Developer says he is the victim

The failure of two ecofriendly building companies, now in liquidation owing nearly $1 million, is because of others failing to pay, the owner claims. Debbie Jamieson reports.

Christchurch businessman Dan Tremewan is a former bankrupt who has had several businesses put into liquidation. He says the liquidation of his businesses, Welstruct and Welhaus Christchurch, is because of a client and a contractor refusing to pay him.

He continues to be involved in nine companies, which own several properties in or near Christchurch, and has links to high-profile developer of The Tannery Alasdair Cassels, who is the uncle of Tremewan’s wife, Lucy.

Liquidator Brenton Hunt said the liquidation investigation was in the early stages and he had recommended to the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) that Tremewan be prohibited from being a company director in future.

MBIE confirmed it was reviewing Tremewan’s suitability for prohibition in relation to companies that recently went into liquidation. ‘‘If Mr Tremewan is found to be in serious breach of the [Companies] Act, enforcement action will follow,’’ a spokeswoman said.

Hunt said he was still accepting claims. So far there had been claims from 26 unsecured creditors for $150,000 for Welstruct and 24 unsecured creditors for

$827,000 for Welhaus Christchurch. Many of these are disputed by Tremewan.

Secured creditors for Welstruct have claimed a truck and forklift, worth about

$26,000, and secured claims over two residential and development properties owned by Welhaus Christchurch are worth about

$1.5m, Hunt said.

Three Welhaus Christchurch staff have lodged claims with the liquidator for

$24,000 in wages.

Tremewan said he was baffled by the allegations and fall out. ‘‘Usually when companies go down it doesn’t get so personal . . . I’m baffled as to why. I’ve never seen contractors picked on so much. We’re a victim just like everyone else.’’

The companies were put into liquidation because the client and a contractor refused to pay their bills, he said. Together they owed his businesses more than

$200,000, which would have kept the companies solvent, he said. The client is Christchurch City Council legal services manager Chris Gilbert, who has lodged a claim with the liquidator for $345,000.

Tremewan claims Gilbert actually owes Welhaus about $120,000.

Gilbert said the process of building with Tremewan had been ‘‘an absolute nightmare’’.

Tremewan says he is also owed $100,000 by Christchurch-based Contract Construction, which refused to pay for panels supplied by Welstruct. ‘‘They convinced us to hand over panels but never paid us.’’

Contract Construction manager John Cleary said Tremewan’s claims were laughable. The commercial contract undertaken by Welstruct was managed poorly so Cleary took it over and completed the work. ‘‘During that process [Tremewan] also made a number of claims against the contract, which we believe have no validity whatsoever.’’

Dan Tremewan says his eco-friendly building companies have been forced into liquidation by a contractor and a client refusing to pay.

Hunt said he understood there was a dispute, but he had not spoken to Cleary because he did not believe there was any money owed to Welstruct.

Developer John Baigent, who is Tremewan’s uncle, confirmed he was a client of Contract Construction and had been involved in bringing the parties together.

He declined to comment on the disputed invoice. ‘‘It’s clear that there are contractual obligations so it gets down to interpretation of the contract [between Contract Construction and Welstruct].’’

Tremewan said the lack of cashflow meant he was unable to pay all staff and he felt terrible some had not been fully paid.

However, he denied that former Welhaus marketing manager Kerry Oberholzer was owed wages, as she claimed. Instead, she might owe him rent for a house owned by another of his companies, which she still lives in, he said.

An Employment Relations Authority mediation was noted as ‘‘unresolved’’ after Welhaus went into liquidation.

Oberholzer has made a claim for $8667. The tenancy had nothing to do with her wages and a Tenancy Tribunal hearing opened on the matter this week. It was adjourned to a later day, she said.

Former project manager Brendon Puriri says he has claimed almost $13,000 and project manager Luan van den Heever says Tremewan owes him $4600.

Tremewan said he had tried to protect staff by putting about $600,000 of his own money and from another company he owned into Welhaus.

He had sold his family home at Redcliffs and his family would be renting from the settlement date in January, he said.

According to Terranet, Advance Web and Ahei, companies owned by Dan Tremewan and his brother Colin, and directed by Dan Tremewan, own seven properties in Christchurch and one in Akaroa. Tremewan said some had since been sold and the rest were being put on the market ‘‘to keep financiers happy’’. They would be used to pay mortgages and he did not expect there to be any extra money.

Besides Welhaus Christchurch and Welstruct, he is involved with a further nine current companies. Brother Colin is a shareholder in almost all of them but Tremewan said he was a trustee only.

One is development company Advance Web, which is working alongside financiers to finish off a central Christchurch development.

Tremewan said his previous bankruptcy related to the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. He had since been discharged.