Franchise print, pack and send operation PostNet has collapsed, with debt collectors calling in the liquidators on the national business. The 15 franchisees are now in limbo, but will continue to trade.
Among the major creditors of the franchisor is the ATO which is owed $123,000. Shareholders loans total $560,000 in various amounts between $50,000 and $150,000 on the books, owed to Kum Seng Chow, Leong Hin Chong, Fuong Ngur Lam and Robin Lau, the director who signed off on the liquidation. Gambit is owed $220,000. PostNet owes $65,000 to its own franchisor.
Staff owed money include Robin Lau himself who is owed $10,600; fellow shareholder Foong Ngor Lau in for $7,500; and Mohammed Sulayman, owed $6,700. Sulyman is also owed $12,100 in super.
Outlook for creditors is bleak: its liabilities are against not much in the assets column, of which it has an estimated $200,000, but almost all of it is in its $180,000 PostNet master franchise licence.
Liquidator is Graham Ward of Mackay Goodwin in Sydney.
Established just prior to the GFC in Australia, the company had 15 stores located in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Perth. It was aiming for 100 nationwide. It offered printing as well as design, packaging and mailing.
It operates in a similar space as retail franchises MBE and Pack & Send, offering a walk in solution to print, mail and various associated services. MBE actually bought PostNet International two years ago. PostNet is a US based franchise with 700 stores around the world, half in the US.