A Shellharbour real estate agent has finally been able to open the doors on their new premises, months after initially expected and having lost $32,000 when their builder "disappeared".
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It has been five difficult and stressful months for Michelle Mannex, the owner of Shellharbour Marina Real Estate.
What was meant to be a relatively straightforward fit out of the business's new premises at the newly built building on the corner of Addison Street and Mary Street, Shellharbour became a protracted and expensive process, as Ms Mannex and her husband project-managed and completed the fit-out themselves, after their builder went bust.
Ms Mannex is one of more than half-a-dozen businesses caught up in the collapse of interior design and fitout business Allspace Design, run by Endre Horvath.
The Mercury revealed last year the many small businesses affected by the company's collapse, and the loopholes Mr Horvath could jump through to walk away with thousands, however that was only the first chapter in Ms Mannex's journey to get the premises ready in time for the business's fifth anniversary.
The fit out was meant to start in late 2023 as construction of the building finished up. Ms Mannex put down a $32,000 deposit for a project that was costed to come in at just under $100,000.
But just as work was about to begin, everything ground to a halt.
"When we had to OK to start building, that's when Endre was not returning my calls," Ms Mannex said.
Requesting daily updates to try and salvage the project, Ms Mannex was assured that the project was going ahead.
"Then suddenly, overnight - literally - everything disappeared."
Phone numbers went down, emails bounced and social media pages and the business's website disappeared.
"We didn't know what happened," Ms Mannex said.
It was only a few weeks later, after lodging their debts, that a letter came through from the Australian Financial Security Authority. Mr Horvath had declared bankruptcy, with outstanding debts to more than a dozen parties - mostly subcontractors and suppliers.
In total, Mr Horvath was in the red to the tune of $167,545, and had no assets.
"There won't be any money to be able to get anything back from him," Ms Mannex said.
Already behind schedule, Ms Mannex decided to not wait any longer and with her husband took on the project themselves.
Using their network of trades, the couple were able to get the project back off the ground, but found that the designs that had been done needed to be fixed.
"It turned out there were things that weren't compliant, for example the bathroom wasn't designed for disability access," Ms Mannex said.
Running the business at the same time through the busy summer period, Ms Mannex said it was a headache to juggle both.
"We wouldn't have moved if we knew this was going to happen, there's no way we would have put ourselves under this stress."
Having received the final approval to move in on Friday, April 26, today, the business can open its doors to the public, on the corner at the gateway to Shellharbour Village and celebrate the milestones it has passed in the five years of operation.
But the long delay in getting to this point and the toll it has taken highlights to Ms Mannex how inadequate Australia's insolvency laws are.
Despite having declared bankruptcy, Mr Horvath can run a business in future, if he chooses to. While Mr Horvath's name will permanently appear on the National Personal Insolvency Index - where an individual search costs $15 - there are no restrictions on him operating a business in future, as long as his name is attached to it.
"The question is not just for [Mr Horvath] but for governments to think that's OK?"
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