| TV gardener Durie dishes dirt on business |
TV regular and qualified horticulturist Jamie Durie has taken off the gardening gloves, denying in court that a former adviser with whom he worked closely for eight years was ever a 'mentor'.
The celebrity gardener appeared in the NSW Supreme Court on Thursday to battle a contract dispute brought against his landscaping business Durie Design by businessman Michael Curnow.
Mr Durie told a hearing that he had been upfront with Mr Curnow in a February 2012 conversation, telling him that he needed to cut his $8000-a-month management fees, but that Mr Curnow would still be able to earn commissions on any work he was able to bring in.
Mr Durie said Mr Curnow told him: 'Jamie, I'm not happy about it, but I'll help out where I can.'
'It was a very short and awkward conversation,' Mr Durie added.
He said that when Mr Curnow emailed him five days later to propose an alternative, he never replied because he was busy fighting to save his troubled business.
Asked under cross-examination why he did not do 'the honourable thing' and spend 'two minutes' on the phone with his long-time business associate, Mr Durie said he was facing the daunting prospect of firing long-term employees who made only a quarter of what Mr Curnow was taking home.
And Mr Durie said his former mate had done well out of their friendship over the years.
'He made several hundred thousand dollars from me,' Mr Durie said.
The horticulturist was repeatedly pressed to acknowledge Mr Curnow was a 'business mentor', but insisted he was only an adviser.
'One of many,' he added.
David Kenney, an accountant who had advised Mr Durie on the need to cut costs, told the court the business was in 'dire straits' in 2012.'I don't know a lot of things. I know numbers. And you can't spend what you don't have, sorry,' Mr Kenney told the court.The hearing resumes on Friday.
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