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KordaMentha WA pioneer Oren Zohar at the pointy end of liquidations with his old Joyce Kitchens outfits

Headshot of Neale Prior
Neale PriorThe West Australian
Oren Zohar
Camera IconOren Zohar Credit: Ian Munro/The West Australian

Former top Perth insolvency accountant Oren Zohar is at the messy end of a $2 million-plus clean-up after the sale of swish home renovator Joyce Kitchens.

Mr Zohar, a WA pioneer of KordaMentha two decades ago, has put the former Joyce factory, retail and renovation companies into liquidation after selling the retail operations of the once-sprawling Joyce Kitchens group in February.

Mr Zohar has been attempting to finalise contracts that pre-dated the sale of the Osborne Park-based Joyce Kitchens operations to senior designer Dawn Metcalfe’s private company DSM Capital Pty Ltd.

He battled to restructure Joyce factory, renovations and retail operations through the COVID-19 upheaval after buying the group out of administration in 2019.

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Mr Zohar said he had been working and providing funding to ensure that renovations for clients who signed up before the February sale were completed. “My intention is to ensure that any remaining employee superannuation is paid in full,” he said.

He thought the diverse group was in a strong position in July last year after JobKeeper ended and the retail arm enjoyed bumper sales.

But the former liquidator did not anticipate labour shortages and materials supply disruptions in the second half of 2021 making its so tough for the manufacturing and renovation teams to complete jobs. “We struggled to deliver on orders,” Mr Zohar said.

“The renovation and manufacturing businesses suffered from long COVID.”

Northbridge liquidator John Carrello has taken control of the former Joyce Kitchens (Retail), the former Joyce Renovations installation company and JK Factory, which has operated a factory in O’Connor.

Filings with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission show around $1.7m-plus of external claims against JK Factory.

JK Factory owed $1.05m to the tax office and around $500,000 owed to trade creditors in mid-May. It had also accrued $137,084 in unpaid employee superannuation contributions by mid-May.

The former Joyce Renovations is shown on ASIC filings as facing around $693,645 of creditor claims. The former retail company has listed $343,417 of creditor claims, including $185,324 allegedly owed to the tax office.

Mr Zohar said many of the trade debts had been paid since the ASIC filings made in May after he sought Mr Carrello’s help.

He said the opening of the WA borders in April and the worsening labour shortages had made it particularly difficult to meet his commitment to finish all the work.

With most jobs now done, he hoped all customer contracts would be completed in coming weeks.

“It is coming at a great cost both financially and emotionally,” he said. “I have been on the other side as an insolvency practitioner and the last thing I wanted to do was walk away.”

Mr Zohar believed the conditions with COVID were unprecedented and made it too tough for the renovations and manufacturing arms to survive.

“Thankfully the retail business is going well and is in good hands,” he said.

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