Publishers Australia enters voluntary administration citing ‘residual debt’
Publishers Australia has gone into voluntary administration but said it is “hopeful” of a strong future.
The not-for-profit industry body, which promotes and supports the development of small to medium B to B and custom publishers, admitted it has struggled financially in recent years and has called in administrators to restructure the company.
Chairman Ash Hunter stressed its annual Excellence Awards are “entirely unaffected” by the move, adding: “After careful consideration and professional advice, the board of Publishers Australia has made the decision to put Publishers Australia into voluntary administration.
“The company in recent years has not performed well financially and has residual debt. The appointment of the voluntary administrator will provide a mechanism to restructure the company and hopefully provide a stronger company into the future.
“Prior to the appointment of the administrator, the board entered into an agreement with Focal Attractions to prepare and hold the annual Excellence Awards which have been launched and are entirely unaffected by this process. The administrator is continuing to trade the business of the company and is working with Focal Attractions.”
Hunter added: “We believe that the tough decisions already made will build a much stronger and more relevant association for all publishers.”
Earlier this year Focal Attractions became the management partner for PA, and loaned $50,000 to the organisation. Focal Attractions is the publisher of Mumbrella.
Are mumbrella going to declare a conflict of interest as Focal are running the PA publishing awards while it is under administration?
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Hi Heidi,
Yes, it’s declared in the final line of this article. Focal has been responsible for the day-to-day management of the association for the last three or four months now. This will include the awards and a yet-to-be announced publishing conference as a joint venture with the association.
Cheers,
Tim – Mumbrella
Thanks Tim. (Edited by Mumbrella for legal reasons).
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