MELBOURNE: Victorian textile company Melba Industries has been placed in voluntary receivership.
The 75-year-old business, which was headquartered in Thomastown and employed more than 170 employees, supplies protective fabrics to organisations such as the Country Fire Authority (CFA), Metropolitan Fire departments and the Australian Defence Forces.
It is now under the control of accountancy firm Grant Thornton with Matt Byrnes and Greg Keith named as administrators.
According to a report in the Australian Financial Review the company had been hit hard by increased demands for cash upfront from its suppliers. Only last week the company had agreed on a $2 million support payment from the Victorian Government's $50 million Industry Transition Fund.
The Textile Clothing and Footwear Union of Australia (TCFUA) this morning appealed to the Rudd government to help support the company, arguing the company's products were of "vital" importance to the community.
"Melba is a significant part of the TCF industry and many workers, their families and the community will be negatively affected if this company cannot continue its operations," TCFUA national secretary Michele O'Neil said.
Founded in 1934, Melba began with warp knitting making single bar fabrics and satin striped underwear in Rayon. In 1969 the company amalgamated with Acme Knitters and Dyers later acquired a number of smaller textile companies.
In the late '90s the company teamed with Japanese firm Kawashima to form Melba-Kawashima and eight years later purchased distribution rights for Kawashima fabrics in Australia.
It returned to private ownership in 2002.
It is understood the company will keep trading as usual in the hope it can secure a buyer for the business with the first creditors meeting being held on March 3.