McCorkell is hiring staff again while those left without jobs when the failed advertising agency went into administration the week before Christmas are still waiting to be paid.
McCorkell and Associates went into liquidation in December, leaving 18 staff without pay and a string of advertising industry creditors.
The business, including clients and many of the staff from the North Sydney agency founded in 1992, resurfaced in another company, with the similar name of McCorkell Group.
Now this company is advertising to hire again. One role is for a Customer Service Agent - Luxury Automotive apparently to work on major client Lexus.
Insiders say this role was similar to one made redundant when the assets of the old agency moved to a new company.
Other clients include SAP Australia and Harley Davidson.
Another role is Senior Graphic Designer: "You will be responsible for managing the projects assigned to you from briefing to completion. We value designers that have an energetic spark and the desire to solve creative problems regardless of the brief.”
The staff left behind in the company now under administration have little chance of receiving entitlements, including unpaid superannuation.
They’ve been told to make a claim under the Fair Entitlements Guarantee, a federal government funded scheme of last resort, which will take some months to finalise.
Scott Keith McCorkell, CEO and founder, "sold" the business on December 14, 2022, for $29,129.61 to a new company, McCorkell Group, which records show was registered November 24. Scott McCorkell is also the director of the new company.
The day after the sale, on December 15, McCorkell and Associates was wound up and Liam Bailey, of insolvency firm O'Brien Palmer, was appointed liquidator.
The liquidator estimates outstanding annual leave entitlements owed by the company of about $180,760.08.
The Australian Tax Office (ATO), corporate regulator ASIC and the Fair Work Commission have been asked to investigate.
An ATO spokesperson: “The ATO cannot comment on the tax affairs of any individual or entity due to our obligations of confidentiality and privacy under the law.”
Bailey’s initial report shows that 40 listed trade creditors are owed about $1,109,470.98, the biggest being the ATO. The report identifies assets at $174,665.71.
Among the creditors: ATO ($644,026.95), outdoor media group JCDecaux ($32,000.11), LinkedIn ($17,277.15), sales and marketing platform Market Resource Partners Ltd ($28,764.09), digital marketers Trade Indy Pty Ltd ($143,709.43), SEEK ($1,017.50), Rakuten Insight ($1,293.54).
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