The ‘Craft’ name is set to be dropped from the Brisbane-based sheetfed and web printer, which will return to its original name, Inprint, and continue to be led by general manager Lindsay Hannan (pictured).
While Inprint will remain a distinct business, it is being more closely aligned with Offset Alpine Printing (OAP), based in the Sydney suburb of Lidcombe.
Hannan and OAP general manager Craig Dunsford will report directly into Michael Kinninmont, managing director of OAP, which once again swept the boards at last Friday’s NSW PICA ceremony.
Kinninmont said: “Both Offset Alpine and Inprint are two very separate iconic brands in their own right and they will stay that way. Both are leading businesses in the commercial arena.
“The measure that IPMG has taken is to break Craft and Inprint apart and has made a decision for Craft to report to Hannanprint ,which is geographically sensible. The Brisbane-based Inprint is big enough to stand alone as it has previously done.
“There has been considerable investment in both Inprint and Offset Alpine in recent times and those businesses are well positioned to face all of the challenges that our industry tosses up,” added Kinninmont.
But the future of Craft Inprint in Sydney is up in the air as IPMG chief executive Stephen Anstice set a two-month deadline for himself and Hanannprint managing director Tony Dedda to decide its fate.
The company is currently based within the same Alexandria super site as Hannanprint, which is being relocated to the long-planned 12.8-hectare greenfield site in Warwick Farm.
Anstice admitted the review was partly driven by “pretty rugged market conditions out there”.
While dropping the Craft Inprint name in New South Wales seems likely to be an option, Anstice said nothing would be decided until after the review.
“It is very much an internal restructure and clients shouldn’t see any difference. A few people’s reporting lines have changed. The bit that people have picked up on is that the Alexandria operation is subject to review for the next two months.”
He said no decision had been made about the workforce at Craft Inprint. IPMG has previously announced that 140 jobs will be phased out of Hannanprint over the next 18 months as it shifts to the high-tech site at Warwick Farm.
Anstice also stressed that Inprint was alive and well in Brisbane, following some significant investments.
“Over the past year or so, we have put in a 32pp Goss M600 press, which would be the most efficient 32pp press in the country.
“We also have a brand-new paper store and fantastic paper flow, along with the brand-new M600, while, the year before, we put in a new Heidelberg sheetfed press and Muller Martini stitching line,” he added.
“It’s a state-of-the-art plant in Brisbane. Combined with what OAP has in Lidcombe, under the same senior management, it is the premier commercial printer in the country.”
Craft Inprint was the result of a merger between two print businesses acquired by the Hannan family over the past two decades.
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