A BOLD move to buy the Western Australian arm of photographic equipment giant Hanimex 25 years ago has created an enduring business that photographs the State’s school children – from Kununurra to Esperance.
In 1988 then Hanimex State manager Dierdre Veal bought the Fotek franchise and, with the help of daughter Natalie, who had joined the business just months earlier as a photographer, started expanding on it.
Fotek general manager Natalie Veal said Fotek was just a small concern when her mother bought it.
“We were then photographing about 30,000 children. Today we’re photographing 150,000,” she said.
Her father, Les, who had a career in credit management, joined the business 18 months later and took over the administrative side.
He also runs a photo retail outlet that is attached to the Fotek premises in Osborne Park.
“He helped us take the business to the next level,” Ms Veal said.
She said the company had always done regional schools.
That focus has helped it build its market share because a number of the principals in small regional schools eventually became principals of either large regional schools or city schools, and they remember the photographer who came to them.
“We were the only company that serviced regional schools for many years. There’s not one company in WA that will do both city and country schools,” Ms Veal said.
She said the company worked hard to maintain its relationships with the regional schools.
She tries to go to the schools in a different regional town every year to help build the relationship.
“We really rely on our photographers to be the public relations for the business,” Ms Veal said.
The regional school runs are very well planned. The company has two two-person teams covering the regions and their itinerary is planned months in advance. A map in the company’s administration area shows their routes over the four-term school year.
The battle to survive has not been easy.
Over the years a number of national companies have come into Perth and tried to poach Fotek’s business and staff.
“Being community based and family owned helped us keep our market share,” Ms Veal said.
That community-based ethos has spread over into the charity side.
Fotek is supporting Kids Help-line, something Ms Veal said the company’s staff had decided was a good fit for the business.
It is holding a benefit auction dinner at the Rendezvous Observation City Hotel on May 15 that it hopes will raise $30,000.
