Carriageworks receives funding for independent future but some creditors not happy

The future of Carriageworks, a multi-arts precinct in Sydney, has been secured with financial support from a group of benefactors and commitment to providing a 10 + 5 + 5 year precinct lease and five year funding from the NSW Government.

Following a ten-week Voluntary Administration process conducted by KPMG Partners, Phil Quinlan and Morgan Kelly, the 2nd Meeting of Creditors overwhelmingly accepted the Deed of Company Arrangement (DOCA) proposed and negotiated by Carriageworks’ Board of Directors.

Since their appointment, KPMG Partners Quinlan and Kelly had been strongly pushing for creditors to agree to a DOCA rather than opt for liquidation.

The DOCA relied upon pledged contributions from philanthropists – including Geoff Ainsworth and his wife Johanna Featherstone, Kerr Neilson, Michael Gonski and the Packer Family Foundation – that were contingent upon the security of a long-term lease of Carriageworks’ Eveleigh premises and funding from the NSW government.

The DOCA allows for priority employees to be paid their entitlements in full, however unsecured creditors – many of which are individual artists and arts companies – are expected to receive an estimated 20-30% of what they are owed.

Carriageworks Chair Cass O’Connor told the Guardian Australia “we are both conscious and embarrassed that creditors have been disadvantaged. The arts communities feel quite vulnerable, and people are concerned that other organisations are teetering. Everyone’s worried about that and it’s completely justified.”

She said the philanthropists such as Ainsworth and Featherstone, who are backing the company’s renewal, were “very keen that we were more generous than usual to the creditors involved, because many of those creditors were from the arts community.”

“We wanted to pay as much as we humanly could, while also raising enough money to go into the future activities of the company and precinct. It is a balancing act.”

O’Connor added “from the outset, we undertook to provide the NSW Government with viable options for the future of Carriageworks the company, its activities and its Redfern home.

“We could not have done that without Geoff Ainsworth and Jo Featherstone’s Oranges & Sardines Foundation, the Neilson family’s Neilson Foundation, the Gonski family’s Gonski Foundation or the Packer Family’s continued support of our Solid Ground program.

“We have emerged from Voluntary Administration in the middle of a global pandemic with the longest lease in Carriageworks’ history and a revised Business Model which is better able to cope with the challenges evident all around us.”

Carriageworks Chief Executive, Blair French also notes the impact on staff, artists, suppliers, farmers market producers and audiences and advises looking forward to “re-engaging all our stakeholders as we re-emerge with renewed confidence and strength into what remains an operational environment constrained by COVID-19.

“Carriageworks is recognised for its contemporary multi-arts programming, a curated program that is central to the artistic fabric of Sydney and NSW. The risk of closure gave rise to a most extraordinary expression of community support that gave great heart to everyone involved with Carriageworks.

“I wish to thank everyone who has lent support over recent weeks, and in-particular the wonderful philanthropists who have made extremely generous financial pledges to secure our future. The difficult Voluntary Administration process has been eased by the excellent work undertaken by the administrators as well as positive dialogue with State Government and other key partners.

Oranges & Sardines Foundation Chair, Johanna Featherstone notes “Carriageworks is home for a diverse community of creative and passionate voices, all connected by the desire to make exciting experimental and inclusive Art. In our current climate of uncertainty and concern, the Oranges & Sardines Foundation believes now, more than ever, the survival of Carriageworks offers hope, strength and the inspiration of the Arts to the people of Sydney.”

“Over the coming months onsite activity will return only as enabled by staged lifting of COVID-19 restrictions. A reopening of the Carriageworks Farmers Market is planned for early August, with details confirming the date and announcements regarding further public activities to follow shortly.”