Porter Davis employee in Melbourne details day home builder collapsed at Docklands

A former Porter Davis associate has shed light on the day workers discovered they would soon be out of work when one of Australia’s largest homebuilders collapsed.

Lottie was suddenly out of work when she joined the company on Friday 31 March and first saw ‘men in suits’ standing outside the front of the company’s Melbourne showroom, World of Style, in Southbank.

About 1,700 homes in Victoria and Queensland were left unfinished and their owners in limbo when the major housing company went bankrupt last month.

Lottie told Daily Mail Australia she was ‘devastated’ when she found out the job she loved had come to an end so abruptly.

“Basically, we went to work like any other day,” she explained.

“As I approached the door, I thought ‘what’s going on?’ because no one was allowed in.’

Lottie said she initially thought it was a ‘crime scene’ and someone had died.

However, she said that prior to that morning, staff had “no idea” anything was wrong at the company.

Lottie said another member of staff asked one of the men in suits, “How bad is it?”

“He replied, ‘worst case scenario,'” she said.

Lottie explained that staff waited at the front of the building with “paralyzing fear”.

Lottie told the Daily Mail that she was “devastated” when she found out the company she worked for had gone bankrupt

When employees were finally allowed into the building, Ms. Griffin described the mood as “weird” and saw managers “crying in the boardroom.”

Lottie, who at the time did not think she would be fired, recalled how the CEO instructed staff to attend a meeting about Microsoft Teams.

“The CEO’s address was actually that he was crying his eyes out and apologizing,” she said.

“It was the grittiest thing I’ve ever seen.”

It was then that she discovered that she would lose the job she loved forever.

Lottie said she still has “great respect” for the company and that it was a “great place to work.”

Porter Davis Homes Group, Australia’s 12th largest homebuilder, transferred to liquidators Grant Thornton on March 31

Hundreds of families who had contracts with Porter Davis found that despite paying a down payment, including an insurance premium, the company had failed to file the insurance policies with the state’s Victorian Managed Insurance Authority (VMIA).

The company, Australia’s 12th largest homebuilder, was handed over to receivers Grant Thornton on March 31.

The liquidators confirmed that a combination of factors had contributed to the company’s bankruptcy to collapse.

Rising input costs, supply chain delays, labor shortages and declining demand for new homes in 2023 will have an impact[ed] the liquidity of the Group,” said a Grant Thornton spokesperson.

A recent report from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission found that the company had accumulated $32,939,409 in debt with the Commonwealth Bank.

In addition to the discontinuation of 1,700 homes, another 779 signed contracts that have yet to start.

Victorian Prime Minister Daniel Andrews has pledged about $15 million to pay down payments for a group of nearly 600 families affected by the collapse.

The state government is allowing 560 families who paid a down payment on a structure Porter Davis never started to apply for compensation.

Andrews said payouts would average about $25,000, with a full refund of up to five percent of the purchase price.