It's been a long and difficult road for Samantha Rogers of TLC Print Finishing who fought to save her business after suffering a $175,000 loss from the Focus Press disaster but she has finally signed the company into administration.
Last week the long-term director refuted claims of sharp practice and denied that employees were not paid wages up until the troubled finishing company closed its door.
"All my employees were paid for all the work they did up until we ceased trading three or four weeks ago," she said. "Other companies have been approaching my staff, trying to lure them away, contrary to reports. I tried to sell the business in order to pay the creditors but they all fell through. I'm not going to get a dollar out of this."
The distressed owner contacted Print21 following our article on the closure of the company. She corrected some errors in our information, such as the employment of her brother, Darren Falla, who she maintains was merely a shareholder in the business. "It isn't fair to drag him into this. He was only trying help me."
She blames the failure of Focus Press where she lost $175,000 in debts as the cause of the collapse. Other finishing companies have been through the books in recent weeks conducting due diligence with a view to buying. None of them picked up the business with one saying a lot of the major pieces of equipment have already been sold.
"I've been in the industry for 20 years and I am continuing to try to sell the business in order to pay the debts. It doesn't help when your competitors put out stories that are not true," she said.
But that was last week. This week the time for a sale ran out and the liquidators are in. At least it means the employees will be able to claim GEEERs from the Federal Government.