By Claire Reilly

Australian whitegoods and seasonal appliance manufacturer Hotpoint has gone into voluntary administration, following weeks of industry speculation surrounding the company’s future.

The company went into administration on Wednesday 11 April, appointing Jirsch Sutherland accountants as administrators for the business. Since then, the office has all but shut down, with calls placed to the company head office and service hotline going unanswered.

Hotpoint’s website is still active, though there is no notification to consumers or retailers about the administration. Of the five authorised state sales agents listed on the website, three were listed with incorrect or disconnected phone numbers. Comment has been sought from the remaining two sales agents.

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Andrew Bobb, a representative from Jirsch Sutherland, confirmed that the company went into administration last week, and that staff and creditors had been informed and given a notice of meeting. Bobb was unable to provide further information on the reasons behind the collapse, the nature of employee entitlements following the fallout or the future of the company.

Bobb said that although he did not know the reasons why the company went into voluntary administration, he assumed they were “economic” in nature. He confirmed that more information would be available “in due course”.

Current has learned that staff members were given little notice about the fate of the business, with some reportedly finding out about the proceedings on the day the company appointed the administrator, despite allegations that the company had “known about it for months”.