Chadwick company in liquidation
The company that was formerly Sunshine Coast based Express Print & Mail is in liquidation, with debts listed at $4m, however the Express Print & Mail business, including the brand itself, was sold prior to liquidation, and is now trading from a new address in nearby Kunda Park.
Long-time Express Print & Mail owners Matthew and Wendy Chadwick are running the business, which has 52 staff. Wendy Chadwick said, "Covid-19 trading issues, and the cost and uncertainty of an ongoing claim by the former owner of Chameleon Press, meant that a move was needed to secure the business and the livelihood of employees, while ensuring suppliers were paid in full."
The business now known as 1288950489 Pty Ltd, which was formerly Express Print & Mail, went into liquidation owing $1.34m to its former landlord, $398,000 in employees' super, $1.25m to the ATO, and $34,000 to its electricity company. There were no trade creditors. There were no assets.
Wendy Chadwick told Print21, “The landlord gave us no Covid relief and wanted to raise the rent by $60,000 a year. He has since re-leased the Wises Rd premises to another tenant, so that is cleared. We have cleared the super, and are negotiating with the ATO, who were initially not prepared to budge. There are no outstanding creditor claims from any of the suppliers; they have all been paid in full.”
Other creditors of the company are related entities Matthew Chadwick, in for $468,000, Radwick Investments for $256,000, and EPM Operations, which is the name of the new company that now owns the Express Print & Mail brand and business, which is owed $25,000.
EPM Operations is owned by Wendy Chadwick. She bought the business, which was set up last December, in May this year from Matthew Chadwick, her son. He also owned Express Print & Mail, which was owned by Wendy Chadwick until 2010.
The liquidation stems in part from a deal of a year ago, when Express Print & Mail set up a company to buy the assets of the liquidated Chameleon Press. A downpayment was made, but since then claim and counter claims have been launched by both sides for hundreds of thousands of dollars, as the complicated deal went sour.
The Chadwicks set up a new company, EPM Central Coast, to buy the Chameleon assets. Wendy Chadwick said, “We paid out all the debts of Chameleon in full. Chris Kreiger then wanted another $350,000. However, he owed us $302,000 for work that had been done and paid to him, and for which we are claiming. As a director of the secured creditor he then put EPM Central Coast into liquidation.”
However Chris Kreiger disputes the story saying he only received a deposit, and loaned them the rest of the money, he says, "I have employed a barrister to pursue my claim."
EPM Central Coast went into liquidation in December, with its remaining assets, including flexo printing equipment, auctioned off in March.
Chris Krieger was CEO of Chameleon Print which had sites across the Queensland coast. It went down with large debts, including $1m to the ATO, two years ago. He was banned from being a company director at the time as a result of an insurance claim for a fire on equipment, for which he received a suspended 12-month jail sentence and a six-year directorship ban.
Between 2014 and 2017, Chameleon had bought six local print and sign businesses, including The Sticker Co, McTaggarts, Digital Powerhouse, H & H signs in Bundaberg, SignTec in Maryborough, and Innovation Graphix in Hervey Bay. It also owned Rockhampton Printing Services.
Express Print & Mail said, "Despite these disruptions, and the pandemic having an effect, as it has on virtually all Australian businesses, the Express Print & Mail brand is still proudly trading, and providing a full range of print services from its Sunshine Coast site.”