Adelaide’s Cadillac Printing – owned by Wellcom boss Wayne Sidwell – is set to close next month, as major heatset printer Franklin Web lends a hand with its final jobs.
The closure of the 50-year-old print business reduces further the number of heatset web printers in the country.
Melbourne’s Franklin Web, owned by the Taylor brothers, has stepped in to assist Cadillac with the transition until its closure in August.
Cadillac was partly owned by Wellcom and Wayne Sidwell until 2010 when Sidwell took over 100 per cent ownership, buying the remaining 50 per cent stake for $3m.
Sidwell runs the highly successful multinational pre-media and print management Wellcom Group – although he is no longer the majority shareholder – and privately operated the Adelaide printer.
Sidwell – currently in the US – is closing Cadillac due to tough market conditions, which are preventing the printer from moving premises and re-opening elsewhere following the end of its lease.
General manager Trevor Stone says the business will shut its doors for good next month after its lease in the Adelaide suburb of North Plympton reaches an end.
“Cadillac has reached a point where it needs to move out of its premises, but it is so costly to move and it is not viable to continue trading. We are not broke, we are still making money and all staff will get paid,” says Stone.
Franklin Web is assisting Cadillac through its transition, including helping the printer finalise its job commitments and look after clients.
“Our main aim now is to get all the work out before we close next month, and we are using Franklin Web solely to make sure our clients are looked after,” says Stone.
“There is no one in line to take over our client list, so that remains open to anyone.”
Cadillac houses only a few old presses at its North Plympton premises and employs around 33 staff members.
It remains unknown if Franklin Web will take on board any staff, and Stone says the company is working to re-employ his workforce in the South Australian print industry, however he says it is a ‘very tough market’.
Franklin Web is a major player in catalogue printing, with pre-press, sheetfed, digital and web printing at its site in Sunshine, Melbourne.
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