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Ricoh
About Ricoh · 90 seconds with the founder

The same person who started this in a garage in 1996 is still our chairperson.

Same family, 30 years later — operating across Samoa, Vanuatu, Tonga, the Solomon Islands and New Zealand. Pradeep on why he bet on himself, how Reeta built the operational backbone, and what it means to run a Pacific business the next generation actually wants to take over.

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Founder video — shooting next month.

Our story

Started by a family. Still run by the same family.

This business didn't start with investors, a fancy office, or a five-year plan. It started in a garage in Auckland in 1996, with a young family and a founder who couldn't stand the words "you can't". Pradeep had just returned to New Zealand from Papua New Guinea with young children, booked a one-way ticket to Japan, and came home with a product line and a plan. By 1998 he was the exclusive distributor for a key Ricoh product in NZ. By 2001, the team had bought its own premises in East Tāmaki.

Reeta — Pradeep's wife — joined in 1998 and moved the business out of the garage. Vision needed operational discipline. Phones answered, orders packed, customers looked after consistently — honest, ethical and steady, not when it's convenient but every time. That standard is still the foundation of how the business runs today.

Through the 2000s, exports into the Pacific Islands outpaced the New Zealand market. Wholly-owned subsidiaries followed: Tonga in 2009, Vanuatu in 2010, Samoa in 2011, the Solomon Islands in 2015. Each market wasn't a trophy — it was a commitment to new customers, new local teams, and a higher bar. The second generation joined in 2012 when Shiv came into the business.

Growth since has been deliberate vertical and horizontal integration — built to support Pacific business needs that a single-line distributor can't carry alone. Alpine Print Group joined in 2022 to bring commercial print, signage and finishing inside the group. Artech Print followed in 2024. ClearEdge Security launched in 2025 as the security pillar across the region. In 2026, Pradeep is on a plane to China laying foundations for the next 30 years. Same family running it.

The family

Two generations on the team.

The same family that started the business in a garage in 1996 still runs it. That's not a marketing line. It's why customers who signed up in 1998 are still signed up in 2026 — they're working with the same people.

  • Pradeep Narayan, Founder + Chairperson

    Pradeep Narayan

    Founder + Chairperson

    Engineer by training. Started the business in 1996 with a one-way ticket to Japan and no safety net, sold and serviced every early unit himself. Still hops on planes to meet manufacturers — most recently China in 2026 — to lay the foundations for the next 30 years.

  • Reeta Narayan, Director

    Reeta Narayan

    Director

    Joined in 1998 and moved the business out of the garage. Runs finance and operations — phones answered, orders packed, books reconciled, customers looked after consistently. The reason we operate honest, ethical and steady every day, not just when it's convenient.

  • Shiv Narayan, CEO

    Shiv Narayan

    CEO

    Lawyer by training. Joined in 2012. Leads regional growth across the Pacific, the Microsoft 365 and security pillars, and the digital side of the business — including the rebuilds you're reading right now.

What we believe

Six values. One team.

Internally we hold ourselves to six standards. Here's what each one looks like from the customer's seat — what you should be able to ask us about, and what we should be able to deliver.

  • March in Formation

    Show up as one team

    Five markets, one accountable team. Tonga doesn't tell Samoa it's not their problem; Auckland doesn't blame the islands. The customer sees one supplier with one number to call, and that's the experience whether you're in Apia or Honiara.

  • Nimble like a Cheetah

    Move when the market moves

    When something changes — a vendor refresh, a freight schedule, a price shift — we adapt fast and tell you. We don't sit on yesterday's plan because it was easier to write.

  • Cross the Finish Line

    Finish what we start

    Half-finished projects are the standard in this industry. We don't run that way. If we said we'd hand over a working device, a configured tenant or a closed ticket, the work isn't done until that's true.

  • Run the Playbook

    The same answer in every market

    30 years has produced a set of practices that work. We follow them. New people inherit them. The output looks the same whether it's a small Apia office or a multi-island deployment, because the process doesn't change.

  • Deliver the Gold Standard

    Service that earns the 'wow'

    The bar we hold for ourselves is the moment a customer says 'wow' — not because we delivered what was expected, but because we delivered more. Average is the cheapest place to lose a customer.

  • Sharpen the Blade

    Better every quarter

    Every quarter, every retrospective, every customer call — we look for the thing we could do better next time. 30 years of compounding small improvements is most of what separates us from the competitors that didn't stick.

By the numbers

Garage to regional group, in 30 years.

Years trading
0+
Pacific markets
0
Local experts
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Active customers
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Where we operate

Six offices. Local people on the ground in every single one.

Each market is staffed locally — technicians, account managers and customer service in-country. The Auckland office coordinates regional procurement, freight, supplier relationships and group-level support.

Come and talk to us.

The conversation is free. We'll listen first and only recommend what actually helps.

Talk to our team Read customer outcomes