Downturn, coronavirus forces Sydney Binding to close

The owner of one of NSW’s largest trade binders, Sydney Binding, says he had to make the tough decision to close the business due to the twin impacts of a general downturn and a coronavirus-sparked dry up of work.

Peter Halters has told Sprinter that virtually no work came through his door in April and with the outlook for the coming months looking just as gloomy he decided the best course of action was to close the operation.

“It’s all a bit of a mixture between a downturn and the coronavirus and I just couldn’t see an end to it to tell you the truth,” Halters told Sprinter.

“I think a lot of people are tricking themselves if they think there is going to be an end to this quickly. “It was OK beforehand but the work just stopped. March was OK but in April there was virtually nothing and it was going to just be that way for the next few months, I could see that.”

Sydney Binding specialises in perfect binding, folding and saddle stitching and was formed in 2016 after the merger of the long-running McPherson Binding and Graphic Bookbinding.

Halters was a director of McPherson Binding and at the time said the merger was induced by a drop in consumer demand and a slowing market for bookbinding services. The market conditions prompted Halters and Graphic Bookbinding director Emeh Freelingos to join forces to create Sydney Binding.

Halters said he and two dozen employees would now finish up any work they had on hand and going through the process of arranging to sell the company’s bindery equipment. A letter has been sent to customers telling them Sydney Binding would not be taking on any new work.

“It would probably be all done in the next week I would think,” he said.

Halters said some of the bindery equipment had already been sold but there were still a few items remaining.

He was unable to say if that equipment had been bought by another Sydney operator and nor was he able to comment on the plans of the purchaser.

The closure of Sydney Binding significantly reduces the operators providing high-volume perfect binding trade services in NSW.

Twin Loop Binding, owned by Wayne Rubin in Sydney’s Macquarie Park, provides perfect binding services, along with saddle stitching, plastic spiral and laminating services.

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