Unsecured creditors to collapsed Canberra outfit Paragon Printers are owed around $3.3m, with paper companies owed almost half of that.

Unconfirmed reports to ProPrint indicate that KW Doggett is in for $420,000, Spicers $315,000, BJ Ball $300,000, and Direct Paper $190,00.

In addition many of the smaller print and print related businesses in the ACT produced work for Paragon, they are not holding out much hope of seeing their outstanding invoices paid.

The company closed its doors on Monday when Henry Kazar and Philip Campbell-Wilson from Ernst & Young were appointed as the voluntary liquidators by owner Mel Dalgleish, who has been uncontactable since.

Kazar and Campbell-Williams are looking to sell all or part of the business, with the customer list the main asset. A creditors meeting will be announced shortly.

The 51 staff, 46 of them in Fishwyck and five in the Sydney office, have been notified of their termination of employment. A few have managed to gain casual work with local printers, but most are facing Christmas on the dole. Their entitlements will be covered by the government’s entitlement guarantee scheme.

Paragon was the second biggest printer in the ACT after CanPrint, and one of the bigger privately owned printers in the country, running a ten colour B1 Heidelberg Speedmaster and a six-colour Heidelberg. It also had a digital arm, Paragon Rapid.

Local printers have told ProPrint that in the month’s leading up to this week’s shock move Dalgleish had been talking of the difficulties the government’s drive into digital communication was causing for the business. He had opened a Sydney office to try and win more commercial work, but evidently could not generate enough.

The business community in the ACT is also in shock, local radio station Capital City Radio called ProPrint for comment on the reasons behind the collapse.

Comment below to have your say on this story.

If you have a news story or tip-off, get in touch at editorial@sprinter.com.au.  

Sign up to the Sprinter newsletter