A boxing clever masterclass
As any entrepreneur will know, the first few months of a new business is a nerve-racking time. It is not only money and time that gets invested into a fledgling firm, but blood, sweat, and tears–very often literally. Emotions run high when it is a venture of your own, so chances are you will never forget that first, all-important client that gets you off the ground.
These odds are even higher when that client is Tesco. If you ever needed a positive sign that your company is going to make it, it is an opening cust-omer like that. And where one blue-chip business leads, it is only a matter of time before a string of others follow.
Giant killers
W&Co provided signage for MINI’s Park Lane showroom to create a night club atmosphere, including feature lighting around the reception desk and colour-changing feature lights surrounding the ‘dance floor’
This is the unlikely story of graphics and signs supplier W&Co Design Solutions. Starting life as a two-man partnership, the company was imme-diately tasked with supplying one of the largest retail mega-chains the UK has ever seen. Adam Vanovitch, managing director of the company, explains how this improbable circum-stance came to be: “In 1993 Britain was just coming out of recession. My dad had gone from company to company as a salesman, but the businesses just kept going under.
“Over this time he had built a strong relationship with Tesco. In order to be able to finally give them a stable supp-lier of graphics, he decided to create a business of his own. It was a very small operation that was really built off the back of this relationship with Tesco.”
W&Co provided Tesco’s in-store graphics. And when the supermarket asked if they could do illuminated signage, there was only one answer the firm would give: “Of course we said yes,” continues Vanovitch, adding: “It was really because of Tesco that we got into illuminated signs, which we now specialise in.
Obviously a lot of clients still want custom-made products that have a longer lead time, but holding the standard size in stock definitely increased our turn-over”
“Around this time, I came out of university; I didn’t know what I wanted to do, and went into W&Co to write up my CV, as we didn’t have a computer at home. There I found I had skills in graphic design, but as the company was only a two person operation at the time, I found a job with a different design agency. After a couple of years my dad eventually pointed out that W&Co had built a consistent client base, and asked me to join the business.”
With the support of such a major initial client, the firm continued to grow, and in 2000 became a public limited company. From there it added Sainsbury to its customer list, prov-iding a variety of wayfinding signage to stores across the country.
“It was another big project for a small company, which W&Co still was,” comments Vanovitch, adding: “After we completed it my dad decided to retire, and in 2004 I took over as managing director.”
Fresh blood
It was at this point that the company’s growth really began to accelerate. Vanovitch explains: “When I took over in 2004 there were a few things that I saw I could improve on. My dad didn’t like holding stock because he saw it as tying up cash. As I was always on the phone I knew that customers often wanted products the next day, and that this was important.
“So one of the first things I did was to order in standard-size light boxes to keep in stock, ready for the demand that I knew was there. Obviously a lot of clients still want custom-
made products that have a longer lead time, but holding the standard size in stock definitely increased our turn-over.”
As managing director, you need to ensure that everybody in the company, from top to bottom, understand the values and what you are working towards”
He continues: “I also looked at our marketing, trying to improve our reach to other customers. We were one of the first companies to really develop our website and get onto search engines. Now, however, I am more focussed on keeping a client once they are on board, by providing quality products and excellent customer service.
“I’m a bit of a perfectionist, and focus on even the smallest details, so I’m always trying to find ways to improve the company. As managing director, you need to ensure that everybody in the company, from top to bottom, understand the values and what you are working towards. I can see that the team are with us, and even though we now have many blue-chip clients, it still has the feel of a family company.”
BMW are another of W&Co’s clients, who supplied fabric face lightboxes for its flagship showroom in London
And Vanovitch is not exaggerating when he highlights the blue-chip client base. The firm’s portfolio listing is like reading a who’s who of fashionable, global brands, with everyone from Ford, BMW, and Mini, to British Airways, Harrods, and John Lewis.
Spoilt for choice when it comes to case studies, Vanovitch gives me just a flavour of the sort of jobs W&Co has completed.
“We worked with Mini, at their Park Lane showroom, which they wanted to look like a night club. The reception desk was brightened with coloured LED light panels and feature lighting, while the area they call ‘the dance floor’, which displays cars on podiums, was surrounded with colour-changing feature lighting.”
We worked with Mini, at their Park Lane showroom, which they wanted to look like a night club”
He continues: “John Lewis is an ongoing client; we were recently speaking to its retail concept team about new larger fabric face light boxes. This is one of the areas we specialise in, as we were one of the first companies to bring it into the UK, and are probably still ahead of the game due to the number of different options we offer.”
Fight for the future
John Lewis are an ongoing client for W&Co. Pictured: Decleor lightboxes installed in Stratford’s Westfield Centre
Despite this impressive arsenal of first-rate clients, W&Co is not resting on its laurels. Vanovitch continues: “We are attentive to our customers’ needs, and have recently started a 3D drawing service. We take the measurements of their building, create a design, and can then actually show them a digital representation of what their sign would look like. We render the photos to give a realistic image. It’s all very well to just produce products to your cust-omers’ specifications, but often they are not experts and may not be fully aware how it will turn out. This service gives them peace of mind.”
Outdoor advertising is the next big thing on the horizon for W&Co. Van-ovitch describes a prestigious-looking, glass-fronted screen-printed outdoor lightbox that has recently been dev-eloped, called the Scimitar.
John Lewis is an ongoing client; we were recently speaking to its retail concept team about new larger fabric face light boxes”
The firm now resides in Lakeside, Essex, where its energy efficient premises and AA rated air-conditioning and heating system has earned it the status of a Low Carbon Business. And the LED-illuminated signage that the company specialise is yet another environmental feather in its cap.
Looking forward, Vanovitch conc-ludes: “Digital signage has a place in W&Co. At one point people thought digital signage may take over from traditional, but now it’s becoming clear how they complement each other.
“At the end of the day, it’s about having a whole portfolio of products, so that whatever ideas our clients come up with, they can be sure that we will deliver.”
