One of Australia's oldest building companies, Kell & Rigby, which was forced to suspend trading this week, was a key contributor to the ACT's building and construction industry, the Master Builders Association ACT says.
The association's executive director, John Miller, said the company's closure reflected the industrial and economic pressures companies in the sector were facing.
''It saddens me to see companies with a fine track record such as Kell & Rigby forced into a situation such as this, but it reflects the pressures they are currently being forced to endure,'' Mr Miller said.
Two years after celebrating its 100th anniversary, the company was forced to close its doors on Thursday, sparking fears for 500 jobs at projects in NSW, Queensland and the ACT.
Stephen Parbery and Mark Robinson of PPB Advisory have been named as voluntary administrators.
NSW Treasurer Mike Baird said the government had a meeting with chief executive James Kell yesterday morning and described the prospect of job losses as ''concerning''.
Unions NSW secretary Mark Lennon said many contractors had been left unpaid after the closure of the company.
Meanwhile, the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union warned that a further 50 small businesses were in danger of closing down as a result of the company going into receivership. It is understood Kell & Rigby had been negotiating a refinancing solution for months, but it fell through on Wednesday.
Since then, another possible investor has expressed interest, PPB Advisory said in a statement yesterday. The administrators said wages and superannuation for all Kell & Rigby's staff had been paid and were up to date.
NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell came under fire from the CFMEU and Unions NSW. ''The [NSW] Premier promised to create 100,000 jobs, but in the last fortnight, we've seen massive hits across building, finance and manufacturing,'' Mr Lennon said.
But Mr O'Farrell said the government was not going to move money from one company to fix another.
''Are they proposing that we take from another company that employs citizens in NSW in order to fix this problem? That is not how government operates,'' he said in Sydney yesterday.
The first meeting of creditors will be held on February 21 at a location to be confirmed. with AAP
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