Shergill to consolidate Focus Press

BPA Print Group boss Mark Shergill will consolidate the Focus Press business into his Print Warehouse facility, with the Focus Matraville and South Strathfield sites already closed and up for sale, and termination letters sent to Focus staff.

Shergill says the plan in the short term is to lease the South Strathfield site once Focus Press has sold it, to facilitate consolidation from other sites, and later move everything into his Print Warehouse factory on nearby Dunlop Street.

He says while the sale has gone through, the details are still a way off being finalised and he is not certain what other assets will be retained.

He also says Focus’ new $8m Canberra site, opened in November last year, is not part of the deal and he does not know what David Fuller plans to do with it. Fuller could not be reached for comment.

Shergill bought Focus business just prior to the Easter break when the $40m turnover business sunk with cashflow issues, forcing the big three paper merchants to cease supply. Focus is the fourth distressed print business Shergill has bought in the past year.

[Related: Read the demise of Focus Press]

Sources inside the company say all Focus staff have been told they will lose their jobs, with termination letters scheduled to arrive in their mailboxes today. Belinda Griggs, AMWU NSW assistant regional secretary says that Fuller has so far refused to meet with the union.

Sources say Focus staff have been given generic application forms for Active Recruitment to apply for positions with the new group, though no information was given about what the roles might be or where they would be based.

The sources say there has been no written communication from Fuller, except that at least one staff member has received an email saying all four plants will close and all staff will lose their jobs. Workers still have no idea if they will get any of their entitlements.

Sketchy reports claim that Fuller has walked away from staff and told them to seek entitlements through the General Employee Entitlements and Redundancy Scheme. However this may prove problematic as Focus doesn't appear yet to be in any form of adminstraiton.

[Previously: Shergill buys Focus Press]

The Matraville and South Strathfield plants, both about 2000sqm in size, are due to be auctioned by CBRE on May 13. Shergill says he is aware of the sales but that they are being handled by Focus Press.

The details of what exactly Shergill has bought are yet unknown, as the company was sold before it went into administration or liquidation.

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