Seven lose jobs at Taieri Print following ownership change

The nervous wait for about 30 staff wondering if their employment will continue at the long-established Taieri Print firm is over.

Seven staff will be made redundant following the acquisition of Taieri Print by Auckland-based company Kalamazoo Group.

The group also owns Wickliffe Solutions and will merge it with Taieri Print.

Kalamazoo chief executive Steve D'Souza said the merger plans were now complete, and the firm would embark on a full transfer of staff and equipment during the next few months.

The two operations would now fit under the Kalamazoo Group umbrella to provide Otago and Southland with the most capable commercial printing operation in the region, he said.

Initially, it was expected the Taieri Print operation would relocate to the Wickliffe premises at Glenelg St, Kaikorai Valley.

However, due to machinery requirements and staff numbers, it was likely the two buildings in Fairfield and Kaikorai Valley would be retained in the short to medium term, he said.

The Mosgiel warehouse-logistics facility would also be retained in Factory Rd.

Mr D'Souza said the merger of the manufacturing plants would result in the removal of some duplicated machinery, which meant seven Taieri Print staff would no longer be required.

Their redundancies would take effect from May 31, he said.

Had it not been for the acquisition, Taieri Print would have gone out of business and all staff would have lost their jobs, he said.

"It should be noted that this means that over 20 of the original Taieri team have retained their jobs, and the new Dunedin team consisting of print production, sales, group IT and logistics staff, will now consist of over 85 staff in total.

"Taieri Print's previous owner, Peter Moore, will become general manager of the new combined Dunedin operation, which forms the largest commercial print facility in the region."

john.lewis@odt.co.nz

 

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