Growing forward

Despite much of the doom and gloom that was mooted in the wake of last June’s Brexit vote, the UK economy has continued to grow. Nowhere can this be seen more clearly than in the sign industry, and the trade print sector in particular. To find out more about how trade print suppliers are sustaining this growth, I talked to three of the major players in the field.

Keep the customer satisfied

Dundee-based Tradeprint sees the key to its success as growing with its customers. “We’ve built the best trade only service in the industry, with depth of range, keen pricing, and the highest level of service,” asserts managing director, Simon Cooper, adding: “The whole focus of Tradeprint is on making business easier and more profitable for our customers. We listen to them, and the initiatives we take are aimed at helping them grow their business.”

Over the past year, Tradeprint has introduced a large-format range that allows its customers to expand their own offerings and move into new markets. In addition, a partnership with Exaprint UK has enabled the company to offer what it claims is one of the most comprehensive ranges of customisable products on the market.



“Tradeprint has empowered print, design, and marketing professionals to feel confident that they are getting the best deal all round—the best prices, the best print quality, and the best customer service, with our state-of-the-art production and our dedicated, personal touch customer success teams across the UK,” states Cooper.



As for the future, Tradeprint says it will be constantly looking for improvements across the company. “We have developed the best trade platform, but we know that staying the best means staying ahead of the game,” Cooper notes.

Along with extensive expansion in the range of products offered, this means revisiting prices across the board to ensure that customers are offered the most competitive options.

The company is also looking to consolidate and expand its customer success teams across the UK to offer a more efficient, local, and personal experience to customers, and will be introducing print coaches.

“These are experienced print professionals who will be able to get under the cover of our customers’ businesses and really help them get the most from the Tradeprint experience,” explains Cooper.

In terms of marketing support, Tradeprint is developing a raft of tools to help its resellers, and introducing a new white label sample pack to allow them to take their products to their own customers. In addition, Tradeprint will be going on the road to present a series of hands-on seminars and workshops designed to help take its customers to the next level.

“Tradeprint is not simply a trade printer, nor a faceless corporation. The difference will always be our people and our expertise to enable our partners to grow and thrive,” Cooper says in conclusion.

The power of one

A significant influencing factor in the continuing growth of Group 101 is the vision of chief executive officer and founder James Sohata. He is justly proud of having built the company from its beginnings in a small bedroom into the business it is today. With no investment, shareholders, or silent back-end investor, Sohata has single-handedly created and driven the businesses into markets that are proving to be very profitable.


 
“I have the ability to spot trends and predict where the market is heading long before the competition,” expands Sohata, continuing: “I love taking risks and have a ‘no regrets’ attitude in work and my personal life; if the gut feeling is right then I will take the risk and invest—and this is how I make most of my decisions.”


Investment in new markets has been the prime factor in Group 101’s growth over the past twelve months. During that time the Tilbury, Essex-based company has advanced into a range of different markets in order to maintain competitiveness. One of the company’s biggest developments, just over a year ago, was the introduction of a 3.2m dye-sublimation MTEX printer.

“We needed to expand into this arena as we knew this area would fit hand in hand with our existing offering and would allow us to enhance our product offering to our current trade clients,” explains Sohata.

Based on the success of the MTEX and the return it quickly generated, towards the end of 2016, Group 101 decided to invest a further £350k on a new Jetrix UV fixed bed flatbed printer and what Sohata describes as ‘an all-singing all-dancing’ digital cutting table from DYSS (AGCAD).

O Factoid: With a turnover of £13.5bn, gross value added of £6.1bn and employing around 122,000 people in 8,600 companies, the UK printing sector is an important economic contributor and employer in all UK regions. BPIF, UK Printing—The Facts and Figures. O

“We now have an exciting range of specialist exhibition related products coming to the market,” says Sohata.

Sohata believes that the company’s growth has also been strongly linked to the high level of service that Group 101 offers its clients and the on-going loyalty demonstrated by clients.



“Our clients are evolving with their creativity and for this very reason we need to keep up with the latest in cutting-edge equipment to ensure we can serve our client base effectively going forward,” Sohata emphasises.

As to the future, never one to let the grass grow under his feet, Sohata is excited about Group 101’s expansion plans over the next twelve months. One major development will be the sourcing of suitable commercial land to build a state-of-the-art production facility.

“We estimate the building will be around 25,000-30,000sq ft with some seriously advanced technology and modern ‘toys’,” enthuses Sohata, adding: “We spend so much time at work that we want to create something that will provide a fun and comfortable place for all our staff.

“Group101 prides itself on being a trade print and signage partner. We always go out of our way to support our trade clients; we understand how important deadlines are and for this reason you will often find our staff working late into the night and weekends. Our clients have come to rely on us and many now only use us as their sole supplier. We feel our high-quality service and professional print knowledge will see us continue to expand and grow in the trade print sector.”

Typical of the scale of work undertaken by Group 101 is the recent re-branding and fit-out of East London’s largest bowling alley. This included wall graphics using over 1400sq m of printed polymeric vinyl with gloss lamination, and 300 Di-Bond sheets used to clad the walls before application, printed foamex panels for the bowling alley header boards, and a bespoke gold fronted desk and counter incorporating LED signage.

Moving on up

Another Essex-based company that is enjoying continued expansion is Venture Banners, which recently moved into new premises in Braintree.

“The last couple of years have been interesting for us,” observes sales and marketing director, Scott Conway, adding: “We have increased sales by around 14 percent year on year, we’ve steadily increased our product offerings and have increased the business resources available to our trade customers, giving them more options when competing in the large format arena.”

Venture Banners was eager to expand its offerings to trade customers but had completely outgrown its existing 7500sq ft premises in Witham.

Conway continues: “With our ‘shopping list’ consisting of another 3.2m GS Vutek, a 3.2m MTEX textile printer and a 3.2m Zund cutting table with a router option to complement our existing 2.2m Zund, as well as a few other bits of kit, and nearing the end of our five year lease, we went looking for expansion options before ordering our new ‘toys’.

“In December 2015 we stumbled across a 21,000sq ft unit for sale at reasonable money. To say it was a ‘doer-upper’ was a gross understatement but, after nine months of waiting and four months of complete renovation from top to bottom, we now have a new home that’s been custom developed for us.”



The entire business moved into the new unit in mid-February 2017, followed in short order by the additional Vutek, the MTEX, and the new Zund.



“Once all our new machines are fully up and running 2017 will see our product range expand again, giving our trade customers even more opportunities for additional profit streams,” Conway concludes.

If these three examples are anything to go by, there is certainly no holding back in the trade print sector. Their drive and dedication to ensuring that not only they but their customers stay ahead of the game is clearly the power behind their continued growth and profitability.

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