Meet our Printing & Publishing team below, see who covers which roles in the industry, and learn about the history of Clark & Mackay.
Bert Clark & John Mackay Founded by Mr Clark & Mr Mackay, located in Adelaide Street, Brisbane City.
Print was produced using wooden type, with each word being composed one letter at a time using hand fed and foot powered printing presses.
Ian Mackay returned from WWII and joined the firm followed soon after by his brother Garth.
Neil Mackay (Ian’s son) joined the firm while undergoing an Apprenticeship as a Printing Machinist.
Clark & Mackay purchased a factory and moved to 386 Montague Rd, West End.
The firm consisted of 5 Letterpress, 1 Offset – no Bindery equipment apart from a Stapler & Punching machine.
Purchase and merge of Coronation Press began the evolution of what became a rapidly growing firm.
West End building was sold due to the evolving fashion industry in the area and moved to Rocklea – quadrupling in size.
Paul Mackay (Neil’s son) joined the firm while undergoing an Apprenticeship as a Printing Machinist.
Purchase and integration of Leader Press (the printing arm of the Catholic Church).
Born in 1880 John Mackay opened the firm of Clark & Mackay in 1928 with his partner Mr Bert Clark. They had both worked at the firm of Jackson & O’Sullivan before starting the business together. Prior to this John had been a foreman for Keid & Co Printers of Adelaide Street, and had even set examination papers for apprentices attending training colleges.
Ian Mackay, son of John Mackay was born in 1920. After leaving high school in 1936, he entered the business undergoing his apprenticeship as a Letterpress Machinist. He left later that year to serve in the army during the Second World War. After being wounded, Ian spent time in hospital and later returned to help his father in the business. By this time Mr Clark had passed away and Mr John Mackay was in sole charge until 1957 when he too died.
Some years later, Ian looked towards the future for his sons and had a new printing factory built in West End. All existing machinery was moved there, and soon after the entire factory was air conditioned. Ian was later responsible for this factory trebling in size. Ian has since passed away, however Clark & Mackay continue to hold onto a few of his loyal clients
Neil Mackay was born in 1948. Growing up in Brisbane, he attended Brisbane Grammar School for his secondary education before taking up an Apprenticeship as a Printing Machinist specialising in Letterpress and Lithography (following his father’s footsteps). This was Neil’s fist love and he still enjoys the printing industry and customer liaison. Neil is currently the Managing Director of Clark & Mackay.
Born in 1952 Mr Ross Mackay, attended Brisbane Grammar School. After completing Grade 12, Ross entered the firm as an Apprentice Compositor in the art department and attended classes in marketing, bookkeeping and later sales. Ross was also President of the Printing Employers Group in Queensland.
He has since retired from Clark & Mackay and is now a preacher within the Uniting Church.
(Son of Neil Mackay) Paul Mackay, joined Clark & Mackay in 1997 while undergoing his Apprenticeship as a Printing Machinist. He too, follows in his father’s footsteps and is the fourth generation of Mackay to join the business. He completed a four year apprenticeship and worked for two years as a Printing Machinist before being promoted into a Sales position in 2002.
Paul has always had a talent for sports, especially Baseball where he played in Queensland Championships and successfully took out the Qld trophy as well as representing Australia in the Expos team over in the USA. Paul continues to enhance his knowledge of the printing industry by attending regular courses and workshops hosted by the Printing Industries Association of Australia.
