Titans Centre of Excellence saga

[shamus]

THE Gold Coast Titans locked down their partly built $30 million Centre of Excellence yesterday and appointed solicitors to chase Simcorp Developments and Constructions and $3 million that has allegedly gone missing.

Sub-contractors were turned away by security guards at the gate of the Robina site yesterday.

They say they have not been paid by Simcorp, the builder of the centre, since November.

Gold Coast Titans managing director Michael Searle yesterday said the club had paid Simcorp more than $3.2 million since December 1, 2009.

He said the club's solicitors, Nyst Lawyers, were now trying to track down Simcorp and find out what had happened to the money the Titans had paid them.

"It was gut-wrenching to discover this and we will do what we can to get to the bottom of where the money has gone," said Mr Searle.

"Lots of good tradesmen and suppliers have been working on this job for many months, only for us to discover in the past two days that some haven't been paid for months by the building company, despite us paying the builder."

Mr Searle said the club was close to appointing a new builder to complete the centre and construction would start within days.

The Centre of Excellence project is 95 per cent complete and is set to be open by the start of the NRL season on March 13.

Mr Searle said the new builder would also try to employ many of the existing sub-contractors.


"As soon as the club had evidence that Simcorp had not paid its tradesmen for their work, and after the club had tried unsuccessfully to contact Simcorp over the past four days, we ... moved to ensure that the sub-contractors weren't affected any more than they already have been," he said.

"We couldn't allow the current builder to operate on this site, despite being only $600,000 worth of work to complete the project.

"We are going to do our best to help out the guys who have been affected and where possible will look to use the sub-contractors who have been working on the site to finish the project."

At the site yesterday, a Simcorp employee who did not want to be named said workers had been left with no money and nowhere to go.

He said he was owed more than $250,000 in wages by Simcorp for work on the Centre of Excellence and another project in NSW.

"If it has got this serious, then why haven't people explained things to us," he said.

For the second day in a row Simcorp refused to comment and lawyers for the company could not be reached.

Source:
http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2010/02/05/185365_gold-coast-news.html

[DIEHARD]

Real bad news, shocking, but thankfully the facility is truly about 95% ready.

My main worry is all these poor workers who are severely out of pocket. I also hope the club hasn't been ripped off because that money was hard to come by, especially in this economic climate. We had to get an advance on our NRL grants.

At least the club is doing everything they can to pursue the issue.

[DIEHARD]

This from yesterday's Gold Coast Bulletin - http://www.goldcoast.com.au

Titans subbies walk out

SUB-contractors working on the Gold Coast Titans' $30 million Centre of Excellence at Robina walked off the job yesterday amid allegations builder Simcorp Development and Constructions had not paid its workers since November.

About 20 workers downed tools at 8am, some claiming to be out of pocket by thousands of dollars.

Simcorp has refused to comment.

Builders Labourers Federation Queensland spokesman David Hanna said the union would be investigating.

Gold Coast Titans managing director Michael Searle dismissed any suggestion that workers had not been paid because the Titans had failed to pay Simcorp.

He said the Titans had paid Simcorp in full for work that had been completed, including $1 million earlier this week and $2.5 million since December.

He said he was aware of the walkout and had unsuccessfully tried to contact Simcorp director Alex Simpson.

Mr Searle said he had not heard from Mr Simpson 'in days'.

Yesterday workers -- who would not be named -- said they would not return to the site until they had been paid.

"We've had enough," said one.

"I've been here (on the site) for three or four months and I haven't been paid since November."

The Titans NRL club is developing the five-level commercial building, which will be its headquarters and home to more than 1300sqm of office space over the second and third levels.

The building will house retail space, the Titans' head office, administration and elite training facilities.

Mr Searle said the future of the centre was not in doubt and it would be completed without delay.

The building is 95 per cent complete.

Simcorp refused to comment yesterday, as did their solicitors.

Mr Simpson was named as the new builder of the Centre of Excellence in March 2008 after the death of the previous builder, David Taylor.

