Executive Team » Mike Palmer

Founder

Mike co-founded Unico with Geoff Illing in 1984, laying the foundations for a company that now employs more than one hundred and ninety staff in Melbourne and Sydney. He draws upon his extensive industry experience to advise the Managing Director and his Management team in driving the growth of the organisation.

Mike’s broad management and consulting background, entrepreneurial nature and deep commitment to staff and customers have seen Unico develop into a highly successful Australian technology company. In an industry as volatile as ICT he has successfully built the company to survive and prosper.

Looking back, he considers the restructuring of the totalisator betting system and creating a range of mission critical systems for Telstra (operating at close to 100% availability) as some of Unico’s most significant achievements.

Mike’s belief in taking a long-term view of Unico’s dealings with its clients has been the driving principle behind the business. Unico’s first contract with Telstra was in 1985 and with Tabcorp in 1987. Mike’s philosophy has been to make Unico, as far as possible, part of the client’s organisation and to direct all efforts towards achieving their goals. Mike believes “If we are successful in this, then we will succeed ourselves.”

The strong social conscience he shares with Geoff Illing has been an important part of shaping Unico’s special culture. In establishing Unico, Mike wanted to create a place where people would enjoy coming to work, where their achievements were recognised and where community plays a significant role in people’s day-to-day life.