Exclusive: Whirlwind blows out as CMYKhub steps in

The country's largest trade printer CMYKhub is buying the assets of rival Whirlwind, as industry consolidation continues apace.

 Speaking to Print21 this morning, CMYKhub managing director Trent Nankervis said, “Whirlwind managing director Andrew Cester and I have been talking for five years. He is a friend. The family values of Whirlwind match those of CMYKhub.

"We are growing at ten per cent a year. It is a great fit.”

Nankervis has just secured a lease on the Whirlwind building in Knoxfield, which will continue as a production centre. Staffing has yet to be worked through, as has the position of Andrew Cester. Nankervis said, “Andrew would be a great asset to the business. We expect some synergies in the back office. With our growth I am always looking for good staff.”

Nankervis was on his way to the Knoxfield site to meet staff this morning.

The deal does not include the Sydney arm of Whirlwind, which was Lindsay Yates before Whirlwind bought it from Paul Richardson and David Shoppe 20 months ago, with the aim of it becoming Sydney's leading high end printer. It was converted into a digital hub a year later, with the offset kit including a B1 Heidelberg moving down to the Whirlwind centre in Knoxfield to join the two Komori multi-unit perfecting presses on the site, which also houses the country's first MGI JetVarnish digital embellishing system.

Whirlwind was established by the Cester family in 1998 out of its design business, and grew to become a leading trade printer, developing its own web-to-print system. In 2004 it was ranked as one of the country's top 50 fastest growing businesses. In 2015 it reached the million jobs milestone.