Mr Taylor's company DTBS went into liquidation after the death, owing $6 million to about 600 creditors.

Source: http://www.goldcoast.com.au

[GCT_07]

Builders in debt or with cashflow problems........ nothing unusual in the current economic climate.:nope:

Lets hope the center gets finished soon, hopefully in time for the new season.:thumbsup:

[Sydney Titans Fanatic]

with this news will this effect the sponsership between simcorp and the gold coast titans

[daveyk]

| February 9th, 2010

SIMCORP Developments and Constructions has filed legal action demanding payment of $4.2 million from the Gold Coast Titans.

In an application filed on Friday afternoon, lawyers for Simcorp are seeking a Supreme Court order for nine outstanding payments from the Titans dating back to January last year.

But the law firm acting for the Gold Coast NRL club has said the Titans would strenuously defend their position and that there were no funds payable to Simcorp by the club.

The court document lodged by Simcorp does not state what work the payments are for but it is understood the matter relates to construction of the Titans' Centre of Excellence at Robina.

The court document also seeks interest on the amounts.

The first payment listed in the document is a sum of $1.98 million from January last year, with further amounts owing from May, July, September, October and December of 2009.

It is also claimed nearly $82,000 was also due at the end of last month.

The matter has been set down for a hearing in Brisbane next week.

Nyst Lawyers, acting on behalf of the Titans, last night in a statement said the Titans would strenuously defend their position and there were no funds payable to Simcorp by the Titans.

They had not been formally served the claim but were aware of it being filed.


The Titans were this week expected to announce a new builder for its $30 million Centre of Excellence after sub-contractors walked off the job last week because they had not been paid.

At the time, Gold Coast Titans managing director Michael Searle said the Titans had paid Simcorp for work that had been completed, including $1 million paid last week and $2.5 million since December.

Simcorp Constructions and Developments told sub-contractors they had not been paid because the NRL club owed them $4 million.

It is not known when a new builder for the centre will be announced.

www.goldcoast.com.au

[GCT_89]

**** aye, this will be interesting......

[daveyk]

yeh it will be...

i hope that the U/20's jerseys havnt been made yet... am sure there will be a change there...

[titanstattman]

THREE months worth of construction the Titans claim they never asked for on the Gold Coast Centre of Excvellence is at the centre of their $4.2 million dispute with builder Simcorp.

The two companies are locked in battle over who is responsible for about $2 million in unpaid wages to subcontractors working on the Centre of Excellence at Robina.

But the relationship between the Titans and Simcorp Developments and Constructions was not always so strained.


Documents obtained by The Bulletin reveal the two companies were in amicable discussions in September 2008, surrounding a proposal by Simcorp to buy the land off the Titans and complete the construction of the centre.

At the time of the Simcorp offer, Titans boss Michael Searle was in the process of gaining further finance to complete the project, having already spent $3.8 million on construction and preliminary costs.

In an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court in Brisbane yesterday, Mr Searle said the agreement would benefit both parties.

The plan was for Simcorp to buy the land and then the Titans would either lease the building or buy it back.

According to the sworn affidavit, Simcorp, in view of their impending purchase, continued to work on the centre between November 2008 and January 2009 -- work which Mr Searle said was not approved to be done.

"The works which Simcorp undertook on the Centre of Excellence site during November 2008 and January 2009 were not commissioned or requested by the Titans but rather done by Simcorp's own initiative in circumstances where (Simcorp director Alex) Simpson was confident he would be able to secure funding for the purchase," said Mr Searle.

But Simcorp never received the money.



He said in the affidavit that on January 19 he met Mr Simpson at the Beach Shack at Currumbin where he was told Simcorp could not raise the money.

The affidavit alleges that a few days later Mr Simpson also confessed to Mr Searle that he did not have money to pay subcontractors or his creditors.

He then asked for money for the work done during the three months he was trying to get finance to buy the site.

"I said to Simpson that as he had done the work himself, I believed that I had no obligation to pay him for them but I would assist if I could," said Mr Searle.

