The Sticker Company buys out its only significant rival, McTaggarts the Printers, to get a clear run in the Queensland regional town.
A friendly takeover seemed to make sense to Krieger after his erstwhile competitor approached him looking to exit the industry. In combining the two similar-sized printing firms he has gained some savings in costs at the same time as doubling the size of the enterprise. It leaves The Sticker Company as the largest printer in Harvey Bay with an increased presence in nearby larger market of Bundaberg.
Krieger has operated The Sticker Company for ten years since he bought into the industry from the original owners. In the years since then he boosted the national ‘for trade’ recognition of the Queensland label business as well as upgrading the presses and finishing equipment. In 2010 he acquired Edgars Printery thereby broadening the product line-up. Much of the business is dedicated to supplying the ‘For Trade’ label sector nationally.
The buyout of Andrew McTaggart’s company saw 13 staff move across town to double the number of employees at the Sticker Company. A number of presses and finishing equipment came with the sale but according to Kriege that was not an important factor.
“I bought the business. We had similar equipment so I kept some and traded out others. All the sales staff came across so the customers were happy with us,” he said.
According to Krieger the demand in the local area is not great but now that he has combined the two offices in Bundaberg he expects to generate more business. He makes the point that because the trade is made up of lots of small jobs the business is not at risk of being held to ransom by any one customer, which gives him great satisfaction and independence.
He is now looking at getting further into digital printing as well as boosting the company’s involvement in web design with the possibility of at least one further acquisition as part of his growth strategy. Working with his own developed quoting software meant transitioning the McTaggart staff to the new operating system, which is the only teething problem he identifies in the whole business.