Mark Teakle, general manager of Zip Print, the third largest printer in NT, has bought the company from long time owner Kerry Hamwood, who has now retired.
Teakle has been running Zip Print for the past three years. He says, “Zip Print is an A3 printer, digital and offset, with a great staff, great technology and a great client base, so when I saw the opportunity I jumped at it.”
Zip is one of the top five printers in NT, with Colemans the biggest, the Government printer next, then comes Zip, with Hollands and Image Print. Teakle says, “Zip will stay in the A3 market, it is our niche and we do it very well.”
The company is about to invest in its fourth digital printer, a Konica Minolta bizhub 7000, to join the three other Konicas it already runs. It also has a four-colour Komori offset press. Teakle says, “When I joined Zip we were running about 20 per cent digital. Now it is about 60 per cent, and we will probably reach about 80 per cent with the new printer coming in.”
He says, “I always wanted to have my own business. The bank has been very supportive, recognising that I have been running the business for the past three years, and that the figures we have are excellent, and with growth opportunity.”
Teakle started his print career with the old Territory Printers in Alice Springs in 1984, winning the SA / NT Apprentice of the Year in 1987. He joined Colemans in Alice Springs, before transferring to Darwin, and then moved to Zip in 2009.