He then approached the NRL to secure a $2 million grant to help out Mr Simpson.

After the money was handed over, Simcorp and the Titans in January 2009 signed a fixed-price building contract to finish the Centre of Excellence.

Two months later the Titans secured $13.4 million from the Commonwealth Bank to finish it.

Of the $2 million that was paid to Mr Simpson, as well as a further $3.2 million paid since December 2009, Mr Searle is still trying to ascertain where the money went.

The Bulletin understands an independent auditor has been appointed to find the money.

The case goes before the Supreme Court today.

www.goldcoast.com.au

[DIEHARD]

Simcorp backs off Titans court bid

SIMCORP will meet subcontractors today to announce it does not want not fight the Gold Coast Titans through the courts over the $4.2 million it claims it is owed by the NRL club for building the Centre of Excellence at Robina.

Simcorp and the Titans were to argue out the payment dispute during a full trial in the Supreme Court in Brisbane.

But Simcorp will today tell subcontractors it will instead pursue the funds through an independent adjudicator controlled by the Building Services Authority.

However, this action brought a stern response from the club, which called on Simcorp to 'stop playing games and bring the matter to court as quickly as possible so we all can get some certainty'.

"We have nothing to hide," said a Titans spokesman.

In a letter to subcontractors and suppliers, Simcorp Developments and Constructions director Alex Simpson said the court battle would take too long and the company 'cannot wait for the trial to begin'.

"This process of proceeding to trial will take some months. I have decided we cannot wait for the trial to begin and a decision to be made, let alone then wait for monies to be paid," he said.

"I cannot ask this of you."

Mr Simpson's argument was rejected by the Titans.

"Following our (legal) win on February 19 the agreed pathway forward was for the courts to determine the outcome," said the club spokesman.


"Now it comes to the first date when Simcorp has to do something and they choose to go down a different path."

He said the club had paid Simcorp all entitlements and it now appeared the company had not passed them on to the sub-contractors.

"Let's get this determined by the courts as quickly as possible," said the spokesman.

At the centre of the dispute is that Simcorp alleges it sent invoices for payment to the Gold Coast Titans and had mail room records to prove it.

The Titans allege the claims were never received and maintain the club does not owe Simcorp any money and that all work done to date has been paid for.

In the letter, Mr Simpson tells subcontractors that opting for an adjudicator could resolve the matter in seven weeks.

"We anticipate this will proceed to adjudication with a result in our favour, the maximum time being seven weeks, instead of months if not years in the court system," he said.

The Titans have until March 23 to respond to the payment claim lodged with the BSA.

If the parties cannot come to an agreement, an adjudicator, a construction industry peer, will be appointed to handle the case, and the matter will be settled out of the public spotlight.

If either party is not satisfied, the matter can still proceed through the court system.

Simcorp and their solicitors Sawford Voll Lawyers would not comment on the matter yesterday.

Source: http://www.goldcoast.com.au

[quinn loves titans]

Yippee thats a monkey of our back now all concentration on league not money problems

[Ryan]

Yippee thats a monkey of our back now all concentration on league not money problems
?????????
That story means it's not over yet, it's gonna drag on longer.........

[DIEHARD]

Simcorp under fire

SIMCORP boss Alex Simpson has received a show cause notice from Queensland's building regulator asking him to explain why his company should keep its building licence.

The review follows Simcorp's dispute with the Gold Coast Titans, over its claims it is owed $4.2 million for building work on the NRL club's Centre of Excellence.

The saga follows a stern correspondence from Titans' lawyers on Simcorp's moves this week to discontinue court proceedings in the Supreme Court in Brisbane on the issue.

Building Services Authority general manager Ian Jennings confirmed the industry body had issued the show cause notice to Simcorp yesterday after considering documentation provided to it by Simcorp.

Mr Simpson said he was unaware of the notice and would respond to it on Monday.

NSW building regulators yesterday confirmed Mr Simpson's building licence was presently active.

