How to succeed in business

Starting your own business from scratch takes a lot of courage and ambition, especially in an industry where competition is fierce. However, for Micky Calcott, managing director of The Window Film Company, it was the only way to break out of installing window films for other companies where information and quality was lacking.

“I picked up a directory and started phoning up people, seeing if they used window film on their products. If they did, could I send them my information and some samples? I started it from scratch. When I got a job I’d go out and install it myself. As that got busier, I then had to employ somebody else to do the phone calls in the office. Then when it got even busier, I employed another installer, my Dad, who had worked with me before,” Calcott explains.

The company grew onwards and upwards from there through word of mouth and repeat business, while continuously developing its products. Starting off by supplying standard films that reduced heat, glare, and stopped glass from breaking, as well as some frosted film on office partitions, it has branched out in response to customer demand.

Calcott continues: “Within the first year, we found demand was becoming much higher for elaborate designs which we couldn’t cut by hand so that’s when we bought our first plotter. Then we started cutting frosts in the coloured vinyls and installing those, and that’s when we started to offer the more graphical side to our business.”

They carry out jobs for many different types of customers including home owners, however, the main part of the company’s work is brought in by main contractors and fit out companies—80 percent of its work is repeat business from these customers.

The Window Film Company also benefits from its distribution arm. “We are UK distributors for Madico Window Films. They have just brought out a new digital optically clear range that can be used on UV printers.” With a recently appointed customer service manager with around 30 years of experience in the window film and graphics industry, the company is continuously adding value to the business.

Full of character

One of Calcott’s more memorable projects has been working with Watford Football Club’s stadium and training ground in Hertfordshire to create decorative solutions for their surfaces. He says: “It’s been on quite a wide range of different media. We’ve done printed window film on glass, printed digital murals, and laminated brick vinyl which was applied onto exposed brickwork.”



The project was ongoing for a number of weeks, and features digitally enhanced memorable images. The full colour prints were applied floor to ceiling, and carried out to both internal and external surfaces.

The Window Film Company also worked with television network brand, Nickelodeon, on their first retail store in Leicester Square in London. The brand wanted privacy and security whilst the fit out was being carried out.

“Nickelodeon designed some bespoke graphics using all of their well-known cartoon characters and we printed that onto low tac vinyl and applied it onto the outside, so it gave them privacy during the fit out but it also gave them the perfect branding opportunity,” Calcott explains.



The surface consisted of 120sq m of glass and took a couple of days to complete but for Calcott, the joy is in seeing ‘everything go from concept to design to print’.

What makes the company stand apart from their tough competition is its focus on keeping customers happy. Calcott says: “We work hard to ensure that we give the best customer service and the best quality products because we want them to be coming back for more.


“It’s a case of listening to the customer, finding out what their needs are, and trying to help them with the best possible product. It’s not about sticking something on a wall. It’s about building a brand, building a good company, and making sure the customers are happy so we maintain this repeat business.”


The Window Film Company reap the benefits of being a larger company as it has several different departments that deal with different issues, therefore if any errors do arise, they have the right people on board to deal with each problem.

He continues: “Everybody that works at the company is working to the same end goal to make sure the customer gets good customer service, and good quality products fitted to the highest possible standard.”

Designer interiors

Calcott looks to the future and is excited by the possibilities available in new sectors of the market. “At the beginning of the year we moved into these new premises and we purchased a new Océ Arizona 460, so we’re looking to develop more on the printed side of things. With Madico launching their new optically clear digital printable films, we’re potentially going to start offering people that product but also pre-printed designs.



“It’s not necessarily looking at any new products, but developing the products we have. We have got exclusive licences with a couple of well-known designers in the interior sector so we have the licence to use their design on window film, which could be for home owners or offices. At the moment, we’re only offering that as a bespoke service, but we may start providing rolls of their patterns which is a completely new sector for us,” continues Calcott.

Interior printing is picked out by Calcott as an emerging trend that is set to gain more popularity as time goes on, and the falling costs are allowing designs to get even more creative.


“The cost of printing onto window films has come down quite a bit and the effects that can be achieved has opened up. It’s always been busy over the years, but people have been having stripes, waves, and dots, whereas now because we can print any design onto the optically clear film, that’s opened up a wider range of opportunities,” adds Calcott, proving that the possibilities are endless in an industry that is developing rapidly.


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