Leadership Team

Robert Reed (CEO) has a Bachelor of Commerce and Business Administration (Deakin University) 1988.
Having gained extensive experience by working in several “grass roots” positions in Express Promotions, while completing his degree, Robert took on the role of General Manager in 1989 and Managing Director in 1997.
When Robert took on the General Manager’s position, Express Promotions consisted of two small geographically separate companies, both with an uncertain future. They employed a total of 35 people, and turned over less than $5 million between them.
Today, Express Promotions is a strong, consolidated company that is world competitive in its field, with a turnover of $16 million and 75 employees.
Robert’s current role as CEO includes responsibility for managing an efficient organization with effective reporting and accountability structures, and appropriate training and development programs.

Andrew Powell (General Manager) has a Bachelor of Science (Physics) Melbourne University 1992 and a Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical) Melbourne University 1993. Prior to joining Express Promotions in 1998, Andrew gained significant management and production process control experience at MM Cables (a Division of Metal Manufacturers).
Andrew's initial role in the company was as Production Manager. While in this role, he moulded a strong, efficient and cohesive production team and doubled the operating efficiency of key production machines. Since taking over as General Manager, Andrew has championed the transition to RFID technology within the business and has directed the management team towards a strong focus in this area.

Peter Ferendinos (Sales and Marketing Manager) is a graduate in Computer Science and Cost and Management Accounting from Rhodes University who spent three years in the point of sales arena, first as a software developer and then as a sales executive. This was followed by a 17 year career in Tourism as an owner/operator which covered retail and wholesale travel operations and later a transfer and touring service in a joint venture with a listed company.
Peter moved to Australia in 2002 and joined Express Promotions as Sales and Marketing Manager in December 2004. Peter manages the sales and marketing for the company, which is broken down in three marketing groups – the photofinishing industry; small-to-medium enterprises; and large corporates, including local government.  He has been instrumental in the rationalisation of the sales and marketing areas and has built a team of face-to-face sales executives to concentrate on large corporates and government. 

Dr Rama Karthikeyan (Business Technology Manager) has a BSc Honours degree (Annamalai University, India) 1990; Post Grad  Business Diploma in Economics and Marketing  (Annamalai University, India) 1991; PhD in Bio-Informatics (University of Manitoba, Canada) 1996, Grad Diploma of Computing (Data and Information Security) (Deakin University, Australia) 1998 and MBA in Technology Management (Deakin University, Australia) 2001.  He is also a certified PRINCE2 Practitioner and a full member of the Australian Computer Sociery, the Project Management Institute and the Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers of Australia.

In his previous roles, Rama set up the University of Manitoba Bio-Informatics online system for teaching and research; set up the “Prof. Kunz DNA” Mutagenesis” research facility and managed its operations and performed cutting edge research in the field of Bio-informatics and proffered several papers in international journals.

While at Deakin University, Rama also developed an automated system for the maintenance and distribution of standard operating environments and network services; established the infrastructure for a high-speed electronic image-processing system for the processing of exam answers using optical character recognition and managed the technical operations of the “Information Systems Group” that provided IT support for the Academic and Administrative Services Divisions of the University.

Rama joined Express Promotions as Systems Manager in April 2000. He has established himself as a technology expert here and has brought Express Promotions to a world-class level in its IT platform. Rama has gone on to develop systems to enable the secure data processing , cheque printing and finishing functions for Company’s  customers in the large corporate , local government and financial institution  sectors. Rama also currently manages the Research and Development facility formed under the new FE Technologies division and spearheaded the development of RFID technology for the Library and Retail markets. World class products developed by his team has helped the company compete successfully with other multinational organisations in this space.

David Riches (Inbound Sales & Advertising Manager) has over 25 years experience in sales and customer service, predominantly within the travel and tourism industry having previously managed a corporate travel agency for Traveland prior to joining Express Promotions. He joined Express Promotions in 2002 and has worked in various positions within the company, from Sales Executive within the Mercury Promotions division to Sales Coordinator for both Forms Express and Mercury Promotions sales teams. David manages the inbound sales team (call centre), the account management team (sales support), customer service team and is responsible for the company's website(s) content, online sales and advertising.

Heidi Sherman (Operations Manager) has a Masters of Science (Engineering and Management) Sheffield Hallam University 2006 and a Bachelor of Science (Management) University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) 2001. Prior to joining Express Promotions, Heidi worked for Corus, a major European Steel Manufacturer, in production management and process development roles as well as becoming a qualified as internal auditor for both ISO 14001 Environmental and ISO 9000 Quality management systems. More recently in 2005 she qualified as a Continuous Improvement and Lean Manufacturing Coach overseeing a variety of improvement projects focused on maximising value delivery to customers.  Heidi moved to Australia and joined Express Promotions in 2008 she is currently implementing improved flow across production value streams as well as overseeing manufacturing and quality assurance for SMART Library components.