As a company, Ultima Displays prefers to lead and not follow. As managing director, I get involved in new product development right at the beginning and as a company we invest heavily in research and development, continuously striving to give clients solutions that they not only want, but also need.
I firmly believe that this motto drives us to develop some of the fantastic products we offer. Our in-house research and development and sourcing teams travel around the world seeking the next best solutions to improve our ever-increasing product library. As a company we’re not afraid to take risks and I am a big driver of this, pushing my team to deliver the very best whilst always thinking one step ahead.
I believe it’s important to keep abreast with all the latest technologies and software available out there, and this is something that Ultima are pretty good at. This year alone our graphics team have heavily invested in brand new state of the art printing machinery and finishing equipment, our CAD team are now fully operational in 3D Vector Works, all of which allows us to offer a complete efficient service. As trade-only suppliers, we like to keep our clients at the heart of our business, ensuring we offer them the best possible products and services to help their own businesses grow.
You have just come back from a whirlwind tour of Sign and Digital UK and FESPA Digital; what was your experience of the shows?
That’s right. Ultima have just embarked on a European tour of various shows and have found all of them to be extremely busy, well attended, and very successful in terms of lead generation. Sign and Digital is always a great show for the UK market and our experience this year was fantastic; we enjoyed seeing our clients and meeting new ones too—in fact we’ve already booked our place for 2015.
We are great advocates of trade shows, viewing them as a fantastic opportunity for us to keep up with what’s happening in the industry”
Fespa Munich 2014 delivered another excellent show for Ultima. It was international with leads from USA, Australia, and even South America, although it benefits our European markets in the main. To support this show we are already gearing up to raise the bar and improve our stand and overall experience at next year’s show in Cologne, Germany. During the last few months we have attended a number of trade shows ensuring the Ultima brand is present in more countries including Reklama in Czech and Poland, Newtech around the UK, C!Print in Lyon, Viscom in Italy, France, and Germany, and Remadays in Poland.
We are great advocates of trade shows, viewing them as a fantastic opportunity for us to keep up with what’s happening in the industry. In fact, we are going to be hosting a Newtech show here at Ultima Displays HQ in November; it will be open house and we welcome you to an interest-
ing couple of hours. As a company, attending trade shows gives us the opportunity to check out the latest technologies and kit available and I am pleased to report we’ve made some major investments in equipment as a result.
What were the key trends and information the visitors were feeding to you about demands from the sign buyer?
With summer rapidly approaching, we noticed a high-rising interest in our outdoor products, with businesses gearing up for a fantastic outdoors season. The new Wooden Chalk Board and Aqua Flag systems were both very well received, along with the latest double-sided Hurricane Banner. Another popular demand is having the ability to offer a full service, including hardware and graphic printing, especially our textile capabilities.
Ultima’s one-stop-shop outsource service enables us to relieve pressure on printing and finishing from clients during peak periods, or offering services beyond companies’ own investments or volume capabilities by offering a full printing service”
Ultima’s one-stop-shop outsource service enables us to relieve pressure on printing and finishing from clients during peak periods, or offering services beyond companies’ own investments or volume capabilities by offering a full printing service.
We receive regular feedback from clients, which has proved invaluable in helping our business grow and improve. We’ve found that although price is key, it is not the only important factor when customers are making their business decisions. In fact, the ability to offer excellent customer service is imperative, which is an area Ultima excel in.
What’s next for Ultima in terms of innovation and product development?
Obviously I can’t go into too much detail, as I don’t want to reveal all of Ultima’s grand plans; however I can say that 2014 and 2015 are going to huge for us with major investments in various areas of the business. We’re adding extra resource to our CAD department in order to increase our modular capabilities and the introduction of a brand-new pre-build suite at HQ will offer customers the chance to view their finished stands before dispatch.
I am very passionate about all of our products and get very close to the development and creation of each one, always bearing our clients in mind”
Another key investment is taking place in our graphics department as state-of-the-art equipment is installed this year, adding to our graphic capabilities. Having recently acquired the building next door to Ultima HQ we have been busy renovating through-out and are looking forward to showing visitors around the new space, all 111,000 square feet of it.
What are some of your favourite pieces of Ultima kit?
LED lights have always been a favourite of mine as they offer so many benefits. Not only are they lightweight in design, but they also offer durability, efficiency, and are environmentally-friendly, thus reducing the carbon footprint. We’re vastly expanding our range of LED products and I for one am very excited about this. They are a fantastic way to accessorise display and exhibition stands, adding extra wow factor.
Also, the durability of some of our banner ranges never cease to amaze me; we have some clients who are still using the products seven to eight years after purchasing them (and they are still under guarantee). Another favourite includes the modular and linear ranges, which offer endless return-on-investment; being reconfigurable in design means that they can be adapted to most situations.
But to be honest, I am very passionate about all of our products and get very close to the development and creation of each one, always bearing our clients in mind. I think the next few years are going to see more innovation and improvements than ever before; exciting times!
