New Zealand: EnergySmart, a major partner in the New Zealand government's home insulation scheme, has been placed into liquidation. The company owes a reported USD780,000 in outstanding unpaid invoices.
EnergySmart has offices across New Zealand and is one of the Warm Up New Zealand scheme's larger providers, having carried out 5% of 115,000 home insulation retrofits across the country since the scheme began in 2009. The company's turnover in 2009-10 was USD11m, but it made a loss of USD590,000. Mike Underhill, chief executive of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority, which runs the USD270m scheme, said he was 'appalled'.
EnergySmart was sold by its founders, Peter and Robyn McKeown, for USD390,000 in 2006. After trying to attract a commercial buyer, the company was acquired by the Hutt-Mana Charitable Trust, who injected USD590,000 in 2009.
