Page 72 - Print21 March-April 2020

People in Print
the OVERflow
Pettaras sells Digital press in marcomm services move
High profile print identity Theo Pettaras has sold his Digitalpress business
to marcomm services outfit Bridgestone Investments in a strategic move, which will also see it enter wide-format production.
Following a three-month handover period, Pettaras intends to stay on to run the business
as it moves into the marketing communications space.
The move will see Digitalpress access the Bridgestone facilities in North Sydney as a creative hub and sales centre. Digitalpress will enter the wide format market with a new Fujifilm printer and Kongsberg cutter. An HP Indigo 7r digital colour press will also
be added to the Digitalpress firepower. All the new equipment will go into the Digitalpress Waterloo site, which already houses a Fuji Xerox Iridesse among its other kit.
Bridgestone Investments is a private equity fund focused on the marketing
communications sector in Australian and Malaysia and is currently expanding into Thailand and Indonesia. It has bought Digitalpress through its National Print Express subsidiary.
In Australia, Bridgestone owns Horizon Print Management, a 19-year-old print broker, Indigo Print, a boutique commercial printer based in Walker St in North Sydney, and Copiworld, also based in North Sydney. Bridgestone CEO is Jahangir Khan, a Law graduate of Western Sydney Uni.
Speaking to Print21 Theo Pettaras says, “I wanted to move Digitalpress to become a marketing solutions provider. It is all about relevance. I didn’t need to sell, but the opportunity came with Bridgestone, which recognises the importance of print.
“They felt the profile
of Digitalpress would be beneficial to them, as would the knowledge and experience of my staff. It is a win-win, which
for me means I can focus more on sales and marketing and less on the day to day tasks of the typical small business owner.
“There is a three-month handover period but I fully intend to stay with the business and help drive its future development.”
Welcoming the acquisition Khan said he was “excited about the prospect of working with a prominent industry leader in Theo Pettaras as well as adding a highly skilled multi award- winning team to our portfolio of companies.”
He said, “Digitalpress
will bolster our digital print production capabilities and conversely ensure a wider
array of quality products and solutions for its customers with our ever-expanding suite of digital businesses”.
In a letter to customers Pettaras said, “Since inception I have been fortunate to be a part of the successes of Digitalpress and feel blessed that today I continue into its future. Working
Sold the business: Theo Pettaras, Digitalpress
as a senior member of the group my role will focus on continued growth of the business by enhancing existing relationships and forging new ones.
Pettaras established Digitalpress 15 years ago, starting out as a boutique retail print shop and becoming a nationally recognised multi- award winning commercial print business, which always sought to offer more to its customers.
Pettaras himself is well known in the industry, partly through his award-winning print, and partly through his ongoing charity work with recent initiatives such as celebrity cookbook Dish,
and pub rock concerts for various causes.
He is currently on the
board of the Print & Visual Communication Association, and is also known for being open about his own life story. 21
24-hour Swimathon for Tmental health returns
he Head Above Water bigger fundraising totals. A 24-hour Swimathon number of Konica Minolta staff returned to Sydney’s and local print businesspeople Northern Beaches, were to join the swim.
after raising more than $80,000 There were four lanes to cater
Swimming for mental health: At last year's event are Konica Minolta team (l-r) Kyle Young, Peter Stace, Andrew ‘Wardy’ Ward, Ben Jennings and Dean Mico
for mental health programmes at the inaugural 2019 event. This year’s swim began at
8am on Saturday 14 March and finished 24 hours later, taking place at Collaroy rockpool.
Founded by Andrew Ward, Konica Minolta sales leader, Head Above Water is an activity- based fundraising group that aims to create mentally fit and healthy communities.
Last year, 525 swimmers participated in the event, swimming 19,026 laps, equivalent to 951 kilometres. This year, organisers expected a bigger turnout, with even
for all levels of swimming ability, and people could choose to swim as many, or as few laps as they like. Every swimmer could raise money via their own sponsorship page, or they could form a team to raise even more money.
Last year, Head Above Water partnered with Gotcha4Life (founded by TV and Radio personality, Gus Worland), to help support mental health workshops and initiatives across schools, clubs and community groups. It was founded in response to the relatively high rate of suicide on Sydney’s Northern Beaches. 21
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