HISTORY

Zip Print was opened in April, 1984, by Lawrie Mabin and Rory Bland.  Lawrie & Rory had many years experience in the graphic communication field and small offset industry. They both previously worked for A.M International who were the leaders in the industry at the time.

The location of the first Zip Print shop was at 14 Kommetjie Road, Fish Hoek.  The premises, which had been a well known location as Guy Todds Art Gallery, was renovated and made into an attractive print and copy shop. In those early days the staff compliment consisted of the two partners, one of whom did the printing and the other the typesetting, and one other lady assistant.  The Company started out with two small offset litho printing machines, a ‘Compset’ phototypesetter and one photocopier.  How technology has changed!

Zip Print has always kept abreast of changing technology, and today between the two
shops, some of the equipment consists of six high speed black & white copiers, various colour copiers and printers, large format plan printers with plotters and large format colour printers, all with digital capabilities. Most of the equipment today is driven by powerful computers.  Fish Hoek alone has 10 computers, all networked and loaded with sophisticated software to drive the equipment.

The litho printing department is located at Fish Hoek behind the front shop.  The newly expanded factory houses an array of machines capable of producing a variety of work – from full colour glossy brochures to large volume invoice books.  The newly acquired die cutting equipment enables them to produce boxes, swing tickets, calendars etc. With six vehicles and a number of sales persons on the road,  Zip Print handles work from throughout Cape Town and as far as Paarl and Stellenbosch.

In 1987 Zip Print opened the Wynberg Branch.  This branch was an immediate success and most of our clients established in those early days are still with us today. Zip Print Wynberg is a wholly owned subsidiary of Zip Print (Pty) Ltd and is owned by two former employees, Nadia Hendricks and Colleen Johnson.

In 1991 a further branch was opened in Tokai. This shop,  offering mostly ‘on demand’ digital services was always very busy, and in 2003 was sold as a going concern. The shop is still in the same location and operates under the franchise ‘Tokai Digital’.

In the 24 years of being in business, Zip Print has seen other printing businesses come and go.  Zip Print has stood the test of time, through good times and bad.  Our philosophy on growth and expansion has been conservative but steady.  The emphasis at Zip Print has always been on SERVICE..

‘In a land full of copies, we are the originals.”