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The new owners of what was Warkworth Print, Kim and Richard Batley, are no strangers to the printing industry.
The Batley family once ran one of the largest printing houses in NZ and Kim has more than 30 years’ graphic design experience.
Together, the couple ran an advertising design studio in Ponsonby for 10 years, producing high-end corporate branding and promotional material. But thoughts of starting a family prompted a desire for a rural change and they moved to a lifestyle property in Kaukapakapa 20 years ago. This gave Kim the opportunity to indulge her love of horses, while Richard worked in print brokering.
“Now that the children are older, we started to look around for a business that we could both enjoy,” Kim says. “Warkworth Print seemed like a perfect fit as it was a business we knew we could offer vast experience and growth potential to, while maintaining the desire to live a lifestyle our family truly loved.”
The couple bought the business from Barrie and Anne Wood, who have retired.
“Barrie and Anne had started investing in the new digital era and that’s what really interested us,” Richard says. “While the big boys fight over the larger local market and also with heavy overseas competition, we can concentrate on supplying a variety of high-end quality products in different formats such as mural production, specialty wallpapers, banners and so on, as well as commercial printing of labels and everyday promotional material, all at a quality standard and expectation demanded from years involved in the industry.”
The change of name to Warkworth Digital Design & Print reflects the business’ new direction.
“We’re really going to expand what we can offer customers,” Kim says. “We’re hugely experienced and we’d like to be seen as the ‘go to’ people. We produce quality products and we get things done, no matter how big, small or out-of-the-box the job might be.”
