The Victorian printer appointed accountant Gregory J Shilton & Co on 25 February. The creditors report on 8 March showed that $438,486 was owed to unsecured creditors, including KW Doggett and Spicers Paper.

More than 15 SME printers and trade houses were owed money, with the likes of Ability Press, CMYKhub and Four Trade Only each owed more than $10,000.

Colourplus operated digital and offset kit, which was sold at auction to compensate secured creditors.

Liquidator Gregory Shilton confirmed that the loss of work from a number of different Toll subsidiaries was the “straw that broke the camel’s back”.

The creditors report shows that of the $263,725 owed to Colourplus by trade debtors when it went into liquidation, around $140,000 was owed by Toll companies – around 54% of debts. Shilton said he fully expected outstanding debts to be paid.

He added that Toll Group had effectively taken its work in-house by awarding the print to subsidiary Stream Solutions.

“[Colourplus director Bruce Forrester] had made some effort to resolve financial problems by getting replacement work and negotiating a deal with the previous client, but he was unable to come to any arrangement that was satisfactory,” said Shilton.

One local printer told ProPrint he thought Colourplus had failed because it had “all of its eggs in one basket”.

It is believed one member of the Colourplus team has also moved over to Stream Solutions.

Andrew Ethell, general manager of Corporate Affairs at Toll Group, said: “Toll adhered to all contract terms, including payment terms, with Colourplus prior to its liquidation.”

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