Rival hamper company saves Mrs Christmas

Christmas hamper company Chrisco has come to the rescue of 3500 customers of rival Mrs Christmas, taking on the failed company's existing client list.

Mrs Christmas went into liquidation 10 days ago with debts of $3 million.

Chrisco has bought the Mrs Christmas business, and will credit all existing customers with the amount they have paid and offer them a comparable Chrisco package for the remainder of the year.

The price that has been paid for the business is understood to be the cost of crediting the Mrs Christmas accounts since the start of the year, plus a small sum on top of that.

Mrs Christmas was put into liquidation by courier company Post Haste which was still owed for Christmas deliveries.

The liquidator said the company's financial problems stemmed from its attempt to expand into Australia last year.

Its rivals had been quick to make capital out of its troubles.

Chrisco ran full-page newspaper advertisements offering to take on Mrs Christmas customers, while new entrant Hampsta promoted the fact that its clients' contributions towards their Christmas fund are held independently by the Public Trust.

It is understood that one of Chrisco's motivations in taking on the Mrs Christmas business is to preserve the reputation of the Christmas hamper industry and avoid a run on funds.

Hampsta, meanwhile, is lobbying for an overhaul of the industry, saying other hamper businesses trade behind the poorly constructed Laybys Act of 1971 which offers no security for customers' money.

Hampsta founder Shane McKillen said he was challenging all Christmas hamper companies to put customer funds into a proper managed trust structure.

"This industry needs to be regulated, it needs to have controls, and the players in this market need to be able to demonstrate that customers' money is safe, [and] not at risk if the company goes under," he said.