Booth, who was general manager of CPI Graphics, will officially launch new venture Xscite on 31 July.

The company will be the sole distributor for industrial HP Scitex inks in Australia and will also sell HP commercial and design inks as well as cleaning fluids.

Booth said his first objective was to give existing clients a smooth transition and maintain high levels of service.

“We are maintaining the same model right down to pricing, delivery, and our consignment ink program,” he said.

“Pretty much everything will be consistent. Even the main contact, Angela Harper, has come on board.”

Booth said the opportunity arose as BJ Ball decided to focus on paper merchanting and divest CPI’s equipment and inks department.

“One of the opportunities that arose was for someone to take over the inks department. I discussed this with both HP and BJ Ball and got the approval,” he said.

BJ Ball acquired CPI Group on 15 May, in a bid to become the biggest paper merchant in Australian and New Zealand.

The changes take effect from 1 August, with further changes to the agencies for HP large-format products.

Jacqueline Ibrahim, marketing manager at HP South Pacific Imaging & Printing Group, said: “From 1 August, HP commercial Scitex and the superwide Latex 2.6m and 3.2m will be sold in Australia through Celmac and GBC and through Aarque and Jenrite in New Zealand. 

“For industrial Scitex in Australia, we continue to sell this directly and in New Zealand through Jenrite.

Dealers of the HP L25500 Latex in Australia include AGS, Cielab, GBC, PT Store, Arthref and Aish while the machine is looked after by Aarque and Jenrite in New Zealand.

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