OPUS Group to close McPherson’s Printing facility in Melbourne

5 October 2012 Books+Publishing

OPUS Group, parent company of McPherson’s Printing Group (MPG), has confirmed to Bookseller+Publisher that it will close the MPG facility in Mulgrave in Melbourne’s south east next year.

A spokesperson for OPUS Group told Bookseller+Publisher that the Mulgrave site will close on 31 January 2013. ‘As a consequence of this closure all Mulgrave shopfloor positions will be made redundant with a staged exit from the business beginning November 12,’ said the spokesperson, who added that ‘there are opportunities for potential re-deployment to other OPUS locations at Maryborough [in Victoria], Canberra and Sydney if any employee is interested’. ‘The Mulgrave-based office, administration and sales operations will relocate to offices in Melbourne.’

While OPUS Group declined to specify how many MPG employees currently work at the Mulgrave facility, ProPrint reports that the Mulgrave site employs approximately 20 shopfloor workers.

The spokesperson said two of the three colour printing presses currently located at Mulgrave—the Heidelberg 102 and Roland 305—will be relocated to the MPG facility in Maryborough, in regional Victoria. The Heidelberg XL105 printer will be moved to the Canprint facility Canberra.

OPUS Group said the decision to close the Mulgrave facility follows an ‘extensive evaluation’ of MPG’s colour printing business. ‘The strategy is designed to put our presses close to our existing facilities to deliver content faster and smarter,’ said the spokesperson. ProPrint reports that OPUS had been considering co-locating its colour printing business with Vega Press, which has facilities in the nearby Melbourne suburb of Notting Hill.

The spokesperson said that MPG management ‘will begin discussions with affected employees immediately in regard to proposed exit dates and redeployment or relocation options’ and the company ‘will comply will all provisions within the relevant site Enterprise Agreement’. ‘

As previously reported by Bookseller+Publisher, OPUS Group acquired MPG in a reverse takeover earlier this year. Commenting on the group’s financial results for the 2011-12 financial year in September, OPUS CEO Cliff Brigstocke said that the benefits of the merger ‘are tracking ahead of plan’ and the business has secured annualised cost savings of $2.3 million as a result of the acquisition.

Category: Local news