The St Leonards-based company has rebranded as Oxygen after Southern Colour Victoria ended its shareholding in October, according to Scott Telfer, managing director of Oxygen.
"The wheels were put in motion then to start to be on our own. They had given us fantastic support, but they decided they were concentrating on their own market, so we undertook to take the business over," he told ProPrint.
"We're really positive about the future. The company is in the best financial shape it's been in for a long time.
"We've focused on what we do really well and have purposely moved away from some clients that were too cheap. We're just not going to do that work. We're focusing on the right work for our business."
[Feature: Southern Colour looks to the future]
Telfer said last year's split triggered a six-month strategic review, during which Oxygen contemplated whether it wanted to continue printing.
The 30-staff firm ultimately decided that printing was an essential part of its identity, but that it would now position itself as a "service provider", he said. Oxygen will now outsource more work and also do some print management, he added.
Telfer said Oxygen and Southern Colour would continue to have a close relationship and that the Melbourne firm would be a preferred supplier, particularly because of its 10-colour Heidelberg XL 106 perfector.
Southern Colour director Rod Dawson told ProPrint: "We wish Scott and the Oxygen team all the best and we envisage we'll continue to have a strong alliance with them in the future."
Telfer said there would be no restructuring and no staff changes at Oxygen. "The business continues on as it is."
Telfer told ProPrint the name 'Oxygen' had been chosen because it was fresh, simple, modern, clean and suggested new life. He and his wife, Merrin, are the majority owners, while operations manager Anthony Dickinson also has a stake in the company.
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