Well known industry identity Bob McMillan has put his weight behind Sydney Allen Printers as the company’s financier, saying it needs refinancing to become competitive again. Speaking with Australian Printer, Bob McMillan says he saw an opportunity to help a printer and decided it would be interesting to give Sydney Allen Printers another chance to get it right. McMillan says, “I have known John Mangos – Sydney Allen Printers general manager – for 25 years and I offered him my ideas to turn the business around.
“I am not buying the business. The business is not for sale. And after the refinancing it has hired more staff and the restructure has allowed it to look to a positive future. My daughter is doing all the accounts and I mainly give John ideas of how to get the company up again.” Sydney Allen is now moving to part of the old 25,000 sqm McMillan Printing in Granville, Sydney, but is only taking part of the space. McMillan says, “It needed to go through a restructure and refinancing to expand and now it is in the process of acquiring some print companies to further grow the business. But I can’t talk about which businesses as the contracts have not been signed yet. While most print businesses are investing in new websites and MIS solutions to tap into the growing online market, McMillan says Sydney Allen doesn’t need a website because it serves big clients. “They don’t need to have a running website with all their products on it as they serve the big guys in the corporate sector, not your everyday walk-in the door clients,” he says. “They have wide format and other capabilities for which they don’t need to put stuff online.” However he concedes that the print industry is challenging and it will take some time before Sydney Allen enjoys its former glory. McMillan says, “It was quite tough in the last year, everybody knows that, but they [Sydney Allen Printers] have now increased their sales team, and they are taking the business to the market again. “I have got a lot of experience in the print industry to get this done and I saw the way they were running the company and intervened,” he says. “I am just like a bank which charges interest on its loans and the financing arrangement with Sydney Allen is similar to that. I am an investor and I am quite careful about who I invest with.”
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