Sign Africa interviewed Angelique Greer, Group Marketing Director and Assistant Sales Manager at Midcomp. Midcomp came on board as a Change 1 Woman (C1W) sponsor this year at the Cape Town networking event. As Greer highlights in her interview, there are already a significant number of successful, female-led businesses in print but their stories don’t get told often enough.
That’s where the real opportunity lies: not in reshaping the rules, but in showcasing proven success and real leadership within the industry. This is a key focus of the C1W initiative.
What do you love most about working in the printing and signage industry?
The people and the pace of change. At Midcomp, I’m fortunate to work with what I genuinely believe is one of the strongest teams in the industry, alongside highly respected leaders who have helped shape the local print landscape. We also represent some of the most advanced global brands, including HP, Durst, and Zünd, which are widely regarded as the benchmark in their respective categories. That combination of people and technology creates an environment where standards are naturally high and expectations constantly push you forward.
What makes it especially rewarding is how constantly the industry evolves. The blend of advancing technology and creative application means there is always something new to learn, solve, or improve. That ongoing progression is what keeps the work both relevant and genuinely fulfilling.
What are the top three industry trends for 2026?
At Midcomp, we are seeing a clear shift in how large format print businesses are positioning themselves in 2026. It is no longer just about output quality or speed, it is about how intelligently and efficiently you can run your operation.
Firstly, automation is changing the game. From smarter workflow software to reduced manual intervention on press, print service providers are under pressure to produce more in less time, with fewer errors. The businesses that are scaling are the ones investing in integrated systems, not just standalone machines.
Secondly, sustainability has become a real deciding factor. Customers are asking tougher questions about inks, media, and energy usage and they are choosing partners who can back up their answers. This is driving strong adoption of more environmentally responsible technologies across the board.
Finally, there is a noticeable move toward shorter runs and more targeted print. Brands want relevance and flexibility, which means PSPs need to deliver faster turnaround times and more customised output without sacrificing profitability.
For us, these trends all point in one direction: helping our customers build smarter, more adaptable print environments that are ready for where the industry is heading, not where it has been.
What is the key to success in this industry?
In South Africa, success in this industry really comes down to how well you can stay agile while keeping costs under control.
Most print businesses are working in a tough environment right now. Input costs are up, margins are tight, and demand is not always predictable. At the same time, the work that is coming through is more varied and often more time-sensitive than before.
The businesses that are doing well are the ones that can move quickly between different types of work without slowing production down. They are not locked into one type of job or workflow, they have built operations that can flex depending on what comes in.
So it is less about having the biggest or newest setup, and more about how efficiently you can run what you have and keeping work flowing, avoiding downtime, and delivering consistently when it matters.
That ability to pivot quickly and still deliver reliably is really what separates the businesses that are growing from the ones that are just keeping up.
How do we attract young female talent to our industry?
Attracting more young female talent into large format printing starts with better visibility of what already exists in the industry.
There are already a significant number of successful, female-led businesses in print but their stories do not get told often enough. That is where the real opportunity lies: not in reshaping the rules, but in showcasing proven success and real leadership within the industry, which is what C1W is doing so well.
When young people can see women who have built, scaled, and led print businesses on merit, it reframes the perception of the sector entirely. It becomes clear that this is not a male-dominated space, it is a performance-driven one where capability and results matter most.
The focus should be on amplifying those stories from production floors to boardrooms so that the next generation can see tangible role models who have earned their place through skill, resilience, and commercial success.
In the end, the industry doesn’t need to be redefined, it just needs to be better represented.
As a sponsor of C1W, how else can we better support women in our industry?
What I’ve observed over the past decade in large format printing is real, visible growth in women moving into leadership roles, business ownership, and technical positions. And importantly, this is not isolated to one part of the market, it is happening across the board, in our customers as well as competitor resellers/suppliers.
That progression has not come from narrative alone, but from the industry increasingly recognising performance and skill, regardless of who delivers it.
So rather than trying to ‘create’ support structures in isolation, the focus should be on strengthening what is already working: mentorship, knowledge transfer, and companies continuing to reward capability and leadership on merit.
For me, the narrative is less about fixing a gap, and more about acknowledging growth that is already well underway and making sure we continue building an industry where the best people rise.
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