse breeder—his Vow And Declare won the Melbourne Cup in 2019.

FTI Consulting said in a statement creditors of Lanskey’s Queensland business would be updated in due course.

“The appointment does not impact other entities in the Lanskey Constructions Group,” liquidators said.

“The liquidators will seek to manage the affairs of the company in a manner which maximises the outcome for its creditors.” 

The company’s work has ranged from projects under $100,000 for key clients to major works up to $100-million-plus and in Queensland has worked on projects as far west as Roma, south as Southport and north as Cairns. 

▲ Paul Lanskey, left, and partner Helga Hueston hold the Melbourne Cup with trainer Danny O'Brien and wife Nina in 2019.

The business mainly focuses on roll-outs, fast foods and fit-out works as well as health, community and education projects including schools and colleges, community centres and health facilities.

It has also undertaken projects in fuel and petrochemical, service stations, storage facilities and chemical process plants as well as airport and infrastructure including substations, cargo terminals, warehouses, logistic centres and food processing plants.

Across the retail sector it has delivered projects for general commercial, showrooms, restaurants, car parks as well as new shopping centres. It has worked with some of the nation's biggest brands including Woolworths, Coles, Starbucks, A-Mart and Myer.

The Queensland arm has held a category five licence from the Queensland Building and Construction Commission with allowable annual turnover of $120 million. That licence was among 170 suspended last week for failure to lodge financial records.

While the reasons for the wind-up are unclear at this stage, many construction companies across Queensland have struggled with rising costs and fixed-price contracts, among other issues.

Queensland’s construction costs had the highest quarterly rise nationally, according to a new report.

The state’s costs rose by 5.8 per cent over the September quarter, well above its June rise of 2.3 per cent.

Earlier this year, Queensland building giant Oracle Homes collapsed owing $14 million and leaving 300 homes unfinished across Queensland and NSW.

Oracle was struggling with fixed-price contracts and that became clear when the company, headed by Tom Orel, started asking customers for extra payments.

Before that, one of Queensland’s busiest residential builders, Privium Group, went into voluntary administration with debts of more than $28 million.

Robina-based Condev put itself into liquidation in March, and Surfers Paradise-based Pivotal Homes went into liquidation in May, as did Cleveland-based Solido Builders.