23-year-old industrial retailer collapses

A retailer of industrial and engineering supplies that has been operating since 1991 has collapsed into voluntary administration.

Joseph Hayes and Shaun Fraser of McGrathNicol were appointed administrators of Express Industrial Supplies on November 28.

The first meeting of creditors is scheduled to take place in Sydney on December 10.

Hayes told SmartCompany he and Fraser are currently reviewing a sale agreement, which Express Industrial Supplies entered into with Atom Supply Group prior to their appointment. 

“It is our intention to review the merits of the sale and should a Deed of Company Arrangement (DOCA) we proposed, which is likely, a resolution regarding the sale will be put to creditors,” Hayes says. 

Express Industrial Supplies, which sells power tools and other industrial supplies from branches in Padstow, Tuggerah and West Gosford in New South Wales and Thomastown in Victoria, is currently trading under a license agreement with Atom, which Hayes says is responsible for “day to day trading”. According to the Express Industrial Supplies website, the company employs 68 people.

However, the company, which was founded in 1991, previously had a much larger store footprint, as a result of a number of acquisitions.

In 2003, the company acquired Brisbane Waters Industrial Products, which operated two stores on the central coast of NSW.

This was followed in 2004 with the acquisition of Moyles Engineers Supplies, which gave the company a presence in the eastern Sydney suburb of Mascot. In 2008, Express Industrial Supplies acquired Brentool Industrial Supplies, which added three Victorian stores to its network.

SmartCompany contacted Express Industrial Supplies but did not receive a response prior to publication.

*This article was updated on Tuesday, December 2 at 1.55pm to include comments from McGrathNicol. 

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