The former chief executive of collapsed contractor Rok, Garvis Snook, is among thousands of employees still owed unpaid wages, Building reported.
A total of £6.2m is owed in pay and benefits, with a further £332,000 owed in staff expenses, according to documents filed by administrator, PricewaterhouseCoopers. Snook is owed £7,471 in unpaid wages for his last week’s work.
The documents also clarify that Rok collapsed owing external subcontractors £92.8m, much more than had been thought at the time the administration was announced. Including debts to other parts of the Rok Group, this figure rises to over £280m.
Most of Rok’s debts were to small local builders, but a number of firms have been hit with multi-million pound losses.
In comparison, the banks were owed £72.6m in outstanding loans and PwC expects they will suffer a “significant shortfall”.
The administrators are currently auctioning the remaining Rok assets but it’s expected that the proceeds will barely make a dent in the huge debts. Building reported that just £24.1m is expected to be realised by the sale of Rok’s assets, most of which will go to pay some staff wages and bank debts.
In addition, nearly 3,000 former Rok workers are unlikely to ever see a penny of the money they are owed in expenses, Construction Enquirer reported.
A number of Rok staff were owed more than £1,000 in expenses with the biggest claim topping £20,000.
An insolvency expert told Construction Enquirer: “It’s never a good sign when a firm starts slowing down expenses payments. Make sure you file them regularly so the amount doesn’t mount up and if the company starts missing payments don’t be shy in asking why.”
PwC’s publication of the data on Rok’s creditors included the names, addresses and weekly salaries of all of Rok’s staff who are owed money. However, the addresses of the most senior directors at the firm, including Snook, had been removed from the list.
The Information Commissioner’s Office, after initially saying it was investigating the publication of the data, has since said that publication of employees’ personal was not a breach of the Data Protection Act.
PwC joint administrator Rob Hunt said: “We are legally required to publish the company’s statement of affairs which includes the names and addresses of creditors.”
