Richard Clark will become the CEO of AIW after the chief executive of the Melbourne web offset printer Paul Ward decided to quit. Son of Peter Clark, who founded AIW, Richard Clark, the current chief operating officer will take over the top job from August 1.
AIW prints fashion magazines
Ward says after five years at the helm of AIW it is the right time to move on to other industries. He says an opportunity too good to miss presented itself and the time was right to ‘hand over the reins to Richard, who is well represented internally, within the industry, and more importantly within our customer base’. Ward says, “Our focus always has been and always will be on looking after our customers but new leaders will come with new ideas and I look forward to seeing AIW develop further under his leadership.” Peter Scanlon, director of AIW, has taken full ownership of AIW buying out a group of minority shareholders through his investment business Taverners Group. He brought the 38 per cent owned by the shareholders, which included the founder Peter Clark, Chris Jefferson, and Jim White as well as few others still working in the business. Clark, Ward and Jefferson will stay on as non-executive directors and lend their experience to the new executive, the company spokesperson says. Ward says the move by Scanlon to gain full ownership will not affect the way the company operates and it will be business as usual as far as clients and its services are concerned. “By doing this he has demonstrated to the market his belief and commitment in the future of catalogue and magazine printing and his long term commitment to this business,” he says.
AIW prints The Weekly Review
Charles Garrard, AIW chairman, says Scanlon’s decision to buy them out stems from AIW’s plan to make some productivity upgrades without going into debt. Garrard says, “We were at the stage where we needed some capital and since we are debt-free Peter decided to buy out the others instead of borrowing money.” He says the upgrades include buying new smaller machinery, workflow and software upgrades, and changes to process. Scanlon will recoup the cost of investment through having sole ownership of the business and therefore its profits. “AIW has maintained its focus on magazines and catalogues and the outlook for those products remains positive despite falls in prices and margins from overcapacity,” Garrard says. “I think the industry will sort itself out over time.”
Comment below to have your say on this story.
If you have a news story or tip-off, get in touch at editorial@sprinter.com.au.
Sign up to the Sprinter newsletter
