Page 28 - Print21 November-December 2021

2021 Review
2021 Review – What a Year!
The print industry has been through another tumultuous year, as Covid ravaged large parts of the economy. As it draws to a close and we look forward to better days ahead, Print21 reviews all the major news events, in a year many will want to forget.
January
As printers returned to work across the country those at Big Image in Adelaide were confronted by a burnt-out shell. Carlo Capogreco, owner and managing director at the digital wide format printing business for the sign and display sectors, told Print21 that it had “basically lost everything”. Happily Capogreco was supported through the crisis and continued to work.
Not so happy though was John Duplock’s 20-year-old Magnify Media,
work at Currie Group, with former HP high flyer Rob Mesaros, who had been reviewing the company for three months, becoming CEO.
February
The number of print businesses who have been in operation for 100 years will not be large, but Soar Print has joined that elite set. Still owned by the Soar family, and with Fred Soar as CEO, the business is
an environmental pioneer, and has grown through diversification in recent years.
Plenty of investment was happening
in the industry, with Vivad putting in a new HP dye sub printer, and revealing it printed some 1.5 kilometres of print for the spectator-free Australian Open.
Martin O’Brien Formes, which specialises in die cutting forme production, as well as general manufacturing, is expanding, moving into a new 2800sqm factory, and investing in new production technology. The new facility, located in Braeside, Victoria, will allow the family- owned business to place its operations and
services – currently using three separate premises – under the one roof.
Also investing was Cactus Imaging
in its third Fujifilm Ultra 5-metre
inkjet machine, bolstering its line-up of technology. The company says there may be printers with more of the high-performance machines in the world, but none pump through more Fujifilm ink than the iconic Australian wide-format business.
The country’s biggest print franchise group, Snap Print & Design and Canva, the world’s fastest growing design platform, joined forces to create a digital design-to- print solution, the first in the world between a print franchise and the online juggernaut.
Also joining forces were employers’ association PVCA and suppliers’ association Visual Connections with the creation of
a new joint venture to provide certainty for the future of the industry’s flagship events, including PacPrint. In addition to PacPrint the new joint venture will be responsible
for PrintEx, the National Print Awards,
the State PICAs and the Print2Parliament annual event.
Far left
Investing: Keith Ferrel and Nigel Spicer at Cactus
Left
100 years in business: Soar Print, current MD Fred Soar 3rd generation
Left Change at the top: David Currie hands over to Rob Mesaros
Above Fire: Carlo Carpogreco, owner, Big Image Above right Partnering with Canva: Sonia Shwabsky and Richard Thame from Snap
Liquidated: John Duplock’s Magnify Media
which went into administration with debts approaching $5m, and was liquidated a
month later.
Also suffering was
the outdoor media industry, which suffered a 40 per cent plunge in spend in 2020, with $369m wiped off the industry.
Print’s share of outdoor media spend slipped slightly, down from 44.2 per cent to 43.9 per cent. However, in cash terms it meant just $244m was spent on outdoor print last year, compared with $413.7m in 2019.
In the labels world the $190m sale of label press manufacturer Gallus from Heidelberg to little known Benpac collapsed at the eleventh hour, with the buyer failing to come up with the cash. Gallus is now sticking with Heidelberg.
And on the supply side the big local news was long time industry identity David Currie was stepping back from day to day
28 Print21 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021