MLG’s Edinburgh and Glasgow subsidiaries entered compulsory liquidation on Friday, cutting 148 jobs across the businesses with immediate effect. KPMG’s Blair Nimmo and Tony Friar were appointed as provisional liquidators to the group.
Thomas Montgomery, previously managing director of MLG, has since left the company on the grounds that he felt it would be "immoral" to continue with the business following its fall into administration, according to McAllister.
McAllister will become managing director of the group, which now consists of the contracted Glasgow operation that will retain the MLG name. She has surrounded herself with Allan Ramsey, who will be overseeing the company's financials, Brian McAllister as head of operations, Steven Malloy in production, and Jeff Simants, who will be looking after sales. The new management structure has yet to decide their official titles, with negotiations taking place today.
MLG Glasgow will continue in its current capacity, with the 76 remaining workers and its two subsidiaries, The Print People, a litho facility, and its digital arm, MLG Marketing Solutions.
McAllister said it had been a "tough few days" but added that major customers and suppliers had been very supportive of the new structure and had traded with the group throughout the transition period.
However, she added that there needed to be a "bit of negotiation" with regards to the Scottish government contract that MLG won in April 2010. MLG had continued with the two-year contract on an extension until the company went into administration on Friday.
McAllister said that "a simple case of cash flow" problems had led the business into financial difficulty in what she called "the worst economic climate in the history of Britain". She added that the loss of a major client "obviously didn’t help" but could not be pressed to reveal the identity of the customer.
However, sources surrounding the company said that the situation was not unforeseen. MLG Perth ceased trading in July last year as part of a staged closure conducted by management, with a number of staff transferring to the Edinburgh and Glasgow businesses. MLG sales director Bobby Dalgleish and sales manager Derek Fulton jumped ship to 21 Colour and Pureprint at the end of last year.
McAllister said: "I am very pleased following the events of last Friday that I have been able to reach an agreement with KPMG to acquire the business of MLG Glasgow. I am especially pleased 76 jobs have been saved and I am extremely grateful for the support of our customers and hope the business develops for everyone concerned.
"I have been able to retain all of the equipment and the capabilities of the business and this will allow me to offer our customers the same level of service."
The fate of MLG Edinburgh, which opened in 2009, is yet to be decided, along with the fate of the nine staff who remain on the site to shut it down.
