Agent changes name
Canford diversifies after liquidation
HIGH-FLYING real estate agent Roland Evans has swapped trading names for his Chevron Island agency after a judge appointed a liquidator to his former company this week.
The move came after a Federal Court judgment released on Tuesday ordering the winding up of Canford Property Group Pty Ltd by mutual agreement of Mr Evans and former business partner and shareholder Greg Harris.
Mr Evans and Mr Harris had a bitter falling out last year, with accusations traded between the parties of misspending of company money on skiing trips, spa treatments and overseas holidays.
Mr Harris brought court action against Mr Evans and wife and majority shareholder Tracy Evans in November last year seeking the appointment of a provisional liquidator to Canford Property Group Pty Ltd on the grounds of alleged misspending by Mr and Mrs Evans.
Mr and Mrs Evans agreed to the liquidation in late May, stating the business was “detrimentally affected” in the wake of the provisional liquidator being appointed last year and following “negative media articles”.
However, they said their consent was in no way an admission or guilt or concession of any of Mr Harris’s claims.
The day after the liquidation was ordered, Mr Evans emailed clients announcing the “migration to Canford Estate Agents”.
“We will be diversifying and growing into residential sales to compliment (sic) our commercial sales successes,” he said.
“This will not effect our day-to-day operations, and the Canford team will remain the same.”
Canford Estate Agents was registered for an ABN in August, 2017, and was intended to be used for the marketing of residential properties.
Mr Evans yesterday said the company liquidation had made it desirable to “mothball” Canford Property Group as a business name and trade instead under Canford Estate Agents.
Company records show Mr Evans is a director of Canford Estate Agents and Mrs Evans the sole shareholder.
“The reason for me accepting or giving the go ahead to wind up CPG (Canford Property Group), as we call it, was it was a means to an end,” he said.
“We’d been through mediation, we’d offered to buy him (Greg Harris) out. But we couldn’t go any further and ultimately the one thing that had to be determined was how do we deal with the shareholding of the company? Well, if we can’t buy him out … the easiest thing to do was shut it down.”
Mr Evans said the sole debtor for Canford Propery Group Pty Ltd was Greg Harris, who, he claimed, owed $400,000.
Mr Harris did not return calls yesterday, nor did liquidator Anne-Marie Barley.