Transport company collapses and pulls the rug from under the red carpet at the Australian Open

A transport company has gone into liquidation, leaving the Australian Open at risk of not being able to roll out the red carpet in its corporate boxes.

National flooring industry transport company Paloga went into liquidation just before Christmas with millions of dollars’ worth of carpet warehoused.

Timothy Holden and Mathew Golant of Foremans Business Services were appointed as liquidators of Paloga, which owed almost $5-$6 million to creditors.

Holden told SmartCompany the major creditors of the company were the Australian Taxation Office and its landlords.

Paloga employed 110 people who were all made redundant upon the appointment of the liquidators.

As the Australian Open tennis tournament kicks off today and the eyes of the world turn to Melbourne, Holden says the grand slam tournament may be another victim of the collapse. 

“It was a specialist warehouse logistics company for carpet and flooring so we are talking 15,000 to 20,000 rolls of carpet and I gather there might be a couple of rolls that are for the Australian Open,” he says.

The Herald Sun reports the Australian Open has been affected and carpet layers are desperately searching for replacement stock while they wait for the receivers of Paloga Transport to release the stock.

But until the company is sold, carpet companies are short of stock, which is locked in a warehouse.

Steven Hodgson, the owner of Carpet World, told the newspaper he was frantically trying to find replacement stock.

SmartCompany contacted the Australian Open for comment, however, no response was available prior to publication.

A creditors’ meeting will be held tomorrow, January 15, at the Sandringham Yacht Club.