Lidya Group, a leader in Turkey and the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region with the global brands it represents, its know-how, experience, organisational structure and financial strength, is one of the few companies in Europe.
Could you tell us about yourself, Lidya Group, of which you are the founder, and the digital printing sector?
I was born in 1969 in Istanbul. I graduated from Pertevniyal High School and ITU Faculty of Electrical and Electronics in 1986-1990, received a master’s degree in International English Business Administration from ITU, and a one-year undergraduate education at Bedford College in England in 1990-1991. When I returned to Turkey, I started my professional career as a service engineer in 1992. Then I was transferred to Xerox Turkey, where I worked as a sales manager at the age of 25 and as a director at the age of 29. With the support of Xerox Turkey and the motivation of my Belgian general manager, we established ‘Lidya Bilişim’ in 2001 and 
became a regional dealer of Xerox. In 2012, we became an Epson distributor. In 2015, we became an EFI distributor. In 2019, we launched our own brand Sutec. In 2022, we opened the Lidya Group Digital Experience and Training Base. In 2022, we opened ‘Lydia Digital ltd’ in the UK. In 2022, we became a Kongsberg distributor. In 2023, we became a Duplo distributor. In 2023, as Lidya, we acquired Xerox’s company in Turkey. In short, as Lidya team, we love our job and we do it very well. Xerox, Epson, Efi, Kongsberg, Duplo, Keundo and our own brand Sutec, which we represent, are the best brands in the world in the segments they address. As a company, we always stand by our customers and provide technology consultancy and project financing to our customers. In our after-sales service, where we are very strong, we have a solution-oriented approach with our head offices and 23 dealers in 8 regions of our country.
What has digitalization changed in the printing industry?
Developments in the digital printing machinery sector have made it possible to print on different materials (wood, metal, glass, fabric, etc.) from A4 paper up to 5 metres in size and 15 centimeters in thickness. ‘Digitalization’ has also enabled personalization and personalized prints can be made at affordable costs instead of mass production. Thanks to digital printing, a design prepared on the computer can be printed directly on the relevant material without the need for pre-press preparation. Our printing sector is a big sector, while its size in the world is around 800 billion dollars, it is stated to be around 9 billion dollars in our country.
Could you evaluate Lidya Group’s acquisition of Xerox’s Turkey company?
Xerox has a big place in my and Lidya Group’s life. Lidya Group was established in 2001 to be the regional dealer of Xerox. In October 2023, we acquired Xerox’s company in Turkey. With this sale by the US-based company, we strengthened our position in the sector as Lidya Grup and aimed to position ourselves in new markets. We plan to continue our project, which was implemented with an investment of 20 million dollars in the first stage, with an additional investment of 40 million dollars in the following 5 years in order to increase the printing production in our country and to strengthen the online operation.
Which brands does Lidya Group represent in the digital printing sector?
With Xerox, Epson, Efi, Kongsberg, Duplo, Keundo and our own brand Sutec, we are one of the few companies in the world that offers different technologies in the field of end-to-end printing in the digital printing machines sector. With the global brands we represent, our know-how, experience, organizational structure and financial strength, we are the leader in Turkey and EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region and we are among the few companies in Europe.
What are your projects and targets for 2024?
No matter what the conditions are for Lidya Group, our energy and morale are always at the top, our goals are big and most importantly, our capital is strong. We continue to grow in all kinds of choppy seas, because our DNA is growth-oriented. With the global brands we represent, we will complete this year, as we have done in the past years, by focusing on new opportunities and working with all our strength. In 2024, we are gearing up and continuing to grow in our country and in Europe, especially in the UK.
You are a company that also provides project financing. We would also like to get information about this subject.
While always bringing our customers and investors together with technology, we continue to lead our sector. Beyond just being a supplier of products and services, we interpret each project with a different vision and offer the most appropriate product, solution and service by providing technology consultancy to our customers. As Lidya Group, we have led and continue to lead the growth of the market in the digital printing sector by providing project financing of nearly 120 million dollars in 20 years.
If we take a little bit out of work, could you tell us about your hobbies? What do you like to do in your free time?
Among my hobbies, reading books. I am interested in history and biography. I read biographies of leaders, scientists and artists who have achieved significant success. I am interested in the history of Turkey, world history and regional history. I am interested in books on all kinds of art. Apart from reading books, sculpture and painting are of special interest to me. The sculptor Mehmet Aksoy’s sculpture of a woman looking in the mirror and the sculpture of snakes making love are in our house in Istanbul. We own the works of Dinçer Güngörür, one of the young sculptors of the last period. We have a collection of works by our favourite artists in the field of painting and sculpture in our homes and workplaces both in Turkey and London.
We think that you are open to digitalisation and innovation as part of your job. Are you an innovator or a traditionalist?
I had a good student life and I had a passion for technology since the beginning of my education. I studied electrical and electronic engineering at ITU and was interested in dealing with technology as a scientist. In summary, throughout my life, I try to closely follow and use every field of technology. In this sense, I am open to technological developments, I closely follow and use them.
What is your life motto?
There was a poster I bought in my university years. On the poster with a smiling face, it was written ‘Think Positive’, which means ‘Think Positive’ in Turkish. During my university life, I looked at this poster for 4 years. This poster summarizes my life motto very well. I am a person who is positive in all kinds of conditions, who tries to find and extract the positive sides of events in all kinds of stress and difficulties. For example, the stress level of business life in Turkey is much higher than in Western European countries. In this sense, a ‘positive perspective’ is very important for managing stress. Because we are trying to manage business life in a very dynamic environment with many variables. As my first life motto, I think that a positive perspective works in all circumstances. My second life motto is to act with a goal. I have a perspective that first plans everything and then tries to measure it. ‘Set your goals high, you will rise’ is also an important philosophy of life.
