Our Team
The Jones Partners team are highly experienced and skilled professionals that proactively and collaboratively manage a variety of complex financial appointments and investigations. We are regularly engaged to assist business owners and advisors predominately on the Eastern Seaboard as well as assisting individuals all over Australia. We also assist creditors/financiers to optimise recovery of their debts.
Michael Jones
Managing Principal
Bruce Gleeson
Firm Principal
Daniel Soire
Firm Principal
Martin Vu
Martin is an experienced insolvency practitioner having worked in both corporate and personal insolvency for more than 13 years. Over that time, Martin has developed a strong understanding of both the Bankruptcy Act and Corporations Act. He is driven and outcome focused. His extensive knowledge and application of insolvency laws are key drivers to delivering accurate and timely solutions for his clients.
Martin has managed many types of administrations including:
• Creditors Voluntary Liquidations;
• Provisional and Court Liquidations;
• Voluntary Administrations;
• Deeds of Company Arrangement;
• Receiverships by appointment of secured creditors or the Court;
• Bankruptcies;
• Controlling Trustees and Personal Insolvency Agreements;
• Deceased Bankrupt Estates; and
• Trustees for Sale appointed pursuant to Section 66G of the Conveyancing Act 1919.
Outside of work, you will usually find Martin spending time with his family. Martin is also an avid runner chasing medals and competing in all distances from the 5km up to the marathon.
Alan Topp
Alan is a Chartered Accountant and Liquidator well known in the insolvency community. He does not provide generic advice and provides efficient and necessary advice tailored to each problem. He is adept at solving a problem by negotiation or if necessary well versed in litigation.
The following is a short history of some notable experience and since the 1992 taking the lead role:
1986- Parramatta Nissan
1987- Ancol-Stationary wholesaler to newsagents
1988- Informal management of Tulloch Lodge -Tommy Smith’s stables(including investigation/review of Bart Cummings
1990- Receivership of Channel 10(Round 1!!)
1992-Receivership Norman Ross
1993- Administration of Pacific Aviation formally a subsidiary of Ansett purchased by Impulse Airlines
1996- Administration of Digical Limited-Major litigation recovery
1998-Liquidation of Edge Technology
2000- Administration of Health Land Gyms- Sold to Fitness First as their first foothold in Australia- First gym group not to close in Administration and paid a substantial dividend to creditors
2001-2008 Developed and Managed the largest court liquidation practice in Australia
2001-Administration of Enron Australia- Paid a dividend of near 100cents in the dollar
2002- Administration of large woollen mill in Victoria
2008-Property receiverships for ANZ
2011- Liquidation of Vista Capital ..Director banned after having clients put over $30mill of their self-managed superannuation into property developments
2015-Restructure of Blue Energy limited-Public listing
2015- Liquidation of Colonial Motel at Richmond
2017- Bankruptcy of Jerry Ren
2018-Present Numerous Bankruptcies, Liquidations and Consultancies
Alan is not cut from the same cloth as many Chartered Accountants. In his early life he spend 10 years performing in Warringah Musical Society and loves performing with a microphone in hand at karaoke.
He played cricket in the Manly Warringah competition for 15 years, has run 4 Australian Marathons, 18 City to Surfs, triathlons and ocean swims (though his current shape does not reflect this).
Alan is also a Dad to 2 adult children.
Mark Marlow
• Commercial Property
• Medical
• Engineering
• Manufacturing
• Retail
• Financial & Professional Services
• Automotive/Motor Traders
• Hospitality
Mark has extensive experience in assisting companies in the SME market as well as many larger business operations requiring detailed investigation issues etc.
Mark prides himself on his communication skills & provides clarity for all stakeholders, he is outcome driven.
Nicolle Greentree
Known for being a straight talker, Nicolle is skilled at getting to the heart of the matter quickly. She’s able to work with anyone and adapt to their needs – whether that’s managing the complex and changing demands of a case, attending to litigation and examinations or heading to a client’s house for a meeting. Above all, Nicolle loves having the opportunity to give people a fresh start. As the overall process of administrating bankruptcy may take years, Nicolle finds satisfaction in working with clients throughout the whole journey, ensuring that they make the best of a fresh start.
Nicolle is driven by goals, results and timelines – she’s never one to miss a deadline! Managing policies and procedures in the office, Nicolle performs supervision and training, and is always working to create better team environments. Nicolle also enjoys marketing and client catch ups and is the regular Easter Bunny for the firm’s clients (so it’s best to stay in her good books!).
Outside of the office, Nicolle is super mum to her busy family, travelling for her children’s sport and managing a large Facebook group for sharing recipes.
Frank Farrugia
Frank has 12 years’ experience in corporate insolvency and has worked in the Sutherland Shire region for 5 years. Frank was elected to a board position in October 2020 to the Sutherland Shire Business Chamber and continues to have a keen interest is assisting local business in the Sutherland Shire. Frank Farrugia has recently set up the Jones Partners Sutherland Shire office to work along side the team at Jones Partners to service his Clients.
