Pie firms go belly up

TWO companies connected with a former Townsville businessman which operated one of the state’s most iconic businesses, the Birdsville Bakery, have been placed in liquidation.

The move is the latest in the misfortunes of Martin Josselyn ( pictured), a director of Diamantina Property Holdings Pty Ltd and Birdsville Operations Pty Ltd, which traded the bakery.

The business, renowned for its curry camel meat pies, closed early this year, leaving a trail of debts to angry creditors.

One creditor, Adrian Miller, has now successfully petitioned to wind up the companies.

Daniel Walley and Andrew Scott of Pricewaterhousecoopers were appointed liquidators to Diamantina Property Holdings and Birdsville Operations on October 10.

“The liquidators are conscious of the significance of the bakery to the town of Birdsville and will be commencing a campaign to market both the bakery and the property it operates for sale as soon as possible,” the liquidators said in a statement.

Mr Miller, the son of the previous bakery owner who died last year, said creditors, including himself and suppliers, were owed hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Diamantina Property Holdings and Birdsville Operations bought the bakery in 2017 for a reported $1.2 million from Mr Miller’s father.

“I feel I have an obligation to the creditors,” Mr Miller said.

“Mr father would be turning in the grave knowing what has happened.”

Mr Josselyn is a former operator of Ravenswood’s Imperial Hotel.

The hotel’s owners, John and Dianne Schluter, said this week Mr Josselyn had operated the lease of the hotel up to 2010, leaving three years into a fiveyear lease owing about $15,000 in lease payments.

Mr Josselyn is a former director of the now-defunct Southern Cross Investment Group involved in marketing units in failed rental guarantee schemes Radisson Hotel and Suites and Metro Hotel and Suites in Brisbane in the late 1990s.

Records show Mr Josselyn was declared bankrupt in 1996 but was discharged about a year later when debts were settled.

Mr Josselyn, who creditors said still lived in Birdsville, could not be contacted for comment.