Staff stranded as StateWeb Printing enters receivership

South Australian business, StateWeb Printing, goes into receivership with 17 staff losing their jobs.

The heatset printer, which was founded in April 2006 by Jon Williams and specialised in the high-end commercial printing of magazines (ACP, News Corp) and brochures was short-lived and fraught with financial problems, according to David Kidman of Ferrier Hodgson, who has been appointed as receivers and managers of StateWeb.

"StateWeb had ongoing problems with cash flow," he said. "This was caused by a number of factors, including undercapitalisation, establishment delays and being unable to achieve its sales targets and led to the directors requesting our appointment."

Kidman said that StateWeb's disorganisation was a major downfall.  "There were a number of start-up delays in 2006 so it missed the crucial Christmas dates," he said. "The directors had no alternative but to call us in as receivers; they simply ran out of cash."

Currently, StateWeb is operating on a "skeleton structure" while the business and its assets are being advertised for sale. "We are making sure the press keeps ticking over until there are new buyers," Kidman said. 17 staff were terminated, and depending on the result of the sale, some may be able to return to the company.

"We hope to keep the business where it is so that we can achieve the best price and maintain employment of staff along with those who were terminated weeks ago," Kidman said.

StateWeb Printing is also being advertised internationally and has already generated a steady response, Kidman said. "We have heard from about 15 parties to date and there have been a couple from overseas showing their interest."