Some investors had anticipated the problems earlier that month and set up a bid to oust chairman Harry Boon over concerns about the way the business was being managed. The leader of the pressure group, Andrew Price, was put forward by supporters for a seat at the Paperlinx board.

This wish was granted six months later when he became a non-executive director of the board. Despite failing in his first attempt to overthrow Boon, Boon left the company a month later, shortly followed by two of the four other board members.

As the 12-month strategic review reached completion in July, chief executive Toby Marchant resigned, giving way to interim successor Dave Allen.

But Allen soon revealed that the sales of Paperlinx’s Italian business, Polyedra, two American divisions, and a number of UK sales and Delivery Co offices, was not the end of the difficult times at the paper merchant.

By the end of the financial year, Paperlinx had clocked up a AUS $266m loss due leading to 370 job cuts across across its European businesses, 200 of which were in the UK as the "decline of the Paperlinx’s core market accelerated".

The UK job cuts were the result of a decision to create a central sales contact across its three businesses – Howard Smith Paper Group, PaperCo and Robert Horne – despite its fiercely defending the structure in the past.

Perhaps 2013 could be the year that the three businesses merge to become one face to market for Paperlinx as the global group struggles up the slope towards profitability in an ever-shrinking market.