Sydney print shop Beaver Press has gone into voluntary administration in order to sell its offset assets as the business prepares to merge with Chippendale Printing. Beaver Press' Redfern facility has closed down its offset capabilities however Beaver's sister digital print company Good Crowd, which is not in administration, will continue to operate out of the site.

David Francis, director of Beaver Press told Australian Printer the merge is at an advanced stage with a number of Beaver Press staff already re-locating to Chippendale's Concord headquarters however the action is awaiting formal approval from Chippendale's board of directors and its private equity owners Helmsman Funds Management.

Francis continues the merge came about following a tough period for Beaver Press. He says, "We were set up as purely an A1 perfecting printer and when the magazine market took a hit during the global financial crisis things got a bit tighter so we put our feelers out to see who we could combine our services with."

The merger will include as many as 10 key staff members, Beaver Press' operating systems and client base, with Francis confirming that the majority of its offset equipment would be sold and "regrettably" there would be around 30 redundancies.

Francis, who will also make the move to Chippendale in a consultancy position, says the move will enable him to offer Beaver customers a full range of printing solutions.

He says, "I can now say to my clients I can offer on-site mailing, packaging solutions and greater economies on different size presses." He adds, "When our services are combined we will potentially be Sydney's first complete service direct mail provider."

Administrators PKF are expected to sell the offset assets of Beaver Press while Good Crowd will continue to operate out of the Redfern facility and establish a "strategically alliance" with Chippendale printing.

source: i-grafix.com