Scott Waterjet, which shifted manufacturing to Dunedin several years ago and had global expansion plans, is in liquidation.
Liquidators Trevor Laing and Emma Laing, of Laing and Insolvency Specialists, were appointed this month by shareholder resolution.
Their first report said they had received inquiries from various parties expressing an interest in purchasing part or all of the existing business. A sale process would begin as soon as possible.
The move south was initially lauded as benefiting four other local businesses through an engineering collaboration where Scott Waterjet units were made entirely from a Dunedin supply chain. Those businesses are all now listed among the creditors.
The reasons given were the initial and ongoing impacts from Covid-19, rise in material costs, loss of key employees, closure of a crucial supplier and issues with a previous distributor.
The company was incorporated in August 2016 to buy the existing Scott Waterjet business and it produced jetboat units principally for the performance end of the jetboat market.
Various issues over the past couple of years had resulted in the company’s financial position, the director advised.
There were eight registrations recorded on the Personal Property and Securities Register, one registration related to a General Security Agreement to the company bankers, one related to a leased vehicle and the remaining appeared to relate to stock or goods supplied.
Secured debt was estimated at $160,000 while the unsecured creditors amount was to be established.
The company assets consisted of various items of plant used in the manufacture and assembly of waterjet units and stock utilised in that process.
The liquidators were aware a number of customers had paid deposits or part payments for units that were incomplete. They were working through each customer’s situation to establish the status of their order.
Those customers had not been listed as creditors initially, however they might become creditors depending on the stage their order was at in comparison to what they had paid.
The liquidators had been advised there were wages and leave entitlements owed to employees that were preferential. There were also Inland Revenue Department liabilities, the exact amount of which was being confirmed. At this stage the liquidators were aware of 35 unsecured creditors.
It was too early in the liquidation process to predict if a dividend would become available to creditors. A further or final report would be prepared and distributed within the next six months.
In September 2021, owner and managing director Gary McManaway said the company reached a crossroads the previous year when demand outstripped the capacity of its facility in the small South Canterbury township of Winchester.
It faced the decision of investing millions into its own manufacturing facility upgrade or outsourcing.
The Winchester location itself presented challenges.