Mr Simpson said he had laid off eight staff since the dispute with the Titans started and that the process had been frustrating.

He denied the company had ever done any 'free' work on the Titans' Robina centre site.

However, lawyers for the Titans have accused Simcorp of being 'disingenuous' by offering to drop its court case and pay costs, before serving papers to shift the dispute to adjudication days later.

A raft of backroom letters between lawyers for both sides was filed in the Supreme Court in Brisbane this week as Simcorp lodged an application to discontinue its multimillion-dollar court action.


The correspondence sets out how on Monday Simcorp, through Sawford Voll Lawyers, indicated it wished to discontinue court proceedings and would pay the Titans' legal costs, to be assessed.

Nyst Lawyers, for the Titans, replied on Tuesday that its client was somewhat surprised but was not opposed to the discontinuance as long as its costs of $45,000 were paid.

However, by Wednesday Nyst Lawyers had heard of Simcorp's plan to pursue a fresh claim for payment under the Building and Construction Industry Payments Act rather than in court.

This led to Nyst Lawyers calling Simcorp's earlier actions 'entirely disingenuous and misleading' and it indicated it would strongly oppose the move.

The final letter on file from Sawford Voll Lawyers states Simcorp has every right to drop old claims in court and serve new claims to be determined via adjudication and goes on to respectfully suggest that there is a good deal of common sense in doing so.

Sub-contractors who met Mr Simpson this week said he told them not to bother taking him to court or trying to wind him up because he would not be able to pay them.

"He basically said he has not money to pay us -- if you take me to court and put a claim against him he would have to fold and go bankrupt," said a contractor, who asked not to be named.

Mr Simpson said he had offered to talk to Titans boss Michael Searle but he had refused.

Source: http://www.goldcoast.com.au/

[DIEHARD]

Time for talks over, Titans tell Simcorp

THE Titans are seeking an injunction to stop the dispute with Simcorp over the $30 million Centre of Excellence going to adjudication.

Lawyers will meet in the Supreme Court on Tuesday after the Titans lodged the application this week to dismiss Simcorp's latest $5.2 million payment claim.

Titans lawyers are also seeking orders restraining Simcorp from relying on the claim, delivered last week, to support its application to take the matter to adjudication.

Documents filed ahead of the hearing include 500 pages of plans, drawings and emails between the sides setting out scores of costly building variations, including changes to the colour scheme and a hyperbaric chamber.

The Titans dispute any money is owed and have asked for full access to receipts, bank statements and subcontractors' invoices to determine the claim.

It is also stated Simcorp boss Alex Simpson has disclosed $1.8 million remained unpaid to subcontractors.

Mr Simpson said the Titans were trying to slow down proceedings.

"(Titans boss) Michael Searle is playing a delaying tactic to turn me broke and in turn he will send the subbies broke," said Mr Simpson.

A Titans spokesman said the organisation did not owe Simcorp a cent and the company was trying to pass blame.

"The ball is in Simcorp's court - it is now time to put up or shut up," he said

http://www.goldcoast.com.au/

[daveyk]

Simcorp message mystery
| April 3rd, 2010

SIMCORP'S claims against the Titans are in doubt after the discovery of an email which appears fake.

The email, in which Titans CEO Michael Searle begged Simcorp boss Alex Simpson for cash, is from a non-existent account.

Mr Simpson, who is locked in a bitter legal dispute with the Titans over a building contract, has offered up a series of alleged email exchanges to support his claims.

The email that featured in national media earlier this week said it was from 'Michael Searle' but the address is michelle.searle@ titaniumbar.com.au, which does not exist.

Emails to the account bounce back with the error notice 'user unknown'.

Mr Searle said he had never used the email address and did not know of anyone in his family with the name Michelle.

"I have two email addresses and neither of them is from the Titanium Bar," said the Titans boss.

Mr Simpson denied the email was fake.

"They are all 100 per cent legitimate," he said.

The questionable email claim comes as the NRL begins investigating claims the Titans have an $8 million black hole on their books.

