\n<\/p>\n
When CNA visited TwinRock’s registered business address on Jul 1 and Jul 6, another company was operating there. However, business records still listed TwinRock as an active company. Emails sent by CNA seeking comment also bounced.<\/p>\n
In a statement on Wednesday (Jul 8), TwinRock said it ceased business with its clients in October 2025 and would be liquidated.<\/p>\n
The company said late payments by clients and “crushing liquidated damages” were among the reasons for its closure, calling the situation “a crisis in the industry” that affects agencies’ ability to pay officers on time.<\/p>\n
Liquidated damages are financial penalties set out in contracts when agreed obligations are not met.<\/p>\n
The Association of Certified Security Agencies says liquidated damages can significantly affect a security agency’s cash flow.<\/p>\n
Its president V W Nathan said agencies are sometimes informed of contract breaches only at the end of the month, leaving little opportunity to rectify issues before deductions are made.<\/p>\n
“For example, like a patrol route, where the officer has to go and clock in certain designated points to make a route, and if the officer doesn’t do this … they do not give us time to rectify,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe only get to know at the end of the month \u2026 then we write in an appeal, and they take time to address that appeal. Because of that, there is a further delay in us getting our payment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Nathan said some clients also take well beyond the standard 30-day credit period to pay agencies, with delays sometimes stretching to three or four months.<\/p>\n
Security agencies typically have to pay officers weekly or monthly regardless of whether they have received payment from clients, said Mr Nathan.<\/p>\n
“If you do not empower the agencies by paying them on time, how do you expect them to pay the officers?” he added.<\/p>\n
However, some managing agents adopt better practices by paying agencies first and resolving disputes over liquidated damages in the following month’s billing, he added.<\/p>\n
Such arrangements help ease cash flow pressures while appeals are being considered.<\/p>\n
Security agencies often bid for contracts through tenders, but industry players say there is little room to offer lower prices because they must comply with Singapore’s Progressive Wage Model (PWM).<\/p>\n
Introduced in 2016, the PWM requires employers to meet minimum wage levels and training standards for security officers.<\/p>\n
“There’s a bidding war for every contract that is up there,” said Mr Nathan.<\/p>\n
“If your operating cost is high, you need to factor that in. If your operating cost is low, you may be able to quote slightly lower than your competitors.”<\/p>\n
Mr Nathan said higher wage costs, coupled with late payments and contractual penalties, can leave many agencies operating on thin margins.<\/p>\n
He said agencies facing cash flow problems also risk losing officers to competitors that can pay wages more reliably, putting further pressure on smaller firms.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
TWINROCK CITES CASH FLOW PRESSURES When CNA visited TwinRock’s registered business address on Jul 1 and Jul 6, another company was operating there. However, business…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":67386,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/dam.mediacorp.sg\/image\/upload\/s--rajEzfaH--\/c_fill,g_auto,h_676,w_1200\/fl_relative,g_south_east,l_mediacorp:cna:watermark:2021-08:cna,w_0.1\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1\/tdy-migration\/20191107_raj_security1_0.jpg?itok=dml8k6eN","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1152,2215,35,4787,1574,8961,4636,3392,8187,1567,1890,8460,7481],"class_list":["post-67385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buzz-news-sg-global","tag-delays","tag-financial","tag-firms","tag-industry","tag-late","tag-payments","tag-penalties","tag-players","tag-raising","tag-risk","tag-security","tag-squeeze","tag-wage","wpcat-2-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67385","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=67385"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67385\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/67386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=67385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=67385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=67385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}