Christchurch firm Independent Scaffolding Supplies, set up by former bankrupt Richard Lascelles, was yesterday put into liquidation, owing $440,000 to creditors.

The company owes $386,821 in unpaid GST, PAYE, income tax, KiwiSaver deductions and student loan deductions to Inland Revenue, and $52,833 in recruitment fees to Hays Specialist Recruitment, according to documents in the court file.

Associate Judge Matthews granted an application by Inland Revenue, with Hays Specialist Recruitment in support, for the liquidation of the scaffolding firm, and PricewaterhouseCoopers partners Malcolm Hollis and Maurice Noone were appointed as liquidators. As well, according to the Companies Office website, Murray Allot was yesterday appointed receiver of Independent Scaffolding.

The company has been placed in receivership before - on June 14 receivers C & C Strategic Limited were appointed, although documents on the Companies Office website show only that the receivership ceased on June 21 and no further details were given.

Independent Scaffolding was set up by Lascelles on March 28, 2006. He was a director until November 11, 2008, according to the Companies Office website.

In September of that year Lascelles was prohibited from acting as a director or taking part in the management of a company for three years, as a result of his mismanagement of five companies between May 31, 2006 and April 13, 2007 that went into liquidation before September 2008.

The company is now owned by Taurus Trustee Services Limited.

On February 14 last year Lascelles was sentenced to 175 hours' community work after pleading guilty to breaching the Companies Act and breaching the Insolvency Act by remaining more actively involved in the management of Independent Scaffolding Supplies than he should have, Christchurch District Court Judge Raoul Neave said then.

It was clear Lascelles had continued to be involved in the management of the company despite being prohibited from acting as a director in September 2008 and being judged a bankrupt in October the same year.

Graham Burke, immediate past president of Scaffolding and Rigging New Zealand, said a case of this nature had been "incredibly damaging to the scaffolding sector" and brought the industry into disrepute. "Independent Scaffolding Supplies Ltd has been associated with a number of companies which have gone into liquidation recently.

"It is important that the actions of one or two individuals do not discredit the hard work of the whole industry, particularly in the face of the huge task which lies ahead in Christchurch. The Canterbury rebuild represents the largest construction project ever in NZ and it is essential the region can count on credible and robust scaffolding companies," Burke said.

Lascelles is currently listed as a director of Westforce Limited, previously known as Advanced Scaffolding Limited, which is also in liquidation.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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