Mr Simpson has given NRL salary cap auditor Ian Schubert a valuation of the Titans Centre of Excellence that values it at $22 million, which contradicts reports it is worth $30 million.

The Herron Todd White valuation report was carried out on February 17 last year for the Commonwealth Bank of Australia on behalf of Gold Coast Titans (Property) Pty Ltd ATFT Gold Coast Titans Property Trust.

"There's an $8 million hole," said Mr Simpson.

Mr Schubert was on the Coast on Thursday to speak with Mr Simpson and Mr Searle about the alleged Titans salary cap breach.

During a meeting at Currumbin, Mr Simpson told Mr Schubert he planned to build Prince a $400,000 house for free which helped convince the captain to sign a fiveyear contract.

Simpson, who has passed a lie detector test over the claims, provided Mr Schubert with a development application and plans for the house and list of witnesses he said would back up his claims.

Mr Schubert said the meeting was 'very constructive' and that the NRL was treating the claims seriously.

Mr Schubert met Mr Searle before his meeting with Mr Simpson. He also had a face-to-face talk with Prince and interviewed the player's agent, Steve Robinson, over the telephone.

Mr Searle and Prince have strongly denied any knowledge of an under-the-table deal.

Simcorp was engaged to build the Centre of Excellence but had a fall-out over unpaid monies.

In a dispute before the Supreme Court, Simpson claims the Titans owe him $5.2 million for work on the centre, while the Titans say they are owed more than $1 million by the builder.

http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2010/04/03/204405_gold-coast-news.html

now will this clown just go away and admit that he has stuffed up and stop trying to blame everyone else...

[AmericanTitan]

I may have to fly to Australia and give Mr. SimCRAP a little Nebraska style beat-down!!!

This fool needs to just go to away.

[daveyk]

I may have to fly to Australia and give Mr. SimCRAP a little Nebraska style beat-down!!!

This fool needs to just go to away.

do it sepember so that you can follow the boys thriugh the finals on the way to a premiership :thumbsup:

[matti]

Shoulden we have bank statements of us transfering 3.2 mill dollars to simcorp? if not we are quite stupid, im sure enough proof of transferred is all we need?

[eelectrica]

Looks like things are going down hill faster than the Eels and Dogs seasons. Not really a surprise though. Titans have too much to lose by doing dodgy deals.

[Sydney Titans Fanatic]

daily telegraph
A LEADING bank rejected Gold Coast's application for $17 million in funding to finish the National Rugby League club's Centre of Excellence due to concerns over the Titans' financial performance.

The revelation came as Alex Simpson, the builder embroiled in a $5.4m legal battle with the Titans in the Queensland Supreme Court, claims he was forced to halt work twice on the unfinished $22m building because of the club's cash struggles.

A top-secret bank document obtained by The Sunday Telegraph raises queries over Titans' managing director Michael Searle's capacity to procure sufficient funds to complete the $22 million building, which remains in lockdown under 24-7 security.

Just weeks before builders Simcorp and staff were kicked off the Centre of Excellence site at Robina in early February, Mr Searle, via commercial mortgage company Balmain Commercial, applied for a refinance package from the Bank of Queensland said to be worth an estimated $17.6 million.

Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.
Related Coverage

* The letter: Bank of Queensland reject Titans
* League: How the Titans $30m dream fell apart

* How the Titans $30m dream fell apart Daily Telegraph, 18 hours ago
* Email no proof of cap rort: Searle The Australian, 1 day ago
* NRL may consider new Prince evidence Daily Telegraph, 1 day ago
* Decision time on Titans nears Courier Mail, 1 day ago
* Titans challenge their accuser The Australian, 2 days ago

End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.

The proposed finance submission was rejected on four counts, including the football club's financial position.

In a letter addressed to Mr Searle, dated January 22, 2010, the Bank of Queensland's Paul Taylor, a senior relationship manager in the commercial broker unit, detailed the bank's reasons for declining the application.

