Rob Dunnett will leave The Bindery on Friday after 10 years at the helm of Australia’s biggest trade finishing house.
His resignation comes 10 months after the Melbourne firm was bought by OCA Group as the finishing arm of Naresh Gulati’s ‘trade everything’ service, but Dunnett says his reasons are personal.
“I just need a break, in the past 21 years I have only taken nine days off so I’m due for a really long holiday,” he says.
[Related: The Bindery upgrades folding kit]
Dunnett says he has no idea how much time off he will take or what his next job will be but says he will be back in the industry because ‘print is in my blood’.
“I have plenty of other interests to keep me occupied and financially I don’t have to work, but personally I need to or I will go crazy,” he says.
“The new owner has made significant investments in the business, with more on the way, so I feel I am leaving the business in good hands.”
A new general manager will not be appointed to replace Dunnett, with operations manager Ian Leckie running production and arrangements for finance and sales so far uncertain.
Plenty of printers expressed concern when OCA, which has its own direct clients as well as trade, bought the business in October, but the consensus was that Dunnett’s integrity was unimpeachable and so long as he was involved everything would be fine.
One ProPrint commenter summed up the sentiment: “I can think of no one more ethical than him. The mere thought of Rob breaching any confidence is ridiculous, and as long as he is involved there will be nothing for anyone to worry about.”
Dunnett moved to quash any concern that things would be different in his absence, saying Gulati is an ‘honourable man’ and that all clients have stayed on board and been supportive since the sale.
“It is the same as when BPA Print Group and McPhersons were shareholders but not involved in running the business, Naresh is the same apart from making investments,” he says.
“Naresh has been really good since he bought the company, he does everything he says he will do and The Bindery will continue to run independently.”
Gulati paid tribute to Dunnett, saying, “It is sad to see him go, he has done well to grow The Bindery brand over many years and we will uphold its values and take it to the next level”.
“We will continue to invest heavily in the business to provide more services to the industry.”
Gulati says OCA is going through a massive restructure in line with its commitment to offer more value to the print industry, but it is too early to discuss the details.
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