Page 18 - Print 21 Magazine Jul-Aug 2020

Profile
A focused
journey
Talking about the future of your print business while in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic is not for the faint-hearted, particularly when your sales – along with those of the rest of the commercial print industry – have spent the past six weeks on the floor. Then again, taking up competitive boxing after a four- decade hiatus is likewise not for the faint- hearted. But Focus Print Group boss Mark Shergill has never shirked a challenge. Print21 editor Wayne Robinson reports.
When Focus moved into its new Granville site
last year, Shergill walked into the boxing gym opposite, and spoke to the trainer who encouraged him to pick up the gloves he had not worn since his teenage days.
Just a few months of intensive training later, Shergill found himself in the ring with a 140-fight veteran. He made it to the end of the fight. By the time of his next contest, the lessons learned saw him record his first victory, and over an opponent half his age. That led to the Australian Masters tournament, which saw Shergill emerge triumphant with the belt that now sits proudly in the Focus offices.
Fresh from winning the Australian Masters boxing crown at the tender age of 54, Shergill is now riding out the current virus crisis in characteristic sanguine manner. Those who know him closely say he is rarely caught off guard or given to pessimism. After a 35-year career building what is now one of the biggest independent print businesses in the country, he has seen a fair share of action in print. His time in the industry has
coincided with the most turbulent period in its history.
The few weeks prior to this interview saw Focus, in common with much of the rest of the commercial print industry, spending a large amount of time on cleaning, tidying, and maintenance rather than actual printing. Shergill finds
it important to not focus on those things you can’t do anything about. He says, “With the things you can do, work on those.”
With 90-odd staff on the books and a powerhouse line-up of B1
and B2 presses, and the biggest press in town – a manroland with
a sheet size of 1600 x 1200mm – Shergill has a big responsibility, but one that seems to sit easily on his shoulders. Running a hungry print shop in the period since the GFC has been a challenge for all companies. Shergill puts his success down to “a commitment to customer service, and a focus on excellence”.
The Granville plant handles virtually everything bar the
more esoteric parts of a job, with extensive prepress, printing, and finishing capability. That is the way Shergill likes it, having control over the whole process from start to finish. He says, “We rarely need
to go outside, and that suits us, we like to have control for the sake of our customers.”
Focus Print Group has a high profile in the local industry. Part of Shergill's growth strategy has been acquiring other printers – some when in distress, some just available as the owners looked for an exit plan. Shergill says, “We tend to
buy the whole business – customer list, equipment, staff. It suits the owners, as it makes their exit uncomplicated.”
The list of companies now in the Focus stable reads like a who’s who of the Sydney print industry, with names including Sydney Allen, Focus Press, Reactiv, Liverpool Print, Whitehorse, Rainbow, AP
& Prior, BPA, St George, Print Warehouse, and BHB. These are
just some of the names that joined Shergill's fold. And their former owners have often come over with their businesses: John Mangos from Sydney Allen, Terry Strudwick from Liverpool Print, Brett Keep from BHB, to name a few.
Shergill is keen to talk about BHB. He says, “The story has never been written, the company had debts,
but Brett, Noel, and his son Scott Howlett sold off the building to pay
18 Print21 JULY/AUGUST 2020