Finsbury Green and the Department of Treasury & Finance hosted a supplier’s forum at the Melbourne Town Hall yesterday to allow suppliers on the state government panel to meet and greet departmental officials.
The invite list read like a who’s who of some of Victoria’s most respected print companies, spanning offset, digital and specialty work. They had a chance to mingle with senior Victorian government print buyers, representing all departments as well as the Victoria Police.
Finsbury Green officially took over the contract with the state’s Baillieu Coalition government on 18 June, bringing to an end the four-year deal Stream had with the former Brumby ALP government.
The new set-up will run for three years, with two one-year renewal options.
John Ivkovic, print services category manager at the Department of Treasury & Finance, told guests Finsbury had met exacting criteria after an extensive tendering process.
“Our users wanted a print manager, but transparency too,” he said.
The new contract represented “a long haul… and we’re right at the start of the journey”, added Ivkovic.
He lauded Finsbury’s proprietary print management platform, Printools Sourceit, which streamlines requests for quotation, procurement and job management, and also talked up the company’s environmental credentials.
Justin Gehde, print, design and communications manager at Victoria’s Department of Justice, described the government as “a large, complex print buyer. We will rely on Finsbury Green to get a better [print] outcome for the Victorian community.”
Finsbury’s chief executive, Peter Orel, said: “It’s a game changing plan for us. It’s a completely different package in terms of transparency, the fact that our system provides a complete repository for the government’s job specifications, which they never had access to before.
“It’s a much more open model and they have more opportunities than in the past.”
He explained that Finsbury had chosen to develop its own system rather than buying off the shelf because it wanted a system that would meet all its requirements and wanted to control the development process.
Ron Patterson, Printing Industries’ Victoria general manager, told ProPrint the new management contract was the culmination of five years of planning and represented “a much more transparent option”.
“It gives everyone the opportunity to voice their concerns, from the government point of view and printer point of view. Over the years, we’ve dealt with many, many issues in the background. It’s early days, and we see bigger and better things.
“But as the association, we see our role as an ombudsman to make sure everybody plays by the rules, to be independent, and to voice our concerns on behalf of the membership,” said Patterson.
Pictured: PIAA’s Ron Patterson, John Ivkovic and Peter Orel
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