Printmode owner Bahri Aldatmaz told ProPrint that the firm lost $100,000 in the collapse of Energy Watch, the energy broking company hobbled following the outrage over owner Ben Polis’ racist rants on Facebook.
The printer was also hit hard by the collapse of the national pet chain in July and the demise of two other “good payers” this year, he added.
However, he said Printmode had been struggling for five years because it had failed to collect payments quickly enough, become dependent on print brokers and made some poor machinery investments.
“I built up millions of dollars in the ’90s through print and property, but in the past five years all I’ve done is throw money at the printing trade,” he said.
Aldatmaz said he had injected about $2 million into the business during that time after selling “property after property to pay my debts”.
“Nobody can say I never tried to pay my debts. I’ve always tried to pay my debts back. I could have walked away with millions three or four years ago.”
Roger Grant of insolvency firm Dye & Co was appointed liquidator on 12 September. Grant could not be reached for comment, although he said in a report on 14 September that ordinary unsecured creditors were unlikely to get any money back.
Industry firms burned by Printmode included Print T Mail Australia ($86,000), Fuji Xerox Australia ($71,000), Chandler ($65,000), Total Image Supplies ($44,000), Direct Paper Supplies ($21,000), Centre State Printing ($10,000) and Mail Call Melbourne ($10,000).
Printmode, based in the suburb of Brooklyn, also owed money to the Australia Taxation Office ($344,000), Westpac Equipment Finance ($317,000), Alliance Equipment Finance ($164,000), BOQ Equipment Finance ($87,000) and Macquarie Leasing ($40,000).
Printmode was liquidated with only $49,000 worth of assets in the form of debtor payments and cash.
Aldatmaz said he had sold the machinery and a customer list worth up to $5 million in sales to Eprint Mode before the liquidation. He declined to reveal the value or timing of the deal.
He said he was now working as a salesman for Eprint Mode. “They’re paying me a nice healthy salary because we’ve got a nice healthy client list.”
The collapse came as no surprise to the managing director of business process outsourcing firm Chandler, which helped Printmode with the Energy Watch account.
“Payments took six months plus. Also various payment plans weren’t met,” said Ray Kitchingman.
“Our business will be able to cope [despite not being insured]. It just means we lose our faith in the printing business. It’s probably our second or third printing business we’ve lost money to when they’ve gone bust, so we’re very careful of dealing with the printing fraternity.”
The director of Direct Paper Supplies, Dale O’Neill, said Printmode had been a reliable 30-day payer for about two years. However, in March, the company requested 60-day terms and “never really paid a bill from that point on”.
Aldatmaz said he was considering starting a new business outside of print, although he didn’t expect he would earn enough money to repay his creditors.
The first creditors’ meeting is scheduled for 27 September.
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