Black Sand Windows Pty Ltd: Construction company suddenly plunges into liquidation with debts of almost $900,000: Customers complain about unfinished work

A construction company specializing in custom aluminum doors and windows has gone bankrupt and owes creditors nearly $900,000.

Black Sand Windows Pty Ltd, based in Torquay, southwest of Melbourne, went into administration on July 14.

The company worked on residential, commercial and industrial projects throughout the city.

It is now owned by Brent Leigh Morgan of liquidation firm Rodgers Reidy.

Social media pages for the company still exist, with some customers complaining about unfinished work in the comments of various posts.

One customer claimed that the company’s president, Clark McGrath, had been unavailable for months.

‘Contact Craig as soon as possible about the current point in Lonsdale. We attempted to contact Clark but received no response despite multiple messages being left. Thank you,” they wrote on Instagram in January.

Black Sand Windows director Clark McGrath

In August, the same customer claimed they were still waiting for their window.

“Again, we are unable to contact Clark regarding our windows/glass, which were supposed to arrive today. They were actually supposed to arrive months ago, but ANOTHER date was planned for today,” they wrote on Facebook.

A receiver’s report found that Black Sand Windows still owed thousands in wages and unpaid pension benefits to former employees when it collapsed.

According to Mr Morgan’s report, up to $15,000 in unpaid wages, $19,000 in annual leave and more than $50,000 in unpaid superannuation are still owed.

When the company closed in July, it owed $890,000 to 50 creditors.

“To date, no advance payments have been made to employees,” Morgan wrote.

Supply issues, higher material and labor costs and collection issues are believed to have contributed to the closure, according to the report.

“The company’s cash flow problems meant there was insufficient working capital to continue trading,” Mr Morgan said.

Black Sand Windows, formerly Geelong Property Force, was run by Mr McGrath as a sole proprietorship before becoming a company in September 2021.

Supply issues, higher material and labor costs and collection issues are believed to have contributed to Black Sand Windows’ closure, a trustee’s report said.

The company is now owned by Brent Leigh Morgan of liquidation firm Rodgers Reidy

The company settled in Torquay two months later, where the report said Mr McGrath ‘purchased part of the existing business of the former tenant by taking on various employees, work in progress stock and plant and equipment, some of which were subject to finance’.

However, the former tenant has denied this and insisted there was only an asset sale, the report said.

Mr McGrath is said to have told the administrators that his company began to experience problems after it emerged that some materials were not ‘fit for purpose’.

He added that the employees he hired at the Torquay site wanted to part ways with the company, which also contributed to its demise.

“Once again it is noted that the former tenant disputes this and I have yet to confirm whether this is correct,” the curator writes in his report.

Black Sand Windows employees were laid off while the director assessed the company’s options, the report said.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted the liquidation company and Mr McGrath for comment.