Healthcare ad agency Hammond & Thackeray collapse leaves publishers out of pocket
One of the major media agencies of the healthcare industry, Hammond & Thackeray, has gone into liquidation with creditors including major publishers and agencies expected to be $4.4 million out of pocket.
The 35-year-old agency which also serviced agricultural clients from its Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland offices, was wound up by its directors on December 22. Parent company the Healthy Thinking Group is not affected by the decision.
Hammond & Thackeray became a subsidiary of the Healthy Thinking Group in late 2013 with former managing director Tony Northam becoming group managing director of the parent company. Between 2014 and 2016 former Fairfax CEO Brian McCarthy was chairman of the group.
The collapse of H&T comes at a time of upheaval in the healthcare advertising industry with WPP merging its two healthcare agencies and IPG selling McCann Health to specialist agency Ward6 last month.
A statement to creditors issued by liquidators BRI Ferrier on January 5 reveals the company had just $19,500 cash on hand, $798,000 worth of assets with an estimated realisable value of just $20,000, and a massive $4,411,557 of debts.
Of the company’s liabilities, trade creditors are owed $1.77 million. However, they rank behind secured creditors, along with employees which have obligations of $1.12 million and statutory creditors including the ATO which have $272,000 outstanding.
Prominent among the unsecured trade creditors are Fairfax subsidiary Agricultural Publishers, which is owed $117,289.00. News Corp has also taken a hit with two divisions of the Herald and Weekly Times owed over $49,000 and Nationwide News, publisher of The Australian, owed an undetermined amount.
Medical trade publishers have been hard hit with The Moose Republic, owners of the Medical Republic site, and the Australian Doctor Group, publishers of Australian Doctor, having outstanding debts of $90,367.20 and $64,393 respectively. Australian Pharmaceutical Publishing is owed $58,311.00.
Australian Doctor’s owner Cirrus Media is also separately listed as being owed a further $112,121.46 outstanding, while Intermedia and Informa are both owed just over $30,000.
Hard hit by the liquidation is independent media agency Nunn Media which tops the unsecured media creditors list with $334,152.37 outstanding. However, media agencies typically have insurance against bad debts of this size.
Mumbrella understands creditors are pushing for an early creditors meeting to be held in the near future. Mumbrella has contacted BRI Ferrier to attempt to ascertain when the first creditors’ meeting is due to be held.
At the time of posting, Healthy Thinking had not responded to Mumbrella’s invitations to comment.
topics
Advertising
Australian Doctor
Cirrus Media
Fairfax Media
Hammond & Thackeray
Healthy Thinking Group
Media
Medical Republic
News Corp
Nunn Media
The age of consolidation had well and truly begun
Many many more agencies, big and small to merge in next few years
Publishers being at the end of the money chain, to be hardest especially if trading on unsecured basis with small agencies
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Sad for the staff. It’s not as though there were lots of them, so to be owed $1.2million, means they must have been burnt quite badly.
I hope the people responsible for this mess are held accountable, too often these things happen, staff loose out and the “responsible” directors setup shop again, unscathed, only to do the same thing,
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@sadforthestaff
This agency has been around for over 30 years?
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Pretty sure H&T is the mother ship. So curious how they can say it doesn’t affect the Healthy Thinking Group (a marketing umbrella at best).
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Really sorry to see a once strong, highly professional and well run agency taken to ground. I am sure the founders Paul Hammond (Dec) and Peter Thackeray would be really disappointed that their names are still linked with this failure affecting so many people who respected the business they once ran. I am very sorry for the staff. Hopefully those responsible will not be allowed benefit.
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Peter Thackeray left the agency some years ago when it was healthy and vibrant. The agency was a valued client of Merchant and Partners at that time. His name is and should be only linked to absolute integrity, honesty and fair dealing with staff, clients and suppliers.
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Yes media, they have.
The two directors, Steve and Tony didn’t start it, but you might find the content here, and the comments interesting too.
https://mumbrella.com.au/publishers-call-for-new-probe-into-collapse-of-hammond-thackeray-amid-indicators-of-insolvent-trading-510200
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