Troubled sheetfed business Sydney Allen is in receivership, the $14m turnover operation calling in the administrators.

Trade suppliers to the company face an anxious wait for their unpaid invoices, but many are likely to see little return, with secured creditors at the head of the queue.

Details on why the company is in receivership are scarce at present, the directors John Mangos and Chris Wallace are unreachable, while the phone at the factory cuts out.

The fate awaiting the 50 staff is also unknown. The company was formed in 1994 and is based in Sydney’s western suburbs. It ran sheetfed presses, but it had been many years since it made a new investment.

Industry identity Bob McMillan, who last year provided backing to the directors was keeping tight lipped, only confirming the demise of the business.

The company has been through the mill in recent years, 12 months ago McMillan lent the directors money and offered them the opportunity to relocate to his Granville premises – that once housed McMillan before he sold to Blue Star – but said he was not taking an equity stake in the company.

In 2012 Sydney Allen came to a ‘handshake deal’ with Peter Edwards, owner of Good Impressions, which had collapsed with debts of $1.2m. Sydney Allen subsequently moved into Good Impressions’ Condell Park site.

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