Case study: QuickMail posts a winning move

An expanding workforce, rising rents and the changing demographic of the Osborne Park business precinct were the main reasons behind the relocation of bulk mail house, QuickMail, to Kenwick last September.

Founded in 1992 by current managing director Jean Paul Tedeschi, the family business services the bulk mail and packaging needs of a diverse range of clients.

In January, QuickMail made the transition from small business to major industry player after being one of only six mail houses in Western Australia to be accepted into the Australia Post bulk mail partner program.

Mr Tedeschi said the Australia Post partnership not only provided QuickMail clients with a high level of quality assurance, but also led to a significant improvement in the businesses efficiencies, and a change in mentality for the small business.

“The partnership proved that a small business could achieve a standard acceptable to Australia Post” Mr Tedeschi told WA Business News.

In March 2006, when the business was approaching the end of its lease at its Osborne Park premises, the decision was made to look for other locations to house their ever-expanding operations.

When QuickMail was advised that the new lease conditions would include a 60 per cent rent hike, the decision to relocate was made easier.

The first major challenge, according to Mr Tedeschi, was to find a location convenient for the staff, of which a number relied heavily on public transport, and their clients.

The new space also had to be a “shell” in which QuickMail could establish a suitable working environment without having to make any major structural changes to the building.

After looking in the traditional industrial areas, including Bayswater and Malaga, the company found a suitable property in what it calls the “undiscovered” area of Kenwick – a location Mr Tedeschi said was proving to be as good as Osborne Park, if not potentially better.

“We had to find a triangle close to the airport, because of Australia Post, close to our clients, which were in the city centre, and close to public transport,” he said.

“In that triangle, Kenwick was there.”

The new warehouse of just over 2,000 square metres was bought for about $2 million, a deal the new owners were happy with.

The next challenge was to relocate the business without disruption to its day-to-day operations.

Because it was not practical for the business to shut down while the move took place, the decision was made to relocate the equipment and staff in stages over the course of two weeks.

Mr Tedeschi said organising QuickMail’s new IT connections was a particularly time-consuming process, and it wasn’t until after the move was complete that the problem was rectified.

Although there were initial concerns that the relocation could result in the loss of some regular clientele, and prove inconvenient for some of the company’s regular suppliers, the move has received complete support across the board, including the staff.

“There was a lot of nurturing for the staff, trying to convince them that the new place might be better than the past place,” Mr Tedeschi said.

The larger premises also allowed for QuickMail’s sister company, Advance Packaging, to relocate and co-exist in the same location.

Previously located in Welshpool, the operations of Advance Packaging are in the process of gradually moving over to the Kenwick premises, with the move expected to be finalised in two months.

Mr Tedeschi said that, now the business had the room to expand, its next growth phase was to increase its capability to cater for larger database requirements of up to 150,000 items.