The letter reads in part: "Management has decided that the proposal is not within the bank's current appetite given the following reasons:

Size and type of the lend;

The specialised nature of the property;

Concentration of related income streams;

Infancy of the football club with inconsistent financial performance to date.''

When contacted by The Sunday Telegraph, Mr Taylor refused to discuss the matter due to client confidentiality. Mr Searle and his legal team, Nyst Lawyers, did not return numerous calls from The Sunday Telegraph.

Mr Searle has vehemently denied suggestions the Titans are under financial pressure, saying the Gold Coast Titans (Property) Pty Ltd group is worth $52 million. Titans sources claim the football club is expected to post a record profit this year, possibly as high as $3 million.

Simpson said yesterday he was appraised of the Bank of Queensland's decision to decline Searle's refinance application because he is a guarantor on the building with current financier the Commonwealth Bank.

The Commonwealth Bank has provided Mr Searle, via the Gold Coast Property Trust, with $13.4 million in finance but is refusing to increase its loan.

Last week, The Sunday Telegraph revealed Searle received $3m in financial aid last year from a private investor, Phil Ward, as part of a mezzanine loan carrying an interest rate of 15 per cent per annum.

"Michael tried to refinance to a higher amount, around $17.6m, so he could pay the money he owed me and refinance and pay for his variations (alterations to the building),'' Simpson said.

"He also needed to pay back the $3m he owed to Phil Ward.''

"I was involved in the negotiations with the Bank of Queensland. I took the bank on a tour through the building and I had lunch with them about the deal. I was the guarantor on the CBA loan and they asked me would I go guarantor on the Bank of Queensland loan.

"By that stage, I wanted to get away from being guarantor.

"I would have considered it but it didn't matter because the Bank of Queensland knocked him back.''

Because Mr Searle has failed with his refinance plan, the Titans boss must now await the outcome of his $5.4 million Supreme Court battle with Simpson, owner of builder Simcorp, to learn if he will receive more than $1 million he believes he is owed. A cost-to-complete document drawn up by the project's new builder Reed Constructions, sighted by The Sunday Telegraph, estimates it will cost another $2.3m to finish the job.

Mr Simpson says he is owed at least $4 million by the Titans and has been unable to pay sub-contractors.

Searle believes the Titans are owed a seven-figure sum and were forced to desperately seek money from Simpson because of funds he had previously borrowed from the club.

The verdict on the Searle-Simpson stoush is expected to be handed down in the next fortnight.

[karnage]

Big story on this in the Agenda section of today's Sunday Mail.

I don't like the small of it at all. A real worry.

[RobJ]

Gold Coast born an bred and followed and supported all incarnations of Gold Coast NRL teams and like everyone else was ecstatic when the Titans evolved.
I am trying to avoid reading too much of this mess, but I cannot for the life of me help feeling like this is going to end in tears. I have the utmost respect for all at the Titans, especially Michael Searle and Paul Broughton, though tell me why I have this horrible gut feeling that things are going to go pear shaped.
Where has the rumour that the club is in debt $24m come from? The group might be worth $52m, though what cash flow do we have?
If the club is to collapse, I fear my lifelong love of this game might too.
I hope I'm wrong, I really do.

[DIEHARD]

OVER the past 48 hours I've had some dealings with Four Corners, who as we all know are preparing a story on rugby league.

Today I did an interview with them at Rugby League Week headquarters and as you expect, I tried to do a "reverse interview" to find out for Discord how their story was shaping!

I can't tell you much.

But despite what a lot of people believe, Gold Coast is not (yet) the target of the report. The program also does not seem to believe News Limited is guilty of any high-level wrongdoing.

What they do seem interested in is the size of the pie in Australian rugby league, the quality of policing of the salary cap and whether cheating is widespread. I would hazard a guess that they have not uncovered any widespread cheating yet, although I wouldn't bet against them uncovering isolated examples.

And as for the rest, we'll just have to wait until the program airs!

