28 | Tuapeka Gold Print Kitchen table business turns to gold T T Russell Fredric Chief executive Greg Jolly says the spike in turnover has created the need for more warehousing capacity to store on-demand inventory. DEVELOPMENT The astronomical growth of Tuapeka Gold Print has been the catalyst for the Dunedin-based business to develop a new 8000 square metre warehouse and office. Since it was established in 1987, the award-winning company has become one of New Zealand’s significant business success stories and is now the largest supplier of branded promotional products and corporate gifts in Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. Tuapeka Gold Print (TGP) provides its comprehensive product offerings through its Trends website. The company was founded in the small Central Otago town of Lawrence in 1987 by Jim and Karyl Robertson who initially printed gold foiled business cards on the kitchen table of their family home. TGP quickly blossomed and expanded into branded pens and other promotional products. By 1993 it was the largest supplier of branded pens in New Zealand. In 2007 Brad Houghton joined the company as an equal partner and took on the role of managing director. Chief executive Greg Jolly, who joined the company late 2013, says together the pair brought a great synergy to the business which continues to this day. “While Jim was the founder, the success of the business was a 50/50 split with Brad’s involvement as well as Jim’s.” By 2013 TGP had completely outgrown the Lawrence’s infrastructure and began investigating alternate premises both locally and beyond to deliver on the company’s strategic vision. That year a devastating snowstorm that badly damaged its warehouse necessitated the urgent transfer of stock to a Dunedin warehouse and in 2014 the whole company relocated. While this was emotionally very difficult, it was the only practical solution given the company’s swift growth. Within three years of moving operations to Dunedin, sales had grown 300%. In 2020 TGP featured in the Deloitte Fast 50 as the seventh fastest growing company in New Zealand and was awarded Otago exporter of the year alongside several other industry awards. Today the company employs 450 staff of which 50 are in the Philippines to fill a local gap in art-work related skills. “We have 10 times the turnover we did back in Lawrence,” Greg says. This turnover has created the need for more warehousing capacity to store on-demand inventory. Pre-pandemic, stock was spread over 11 warehouse sites in Dunedin, but this has been reduced to eight sites thanks to a leased warehouse in Sawyers Bay. “We’ve gone from about 900 stock pallets to 8500 pallets; our new warehouse under construction in Fairfield will hold 12,000 pallets for stock.” Fundamental to the success of the business is the convenience of having a comprehensive range of promotional products stocked in Dunedin and available to be branded on-demand and sent to a client within five working days. “The secret to our success is having a suite of branding capabilities that can all be done in-house, and at a scale and pace that no-one else can match in Australasia.” TGP’s bounce-back from covid has been extreme, Greg says. “We will have doubled our size from where we were two years ago at the end of this financial year.” Despite this stellar success, TGP’s management is not looking to retire to a tropical island any time soon. “Our plan is to carry on growing and we are confident there’s opportunity to grow as much as we have in the last 10 years in the next five to eight years. We can see ourselves getting up to as many as 900 staff.” Although this growth is exciting, Greg recognises that the business is fundamentally about people. “The owners of TGP are incredibly proud of the culture and the people and their drive to deliver the very best for our customers. Without really good staff and a really good culture you’re not going to achieve a lot.” Construction of the new warehousing premises in Fairfield is making good progress, with completion estimated for April next year. However, half the building is expected to be ready for warehousing early in the year. P 03 488 2922 | E info@clearwatercivil.co.nz 7 Brighton Road, Green Island, Dunedin Drainage | Asphalting | Roading Earthworks | Demolition Commissions of storm water, wastewater and water reticulation Underground power, gas and telecommunication infrastructure.
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