Signature Homes creditors try to ditch liquidator

A bid to replace the liquidator appointed to collapsed building firm Signature Homes Hawke's Bay failed yesterday after being blocked by owner Gavin Hunt.
Most creditors voted to appoint a new liquidator at a meeting in Napier but were defeated on a vote based on the dollar value of the debt owed.
One creditor, Michelle Dodunski, said the move was sparked by a feeling of mistrust between creditors and Mr Hunt.
"It was that perception that because they were appointed by Signature, they may not be impartial and [Signature] were getting their say in having their liquidators. Especially because it was only down to Gavin's vote," she said.
Mr Hunt reaffirmed he was independent of liquidators from Meltzer Mason Heath, who were appointed on his accountants' recommendation.
He said he had the creditors' best interests at heart. "All I see is it's costing the creditors more money [to change]."
Robyn Dorday said this morning there had been growing anger among creditors since yesterday's meeting and they would seek legal advice regarding the cost of removing the appointed liquidator.
Mr Hunt single-handedly faced up to 37 creditors gathered at yesterday's meeting, some of whom received purchasing orders from the Clive-based home construction business days before receiving notification it filed for liquidation on June 10.
In total, 79 creditors of mostly Hawke's Bay trade businesses were owed about $1.69 million.
Signs of financial trouble became evident a year ago and shareholders injected more than $400,000 in the past 12 months to try to keep the company afloat.
Mr Hunt said the depressed housing market, coupled with an incident of fraud by a past employee, pushed the company into insolvency.
Creditor Steve Brookes from Flat Roof Solutions told the Auckland-based company director: "Down here a lot of people work on trust but at the moment that trust isn't there.
"We're a small company. The small amount we're owned is a big amount for our company. We were never told you were in strife when we came on at Christmas time. It's quite a big blow for us."
Another creditor, who did not wish to be named, said the fraud incident was being used as a scapegoat and the missing money was insignificant compared to the amount owed. "[Mr Hunt] knew he was insolvent for 12 months."
Liquidator Arron Heath said: "They got hit out of left field by a couple of things. If there's any recklessness we'll wait until after the meeting to work on that.
"You have a director based in Auckland and probably didn't know what was going on the day to day ground here. "
A five-person committee of creditors was established to assist liquidators. The other Hawke's Bay Signature Homes franchisee, Frimley Homes, is not related to SHHB and is operating successfully.