The Australian advertising industry is reeling after the announcement that TMP Worldwide is undertaking voluntary administration proceedings.

TMP has been purported to be responsible for between 40% and 60% of all local government non-campaign advertising expenditure in some parts of the country, with industry insiders suggesting that there had been no talk of trouble before the announcement.

The closing of the agency, which specialises in government and recruitment classified advertising, will likely effect 200 jobs throughout Australia.

According to The Australian, Alex Walker, TMP Worldwide chief executive in Australia, told staff it had become impossible to sustain the company.

“Ultimately we were overwhelmed by the impact of the global financial crisis, which cut our revenue in half,” said Walker.