Well-known industry identity Steve Dunwell is retiring after 40 years in the business, including the past seven years as managing director at the helm of manroland Australasia.
He announced the appointment of former sheetfed manager, Dennis Wickham as the new managing director with Andreas Schwoepfinger, previously web-fed services as the new director of technical services. The changes, and Dunwell's retirement, will come into effect at the start of February next year.
He is retiring with the company logging consistent growth and at least $20 million in orders for next year. "I'm very happy to be leaving the company in such good shape," he told Print21.
Dunwell arrived at manroland in 2009 following six years with Currie Group as NSW Manager, and steered the local operation through a challenging period after former parent MAN Roland went broke and was split into two companies.
In 2012, manroland web and manroland sheetfed were bought out of bankruptcy by German industrial conglomerate Possehl and English entrepreneur Tony Langley respectively. Possehl picked up the web press division, along with its Australian company, while Langley came in to take over the sheetfed part of the company.
Both manroland businesses are now back in the black and at drupa 2016, manroland web said it had increased its market share, even though the over-all volume of web presses sold was in decline.
Dunwell told Print21 at drupa that the success was largely down to the character of the two owners.
“We’re extraordinarily lucky in our two new owners. They have given us financial security even as they are pushing us to improve. In Australasia we’ve exceeded our targets over the past four years, contributing 12 percent of the total revenue, well above our weight.”
An official retirement party – titled The End of An Era – will be held in February 2017 at the Banjo Patterson Cottage Restaurant in Gladesville.