Brisbane printer D&D Colour calls in liquidators under $800,000 of unsecured debts

DIC Australia, Focus Paper and KW Doggett are among the list of 115 creditors, while roughly 50 redundant staff may also lose out.

The report to creditors compiled by liquidator Morton's Solvency Accountants, who were appointed on 28 March, shows a total of $867,690 of unsecured debts. It was lodged with ASIC on 31 March.

The report includes a list of 52 individuals, who were former staff members, according to the liquidator.

It is unclear how much they might be owed and when they stopped working at the company. It is believed many employees were terminated more than a month ago.

ProPrint was actually informed of trouble at D&D in mid February, but held off on reporting as managing director Bob Dunsmore made a last-ditch effort to keep the company afloat.

Dunsmore could not be reached at time of writing, but had spoken to ProPrint on 21st February. At that time, he revealed he was in talks with lender Bank of Queensland after it cut funding to D&D.

He said: "It feels like someone has king-hit me from behind. This has all come from out of the blue for us since the bank cut us off and the fact that the word has got around so fast - it is a shock."

Dunsmore noted that the company had overreached by taking on its new site, the former home of Geon acquisition Scanlon Printing.

"Our factory is too big. It is an ex-Geon site and we are trying to sub lease it," he said at the time.

Liquidator Gavin Morton said the closure reflected the tough trading climate, adding that unsecured creditors are unlikely to see any money.

"The position at the moment is that all of the major assets are secured under finance agreements so those items go back to finance companies. Other assets are minimal so it is not looking good for the unsecured creditors," said Morton.

One of the biggest assets was a five-colour Ryobi 925 A1 press installed at the beginning of 2011, which joined a five-colour A1 Komori Lithrone on the floor.

ProPrint spoke to a number of major unsecured creditors, who were doubtful of recovering their debts.

But the creditors were quick to point out that Dunsmore had been transparent with them, and had kept them in the loop throughout his difficulties with the bank.

They also praised his character and agreed with Morton that the tough market was the reason for the closure, rather than the way Dunsmore ran the business.

D&D's largest unsecured debt was $104,648 owed to DIC Australia. Other major creditors include Focus Paper ($88,032), Fujifilm ($64,449), KW Doggett ($80,016) and Raleigh Papers ($42,341).

Morton's added that Scott Wakefield, a former staff member, is trying to take on some of the equipment to continue "some form of printing business".