BPA Print Group has hired new staff, added more kit and is poised to become head of a five-company operation.

The Melbourne firm entered receivership in March. It was then acquired in April by an unrelated Melbourne company, NewTone, which is owned by Mark Shergill. BPA’s former directors, Brett Turnley and Graham Burgess, established a new business, Kandooit Creatively, in the same month.

Shergill also owns Gold Coast commercial printer Dynamic Print Communications, which he acquired in April, Melbourne firm Troedel Print, which he founded in July, and a Sydney company, Print Warehouse.

Shergill told ProPrint that all five of his companies would come under the BPA Print Group banner to take advantage of BPA’s reputable and long-established name. He added that the change could happen as early as this year and would create a group with more than 50 staff.

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He said a multi-state group would be able to operate more efficiently than standalone companies. The accounts have already been centralised and there are plans to introduce common systems and workflow practices across all the sites. The enlarged group will also start pitching for more multi-state clients.

Shergill also said that Melbourne firm BPA had bottomed out after a difficult takeover and was now a more efficient and more diverse operation.

Floor space and rent have been reduced by about 25%. Staff were laid off, mostly before the acquisition, but eight new employees have since been added, although in different areas to those who were made redundant, said Shergill.

“The new BPA has certainly become a much leaner business than it had been in the past. The ratios of major cost items to sales show a dramatic difference to the previous business,” he said.

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“We’re running it lean, but we’re bringing a lot of the finishing and also the platemaking in house, and that helps out because we don’t have these outsourced costs.”

BPA picked up a Muller Martini saddlestiching line and folding gear from the Geon auction and also bought finishing kit from the Vega Press auction. BPA has also installed a new digital colour press, said Shergill.

NewTone has moved into BPA’s Burwood premises, which has allowed BPA to add additional commercial printing to its traditional book printing offering.

BPA operations manager John Stroud said he was humbled that many long-term customers stayed with BPA during the receivership process and that many others have since returned.

“There is no doubt some clients were adversely affected during the receivership process. It has been difficult to regain the faith of some clients who had less-than-ideal experiences in a time of great uncertainty,” he told ProPrint.

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BPA Print Group is in no way connected to Sydney print management company BPA (Business Print Australia).

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