The plan comes in the wake of the break-in at Sydney-based Graphic Bookbinding, which left the major NSW trade supplier out of commission with an uncertain future.

Dunnett (pictured) said there had been an “enormous amount of interest” from the NSW industry in seeing a Sydney branch of The Bindery, either through M&A or a greenfield set-up.

He told ProPrint he was in serious talks with “business owners who see it as an opportunity to possibly exit their business or merge”. He added that he was also talking to machinery suppliers.

Dunnett said “printers in Sydney are crying out” for the kind of the general bookbinding services The Bindery offers, such as folding, saddlestitching and perfect binding.

“It’s still early days and I wouldn’t like to put any time limit on it, [but we are] surveying the market and putting our numbers together,” he said.

Dunnett also expressed dismay at the malicious damage that brought Graphic Bookinding to its knees last month.

Melbourne-based The Bindery, established in 1996, has seen its share of hard times, having suffered a major fire in 2006.

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