Will Lavender.
Creditors of experience agency CX Lavender, established almost three decades ago by Will Lavender, will be told today the company’s administrators are in the middle of negotiating a sale of the business.
Vaughan Strawbridge and Matthew O’Keefe of FTI Consulting were appointed voluntary administrators in late March.
Their latest investigations are to be presented to a creditors’ meeting today. The administrators estimate total liabilities at nearly $1.6 million. But the company also has $827,717 cash plus other, so far unrealised, assets.
The administrators are keeping the business, which has had a string of high profile clients including Westpac and American Express, running as a going concern.
Eight staff, from a total 38, were made redundant last month.
“We are currently in advanced discussions with a number of interested parties regarding the purchase of all, or some, (of) the CX Lavender business,” the administrators say in a report to be presented to the meeting.
“The commercial terms remain the subject of negotiation, so we are unable to communicate with creditors as to the likely outcome at this stage.”
The administrators identified 33 potentially interested parties. Of those eight signed NDAs and were provided with due diligence material.
The administrators say about $93,600 is owing to trade creditors, mainly to contractors, business development activities and utilities.
There is also $192,800 owing to the Australian Taxation Office for income tax expense and some GST.
CX Lavender, established in 1997, a pioneer in the development of the customer experience sector in Australia, went into voluntary administration after a reduction in contracts and projects.
The administrators said the director of the company, Will Lavender, also reported that AI had been altering client requirements, reducing demand for existing products and services.
He also said there was a “lack of traction to expand or win new businesses”.
And there was an insufficient cash flow for redundancies to bring headcount to the right size.
There is no (no) suggestion the company was operating while insolvent.
“The group maintained sufficient available cash to meet its obligations as and when they became due up until the date of our appointment, supported by ongoing director/shareholder funding,” the administrators said.
“In the months leading up to the appointment, the director took multiple proactive steps to address the fixed cost base of the business.”
This includes reducing staff headcount, with an annual reduction in wages of about $400,000, and moving offices, reducing rent expenses by $720,000 effective from February 2026.
Will Lavender has in recent years stepped back from day to day running of the agency to become executive chair.
Clint Bauer was appointed CEO in February last year, replacing Adam Washington.
Bauer has been instrumental in shaping CX Lavender’s data-led, technology-driven solutions, heading the Advisory, Data and Technology Division and its software arm, CXTX.
Will Lavender wrote for AdNews in March about loyalty.
"Loyalty is no longer stored," he wrote. "It’s experienced, continuously."
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