Waiwhetu staff told of closures

Two months after declaring it was ‘‘business as usual’’ for a Wellington-based company it was taking over, OfficeMax has told that firm’s employees of plans to close most of its offices.

The New Zealand subsidiary of OfficeMax, part of United States giant Office Depot, acquired Waiwhetu Distributors on January 31 from Savage Group, a family-owned investment group run by Catherine Savage, the chairwoman of the New Zealand Superannuation Fund.

When the deal was announced, OfficeMax’s New Zealand managing director, Kevin Obern, said Waiwhetu, which was established in 1964, was ‘‘a natural fit’’ for it.

‘‘It’s business as usual for both companies,’’ he said at the time.

However, it is understood that on April 5 Waiwhetu’s employees across its six offices were invited to take part in a conference call to outline its plans for the company.

According to one employee, OfficeMax outlined a plan that would see Waiwhetu’s offices in Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Hastings and Masterton closed.

The Wellington and Christchurch offices would be principally used as distribution centres.

The employee, who asked not to be named because the talks were confidential, believed most of Waiwhetu’s employees would be made redundant.

Waiwhetu is believed to have more than 40 staff.

Ben Norrie, OfficeMax’s New Zealand chief financial officer, would not be drawn on the plan’s details, beyond saying that a proposal had been put to Waiwhetu to make it ‘‘more efficient’’.

He declined to challenge or comment on any aspect of the plan that had been outlined by the staff member, but he indicated that Waiwhetu was not profitable when it bought the company.