The petition, set to be heard in the Rolls Building, London, yesterday (20 March) was issued by consumables supplier Matoria Equipment on 5 March because of an unpaid debt over the supply of printing plates.

However, On Monday (18 March), Marco Piacquadio of Begbies Traynor was appointed as the administrator of PPG by Independent Growth Finance (IGF), an investment group based in Redhill. While company directors cannot appoint administrators while a winding-up petition is active, a qualified floating charge holder (QFCH) such as IGF is able to do so.

In doing so, the pending petition is suspended while an out-of-court route is explored. It is understood that the hearing went ahead as scheduled and the petition was approved by the court, but its decision will remain dormant unless administration procedures do not ultimately go ahead.

Begbies Traynor confirmed its appointment but had not commented further at the time of publication.

In an email seen by PrintWeek that was sent to Portsmouth-based PPG staff on 14 December 2018, Begbies Traynor informed of the shutdown of the firm and directors Diarmuid Foghlu and Robert Gooch’s intention to pursue a creditors voluntary liquidation.

However, no notice of intention was filed in the interim until the appointment of Begbies Traynor as administrator at the start of this week, ahead of the petition hearing.

Steve Charlesworth, who runs Matoria Equipment, has made clear his intentions to put together a “creditors’ committee” which will serve to “put pressure” on the route taken and decisions made by the administrator.

Charlesworth asked any interested creditors of PPG to get in touch with him directly.

PrintWeek understands that Begbies Traynor will contact creditors with further instruction in the next two weeks.

PPG Print Services was established in 2017 when Foghlu and Gooch bought the assets of PPG Print in a pre-packaged sale.