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Our Story
Year 1990
20 years ago in November 1990 at 8.00 am in a small old fashioned factory in Unidare Estate in Finglas a new company opened its doors. That was the year The Righteous Brothers, "Unchained Melody", was number one for 4 weeks, The Republic of Ireland reached the World Cup quarter finals and The Printed Image began trading.
With 5 staff, 3 machines and a few optimistic customers we began producing high quality litho print with a goal of targeting the tricky work, the marketing print that few printers were really that interested in back then. We mainly worked directly with the end users of our printed material as the ad agencies and larger design companies were slower to buy off a low cost, new and unproven entrant like us. But that direct model got us longevity in key clients, many clients who we have retained even in the current climate, and that has made that necessity look like a very good decision in the rear view mirror.
Producing mostly leaflets, wobblers, barker cards, posters and other items you would find in a retail outlet, off licence or pub, we found our place in the market, Marketing Comms, and set about growing. We were busy adding people and expertise in the area of Point of Sale. Year one we turned over 330,000 Punts working hard for all our clients. Being small meant you had to give more to get the sort of clients who spend most in the area we aimed for. So from day 1 being flexible, being prepared to work long hours, working overnight and most weekends and always being up for doing screamers was, and still is, an important part of TPI's offering.
Year 2000
By the year 2000 we had grown by adding Magill Print into the fold and by a constant drive not to just live with what we had achieved the year before.
We had over 50 staff, new offices in the IDA Centre in Pearse Street and at our clients request we added a graphic design studio to our growing list of services.
Soon we moved again to a bigger unit located in Bluebell Industrial Estate. In the middle of that decade we purchased our biggest competitor Marksell Hobson Morris, Ireland's finest quality screen printer and a few years later combined both companies into a 100 strong team in a purpose built state of the art facility in Font House where we live today. Instead of taking a breather we pushed on and grew sales and services, adding Engineering, Digital, Laser cutting and Premia to the list we already had to offer. We even grew in other markets successfully pushing into Northern Ireland and now Britain.
Year 2009
We reached our downturn in early 2009 and like every company in Ireland switched from growth to survival in a matter of months. I feel we managed to tighten up on costs and lowered pricing for customers in time to react positively to a complete change of pace in our economy.
Who knows what the future holds. They say if you want to make God laugh just make a plan. But no matter what, any company reaching a 20th birthday in such hard times is a milestone worth mentioning and one we are proud of.
Colin Culliton, Managing Director,
The Printed Image.
Copyright © The Printed Image 2012