Source: The Discord on http://www.rleague.com

[DIEHARD]

Dispute to continue with builder, Titans say

Gold Coast Titans' managing director Michael Searle has dismissed suggestions the club is strapped for cash as it remains locked in a payment dispute with the former builder of its new Robina headquarters.

On Monday, an industry adjudicator ruled the Titans should pay Alex Simpson's building firm Simcorp $3 million, but yesterday a Supreme Court judge ruled in the Titans' favour.

Mr Searle says it is not for him to say where the court dispute will end, but he says it is time to move forward.

"From our point of view we'll just keep telling the truth, we keep doing what we do," he said.

"We know that we initially activated this decision because subcontractors hadn't been paid. We just want subcontractors to be paid, it's time for him to pay up."

Mr Searle says it is for others to decide if the club's brand has been damaged by the dispute, but he says the club will not be changing its approach.

"The club has always been about the community and I think the community has seen how we do business," he said.

"It won't change what we do [and] it doesn't change our intent. We certainly don't do the work in the community for any other reason than we actually enjoy doing it.

"I'm sure there'll be some person out there that'll come up with a brand valuation but from our point of view we've done the right thing and we'll continue to do the right thing and we'll continue to represent the people of the Gold Coast."

Mr Simpson says yesterday's ruling was a delaying tactic by the Titans.

He says he will bring the matter back before a building industry adjudicator.

"My staff, the subcontractors [and] the suppliers have all backed me up," he said.

"Now I just need to ask them to back us up for another four or five weeks. We will come out on top."

Mr Simpson says he is not deterred by the ruling.

"It's a bit of a kick in the guts but at the end of the day we'll still come out on top and it'll go down back the exact same process and [with] the same result," he said.

Meanwhile, Mr Searle says an advance in funds from the National Rugby League (NRL) is nothing unusual.

"We approached the NRL to assist us on a short-term basis. That's not uncommon, a number of clubs do it," he said.

"It was just to basically give us some surety moving forward and some comfort. Clearly the Centre of Excellence is a state-of-the-art project, we're excited about the prospect of being there sooner rather than later and we have accelerated that to a certain extent."

Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news

[DIEHARD]

`Ethical' Simpson vows to pay subbies

SIMCORP boss Alex Simpson says he has made an 'ethical' and 'moral' decision to pay back all subcontractors himself before his $4.1 million dispute ends with the Gold Coast Titans.

Mr Simpson said he would pay the subcontractors from his own funds and has recently had two of his properties on the market.

Subcontractors are owed up to $2 million on the Titans Centre of Excellence, as well as an undisclosed amount for another project of Mr Simpson's in Coffs Harbour.

''It's an ethical decision, it's a moral decision ... by no means did I need to do this,'' said Mr Simpson.

''I could have done what many directors of companies have done over the years and wound the company up and had assets in a different name.''

Mr Simpson's vow to pay all subcontractors comes after yesterday's Supreme Court decision ruled his adjudication claim was invalid.

On Monday, Mr Simpson received an adjudication which said he was owed more than $3 million.

A number of Mr Simpsons Queensland building projects were halted when his building licence was suspended in Queensland, however it is believed he has been trying to continue a Coffs Harbour project in NSW, where he is the developer.

Mr Simpson said he was willing to pay the sub-contractors out of his own pocket as an ''act of goodwill''.

He said the subbies had been the real victims in the dispute.


''My development company will guarantee the debt to be paid to them,'' said Mr Simpson.

''My share of profits from the sale of the units at Coffs Harbour will be paid to them from a trust account.''

Gold Coast Titans have maintained they do not owe Simcorp money.

Source: http://www.goldcoast.com.au

[daveyk]

does anyone else find it funny that after 5 months or so, simpson only now says he wil pay the subbies... all this after the supreme court decision went against him.... :fight:

[TITAN PETE]

Looking for a bit of sympathy after going on Seafm & telling the world how he's going to sell his assetts to pay the subbies but only after Searle appeared on the same show earlier

[DIEHARD]

Hopefully we can move in at least to the lower levels within the next week or two. 6 weeks for the whole thing to come online.