Frank’s has a passion to assist directors of small to medium enterprises to reach their goals with an aim is to deliver strategic and innovative solutions to his clients. Frank’s clients value his drive, enthusiasm, ethics, honesty and desire to consistently exceed expectations.
Frank have managed matters across a variety of industries and has developed specialist knowledge in a number of industry sectors including:
• Retail
• print media
• food manufacturing
• construction industries.
Frank has looked after businesses which turnover less than $100k p/a up to administrations and turnaround work for entities turning over in excess of $10 mil per year.
Frank’s key strength is his ability to provide honest and timely solutions to the issues he faces.
Frank likes to keep up to date with industry innovations and is happy to share his knowledge with his industry connections.
Renee Tague
Renee specialises in both corporate and personal appointments ranging from large trade on voluntary administrations to high profile bankruptcies. She enjoys achieving favourable outcomes for all parties and maximising returns to creditors, whilst managing the compliance of each case. Renee has experience dealing with a variety of appointments alternating between small family businesses to large Corporate appointments consisting of:
• Trade companies;
• Pubs and clubs;
• Hospitality;
• Marketing;
• Travel Companies; and
• Retail
Renee aims to take a commercial stance when dealing with stakeholders, whilst still taking a friendly down to earth approach with those she comes across. She loves that insolvency can create a fresh start and potentially a return for those that may not understand the options available to them.
Outside of the office, Renee loves physical activities such as kayaking, bushwalking and going to gym classes such as F45 and Crossfit.
Vanessa Duckworth
Vanessa prides herself on her common sense approach and being a people person. Her previous experience in hospitality provided her with valuable time management skills and people skills which she has brought into her team. She enjoys the day to day challenges that insolvency brings – one day is never the same!
Vanessa graduated from the London School of Economics in a Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Business Mathematics and Statistics in 2011. She is currently completing her Chartered Accountant professional qualification.
Outside of the office, Vanessa is an avid sportswoman which includes playing water polo for Sydney University.
Our Story
The Jones Partners story goes back to 1970 when Brian Henry Kahlefeldt, a Chartered Accountant started an Insolvency Firm in the Riverina Region of NSW, Temora, NSW. In 1986 Michael Jones acquired Brian’s Firm. After building a branch network of Insolvency and Business Reconstruction Firms throughout country NSW and the ACT, Michael relocated to Greater Sydney in 1989 where he practiced from Bankstown, Parramatta and Sydney.
Jones Partners was established in 2006 with the head office being based in the Sydney CBD.
Principals Bruce Gleeson and Daniel Soire have been involved with the Firm since the time it was initially established in Sydney and Parramatta in the early to mid-90’s. While the Firm’s name has changed slightly over the years, the “Jones” name has remained constant, along with the philosophy of the Firm.
In 2007 Jones Partners established a North-West Sydney office in Norwest Business Park, Norwest recognising the importance of being accessible to business owners, individuals and professional advisors in Greater Western Sydney. With the continued growth of Greater Western Sydney and ensuring our accessibility, we subsequently established the South-West Sydney office in Narellan Business Park, Narellan in 2013. More recently and notwithstanding the challenges of the Covid pandemic we have also opened an office in Southern Sydney, Miranda.
Critically the Principals and other Senior Managers take an active and ongoing interest in these areas of Greater Sydney, and we are regularly considering other areas where we can also make a meaningful contribution to the local community, particularly acting on a pro-bono basis when required.
All our Principals are “hands on” qualified professionals and have an enormous depth of experience in this field across a range of industries. We also have professional resources spread across a range of specialities. We utilise these to provide the most desirable outcomes for all stakeholders.
With around 30 staff we can handle complex, large and long running appointments. Our team structure and resourcefulness of staff members also enables us to effectively deal with smaller appointments. Irrespective of the complexity and size of the assignment we recognise that in providing leadership and clarity to business owners and individuals we obtain better outcomes for all stakeholders.
The fields of business reconstruction, exit planning, corporate insolvency and bankruptcy are dynamic and in a state of constant change. This requires an acute understanding of legislative framework (and likely reform), reconstruction possibilities and latest trend recovery or realisation strategies. With a continual focus on targeted staff training, we ensure that we can optimise strategies based on the current regulatory and business environment settings.
At Jones Partners, we make it our mission to provide honest, accurate and realistic advice that business owners and individuals facing financial difficulty can apply to rebuild their lives and businesses quickly and with the least amount of stress. Importantly we also take the time to understand the issues that have led to the present situation. We see this as important to successfully formulate and implement tailored solutions.
We pride ourselves on our ability to communicate with our clients in “plain english” when dealing with the complex financial challenges they are dealing with. Business owners and individuals typically have not been exposed to such a situation previously and appreciate the time we take in leaving no question unanswered. We are committed to helping stakeholders clearly understand their position and obligations required to deal with their affairs.