Left: Morgan Concrete Developments workers Dave, Shane and Josh may soon be out of a job after a truck and bobcat were stolen from their Hallam employer.
By Callan Date
A HALLAM concreter is down on his knees after nearly $100,000 of machinery was stolen from his factory earlier this month.
David Morgan’s business has been thrown into disarray since the uninsured tuck and bobcat were stolen from his Hallam factory on Melbourne Cup night.
Mr Morgan said he now feared some of the 13 employees who work for Morgan Concrete Developments may lose their jobs if the business was unable to continue to undertake its normal workload.
And the theft will also cost the business thousands of dollars in lost income, as well as the cost of the vehicles if they were not recovered.
“The guy who used to drive our bobcat has already started looking for another job,” Mr Morgan said.
Mr Morgan has offered a $5000 reward for any information leading to the recovery of the two vehicles.
“We are limping around with what we have at the moment and hopefully we can get back on track if we get the truck and bobcat back,” Mr Morgan said.
He said he had promised his staff they would be employed until Christmas, but after that he would have to scale down the business.
“We have already lost a contract worth about $10,000 because we can’t do the work without the bobcat and truck,” he said.
The 26-year-old concreter said he had felt physically sick for several days after realising so much hard work had gone down the drain.
“My stomach was just churning.
“I was sick and then really angry,” he said.
Mr Morgan said the thieves had planned the robbery carefully and would have had to watch over the business’ building for some time.
He said the factory and its permanent contents had insurance but the machinery was not covered.
Mr Morgan said he had offered the $5000 reward in the hope someone who knew something about the crime would come forward.
“If someone has heard anything about a stolen truck or bobcat it would be great if they could contact the police,” Mr Morgan said.
Anyone with information about the stolen vehicles is asked to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
