Rising costs, constrained spending and wider economic uncertainty pushed hundreds of businesses into insolvency in 2025, leaving behind billions in debt and hundreds out of work.
Here are the companies that failed in the past 12 months.
Queensland
Stokes Wheeler
A long-running major builder with 40 staff and projects across South-East Queensland went into administration in February before sliding into liquidation in April with debts topping $20m after a rescue plan from its directors failed to materialise.
Liquidators said Stokes Wheeler, which had offices in Yeronga and Southport, had been under financial pressure for five years, after multiple loss-making projects.
“Preliminary investigations indicate that it is suspected that the Company did trade while it was insolvent,” their report said.
Stokes Wheeler’s directors, Damien Stokes and John Wheeler, had drafted a deed of company arrangement in an attempt to avoid liquidation, but creditors voted to wind up the company.
Creditors targeted properties owned by the director, slapping caveats on their personal properties.
Boss Adventure and Hitch & Go
The Gold Coast-based national caravan manufacturer went into liquidation after the “irreversible destruction” of the business…