A flurry of meetings has rung in the changes at Triumph Industries this week with decisions on redundancies and future management roles.
The planned reorganisation means the incorporation of the businesses of Renaissance, Origo and CED under the Renaissance name and a possible name change for Triumph to Renaissance is mooted for next year.
"In some ways CED is the least affected. Renaissance and Origo are just about duplicated," says new chief executive Trevor Grey.
"There are no exact numbers as yet, but there will be some redundancies," says Grey. "There have been staff meetings and they will go on."
Staff were to be advised of their positions either yesterday or early next week.
Grey, who replaced long-time head Mal Thompson last week, says meetings were also being held to sort out the new management team. He was unwilling to make any statements about individuals or their future positions.
Thompson, a major shareholder, moved into a director's role after it was announced the company would not achieve its targetted $3 million profit for the year--with the second half just breaking even. It is freely admitted that there are duplications within the group and efficiencies to be gained and plans to achieve these efficiencies have been brought forward.
Trevor Grey says the financial results are the immediate reasons for the changes.
"The main result has to do with the whole industry--that's the major factor. Within that some are going up and some are going down. Apple has come under some pressure."
The much publicised troubles of Apple reseller Computer World 1982 may give an indication of problems also affecting CED. Computer World 1982 had no problems achieving volumes, but the adjustments Apple has made to its pricing structures has meant that ever higher volumes are needed to reap the same profits.
"Where you have to sell 20%-30% more to make the same revenue," says Grey, "and still have your transaction costs and so forth, it makes things difficult."
Grey says that it was decided he was the appropriate person for the job in part because he can bring a better focus on the distribution aspect of the business.
He says there will be no less focus on Apple but that Renaissance is now a broad-based distributor playing in many market segments.
"The aim is not to have all your eggs in one basket," says Grey, "and not to kill the golden goose."
He says that he expects market conditions next year to be pretty similar to those this year, saying that users lack a compelling reason to buy new technology. Grey says this expectation makes the logic of the restructuring even stronger.