Page 42 - Print21 Magazine May-June 2021

Industry
Macaulay to depart PVCA,
search for successor begins
PVCA CEO Andrew Macaulay is leaving the print employers association five years after his appointment, saying he has “achieved everything I was
off the real estate. He can also be credited with Print2Parliament, the Covid support for printers and its series of webinars, and the Bring Back Print campaign. He has had a five-year focus on print training and improving member services. Giving print a higher profile in Canberra and the state capitals has been a successful strategy.
Walter Kuhn, president of PVCA says, “PVCA found the right person at the right time in Andrew Macaulay. The organisation needed re-structure and refocus, and Andrew has created an agile modern organisation. We thank him
for doing the often challenging work associated with this.
“The PVCA board feels excited and invigorated by the opportunities to grow our industry association and deliver outstanding value to our members. We are looking for a hands-on GM with the experience to grow our membership and lead our team.”
The PVCA will be advertising the role widely, and is seeking an enthusiastic industry champion to lead the industry peak body and to implement the board’s vision and strategy from the now optimised platform. It will initially focus the search within the print industry. 21
rought in to do”.
bA
CEO of employers association
fter five years leading print as
PVCA Andrew Macaulay is moving on. Macaulay will remain as head of association until his
successor is appointed, with the PVCA board now setting the wheels in motion to recruit a new CEO. Macaulay will return to the business world.
Macaulay's time has been one of change, restructure, modernisation and growth. The PVCA is back in the black, its member services have increased while fees have remained unchanged, and its voice in Parliament is clear and recognised.
“I have loved my time in print,” Macaulay says. “The industry is dynamic, agile, energetic, and committed to excellence.
It is populated by innovative, adaptive, entrepreneurial men and women. Print and
Achieved everything I set out to: Andrew Macaulay, outgoing CEO, PVCA
printers can be proud of their contribution to society, which will continue in the years to come.”
His list of achievements include bringing stability to the association after the ructions of the Jason Allen era, reforming the staff structure – it now has three full-time and five part-time employees, compared with 50 on the books when he took over – and selling
The Macaulay Years: Print21 analysis
Industry outsider Andrew Macaulay took over as CEO when the print employers association Printing Industries, as it then was, had just been through the most tumultuous period in its history
under short-lived CEO Jason Allen.
The board and the association was riven
with division as it grappled with tensions arising from the onset of the digital communication era which resulted in board resignations, protest meetings, high emotions, and three presidents in three months, with Allen eventually forced out.
That explosive eight-month period calmed down shortly after Macaulay’s arrival – he was chosen from a 100-strong field of candidates – and with a new president Kieren May in situ, Macaulay set about getting to know the members and pushing through the board’s vision for reform.
There were 50 staff on the books at PIAA
when Macaulay came in. Today there are
just three, plus five on retainers. The under- used former head office, located in between
a road and a railway line in the unlikely location of Auburn, was sold off. The state offices were either sold or rented out, with services centralised. Today Macaulay is proud that PVCA is a more efficient organisation delivering more services to members with no change in fees.
Macaulay formed an effective partnership with PVCA board president Walter Kuhn who has been in the role for the past four years, with the duo delivering stability
after the ructions of the Allen era, and concentrating on providing services to members, promoting print in Parliament, and driving forward on strategic issues.
It is one of the biggest achievements during his tenure that Macaulay brought the association back into the black after years
in the red. He is also credited with working consistently hard over the past five years to push for the creation of a national print training framework as TAFEs around the country sought to exit print.
Macaulay also gave print a higher profile in Canberra by using his network to great effect – he is for instance a good friend and former campaign manager of current federal communications minister Paul Fletcher.
The board will expect whoever is appointed as the new CEO to take up the parliamentary baton and walk the corridors of power as effectively as Macaulay. They feel the association, members, and the industry as a whole, has reaped significant benefits from having its voice heard in Canberra.
Macaulay also instigated the now annual Print2Parliament, which sees printers, politicians and policymakers meet up for an evening mingle in Parliament House, with
42 Print21 MAY/JUNE 2021