Print veteran John Ferguson has sold Brisbane-based Fergies Print & Mail to local competitor Printcraft after more than 51 years at the family company that was established by his great grandfather in 1868.
Printcraft general manager Matt Naughton confirmed that the deal was concluded last Friday. “Yes, we are taking over but we don’t have any intention of talking about how it all unfolded, the reason behind it or how it came about.”
It’s understood Ferguson cleaned out at his office at the company's Hamilton factory last week and has left the building. Almost all staff members have also been made redundant, with only a handful offered jobs at Printcraft.
The former Fergies Print & Mail website, which now links directly to Printcraft, announced the sale in a brief statement.
On Friday the 27th of April 2018, Fergies Print & Mail was purchased outright by Printcraft Qld Pty Ltd. As the largest privately owned print, mail and logistics operation in Queensland, Printcraft is proud to provide print based communication solutions to both the Brisbane and NSW markets. We’re excited about the future and the possibility of working with your business.
Prominent PIAA Queensland member Ferguson was awarded an Order of Australia medal in the Australia Day Honours List in 2017 for service to sailing and the community.
A former 25-year member of the board at University of Queensland Press, Ferguson had been Fergies MD since 1976. “It’s a hard market out there but we’ve all been through tough times before and it’s all part of the repositioning of the printing industry,” he said at the time.
Earlier this year, James Ferguson Ltd, trading as Fergies, signed a $1.85 million contract extension to supply the Australian Electoral Commission with Printing, Packaging and Storing of Ballot Papers, making the new deal worth a total of $3.5 million.
Printcraft is a leading Brisbane print business that offers digital, offset, wide format printing, mailing and logistics solutions. It is based at Links Avenue North in Eagle Farm – about four minutes’ drive away from Fergies in Hamilton - and has facilities in Townsville and Sydney.