Parent company for Chameleon Group in liquidation

A HIGH profile Fraser Coast business has gone into liquidation, leading to the restructuring of printing company Chameleon Group.

A HIGH profile Fraser Coast business has gone into liquidation, leading to the restructuring of printing company Chameleon Group.

But Chameleon CEO Chris Krieger said subsidiary Fraser Coast businesses owned by the company, including Smoke N Leather and Fixxx Cafe in Hervey Bay, would continue to operate as normal.

It follows the parent company of Chameleon Group, Krico Pty Ltd, going into voluntary liquidation last week.

Mr Krieger confirmed the Chameleon Group had subsequently gone through a restructuring to prepare for a "digital future", which led to staff consolidation across the company.

He said about eight people were made redundant during the process.

"It's tough on the print industry now, and we have to organise moving into the automation side of the business," Mr Krieger said.

"What we were doing was too tough and time consuming for our customers heading into the online digital world."

Mr Krieger said the staffing situation was "too top-heavy" for Krico to keep operating and the process had been a slow decline over the past three years.

"It's a shame liquidation was the path that had to be taken, but we had to make that decision," he said.

Chameleon Group has branches across Hervey Bay, Maryborough, Bundaberg, Rockhampton, Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast.

No offices across the region have been closed, but the change has led to the digital print hub being moved to Hervey Bay from Bundaberg.

Mr Krieger said he was optimistic about Chameleon Group's future in the region despite Krico's setbacks.

"There will be a lot of changes with the company as we move into a digital world, and part of that is having more jobs planned for the future," Mr Krieger said.

"Because we won't be trying to work the Hervey Bay region exclusively, we'll be sourcing work from all over the country.

"So I'll expect our workload to get a lot bigger and our online presence will broaden our scope."

Prominent Hervey Bay businesses Smoke N Leather and Fixx Cafe are owned by Chameleon Group.

Mr Krieger said because the businesses had different owners and shareholders, they would not be affected by the changes.

"For us, it's business as usual," he said.

Originally published as Parent company for Chameleon Group in liquidation