The majority of Albany’s workforce will have roles in Kingsland, with only two job cuts expected in the move, which is scheduled to be complete by the end of the June.
Geon said the expansion would involve taking on an extra section of its existing Kingsland premises and giving the 2000sqm site a “sexy and funky” new look to suit customers from surrounding CBD agencies.
Andrew Durrans (pictured), Geon’s New Zealand executive manager, described the move as “exciting”. The overhaul was driven by the recent financial restructure, which “positioned Geon in both Australia and New Zealand to continue with plans for growth in defiance of the overall industry response to a sluggish economic environment”.
Durrans said the new site would focus on digital production.
“The market is changing and we have to change our model. It isn’t a surprise that we are reducing our offset and we are moving into digital,” he said.
Offset accounts for 70% of the Geon’s New Zealand work, but the group is pushing further into digital with new “multimillion-dollar print technology”.
Two weeks ago, Geon revealed it had invested in New Zealand’s first HP Indigo 7500 for the Kingsland site. Durrans said that this production digital press would be complemented by a new EFI Vutek QS2000 large-format machine with UV-curable technology.
“We are increasingly winning work in large-format and we identified a need to move into printing on non-flexible stocks,” said Durrans.
“We scouted around and decided that the Vutek was our best option.”
Durrans told ProPrint that the financial restructure had offered Geon an opportunity to regroup and lay out strategies for the future.
“The management team is very aware that we have to improve our overall results and this relocation is part of that improvement,” he said.
Durrans added that as offset continued to decline, growth would come from “digital, labels, small packaging, warehousing and mailing”.
“We are committed to being the leading offset printer in New Zealand, but when that market is declining in double-digit numbers each year, it is quite hard work to maintain a strong position.”
Durrans said the New Zealand business comprised around “a quarter to a third” of the company’s annual turnover.
He added that Geon’s financial backers were behind the Auckland consolidation. Geon is backed by Gresham Private Equity, which is part of Wesfarmers, with finance from Bank of Scotland International.
“Our backers stand behind us 100% as we prepare for the impressive market development we have in-store for New Zealand,” said Durrans.
“As we have delivered year-on-year growth since 2008, we are in a good position to continue to grow profitably.”
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