In just two years, mining magnate Nathan Tinkler has gone from hometown hero to the focus of growing anger from businesses furious at unpaid bills.

At the height of Mr Tinkler's remarkable rise from electrician to billionaire, his adopted home Newcastle was christened Tinkler Town with the entrepreneur buying the sports-mad city's two major clubs and a swag of other local businesses.

Tinkler made his fortune in record time, turning a $1 million punt on a coal mine into a $1 billion fortune and topping the young rich list in 2010.

Fast forward to today and he is living in Singapore, with his empire under threat as creditors across the country chase money.

This year his wealth was estimated at $400 million - a spending spree the likes of which Newcastle has never seen and falling coal prices to blame for the losses.

He purchased A-League team the Newcastle Jets in 2010 before bailing out the struggling Newcastle Knights in 2011.

And it is estimated between $200m and $300m were spent on horses, with a fire sale of Tinkler horses looming at this year's Magic Millions sales.

Mr Tinkler still has his supporters in town, particularly among the sporting community, but many business owners are speaking out, saying non-payment of bills by Tinkler-controlled companies is pushing them to the brink.

Property giant Mirvac has been trying to enforce a court order that Mr Tinkler pay it $17 million he owes.

On Tuesday, his lawyers averted a potential contempt of court finding, coming close to settling with Mirvac, but he still faces another legal brawl with coal company Blackwood seeking a court order to force him to pay $28.4 million.

Other smaller creditors are also demanding their money.

'Sick of chasing'

Bob Jeffkins has run a building company in Newcastle for 48 years and says he was owed $400,000 by a Tinkler company for sub-contracting work on a Newcastle school.

"We had to get a bit heavy-handed, not that you want to do that, but you've got to do that when you're talking about big money being owed for a period of time and all your phone calls seem to fall on deaf ears and nobody wants to talk to you," he said.

It was a Building the Education Revolution project, and after months of not being paid, that Mr Jeffkins eventually got his money by complaining directly to the school.

Mr Jeffkins says his story is one of many across Newcastle.

"A lot of people saw him as the great white knight, with the Jets and the Knights, but I don't think there's too many people who think that now," he said.

"I don't care if I do another job for them... after a while you get sick of it, you get sick of chasing them and being told stories that aren't true."

Tim and Bruce Curry installed power to a Tinkler horse farm, and two years later are still waiting to be paid more than $40,000.

"It has been very difficult, we've obviously gone times when we haven't been able to pay ourselves, but make sure our staff and suppliers get paid, and we've been trying to work our way through it," Tim Curry said.

They say a solicitor advised them pursuing legal action would be pointless as the Tinkler company they billed is only worth $2,000.

"Yes, we are resigned to the fact that we probably won't get any money, but we're not going to die not trying because we worked damn hard for that. To see it go out the window - it's wrong," Bruce Curry said.

Tim Curry says Mr Tinkler needs to come home and face the music.

"I'd say come back to Australia and fix this mess up because we're not the only ones," he said.

7.30 approached Mr Tinkler for an interview but he declined.