Trio of firms on the up (and spending cash)
Times may be tough but there are always firms that thrive when things are tricky and can splash the cash as they expand in uncertain economic times.
Friday, 20 Jul 2018 09:19 GMT
The workers of CIM with far right, their managing director Mark Baker
Pop into one of those home furnishing come stylish living stores and you’ll see some cutesy heart-warming signs.
Delightful Living, based in Derbyshire, makes bespoke personalised signs and gifts for the home and garden. Having started by hand-painting everything, the kitchen table style operation has grown buying their first UV printer in 2013. Now they’ve taken a step further by purchasing a Mimaki UJF3042HG and Kebab, from CMYUK, so they can increase production but still keep their original craft style intact.
Delightful Living is based in a converted dairy farm with a small team
Paul McGreevy of the firm, explains: “We already had two UJF3042s which were coping well with the day-to-day grind and busy gifting periods (Christmas, Father’s day, Mother’s day etc.) when we would see our production demands increase significantly. We were looking to upgrade one of our machines so that we could experiment printing directly onto bigger objects. We also wanted to explore the options of the kebab on cylindrical objects. The biggest reason for wanting the Mimaki UJF3042HG was to expand our range, creativity and explore new techniques, whilst still being able to do the day-to-day print fulfilment.”
Founded back in the 1980s the firm has seen a changing market from hand painted signage and decals to the limitless designs for vehicle wraps afforded by the new generation of wide-format printers”
In Aylesbury Sign Rite Grafix have bought an HP Latex 365 printer for their vehicle graphics and decals operation but they wanted to expand into offering a broader range of work. The company says they had several requests for wall coverings, murals, event banners, building wraps and vehicle wraps. Expanding into these markets was only possible with the new wide-format printer.
Phil Aliphon, founder of Sign Rite Grafix, with
the HP Latex 365 printer
Phil Aliphon of Sign Rite Grafix says: “With the addition of the HP Latex 365 printer we can really diversify as a business. We are already seeing a great deal of demand for printed wallcoverings and murals and so investing in this technology will help us to tap into this fertile market. Our industry is constantly evolving and so, by working with HP, we’re able to keep abreast of market trends and new customer demands.”
Founded back in the 1980s the firm has seen a changing market from hand painted signage and decals to the limitless designs for vehicle wraps afforded by the new generation of wide-format printers from the likes of HP.
Another firm that has seen changes in the industry and has adapted to them is CIM in Norfolk who have doubled their workforce, taken on additional factory space and bought more kit for their vehicle wrap operation and signage business. A £34,000 grant from the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership’s (LEP) Growing Business Fund four years ago helped the company expand. Since the awarding of the grant the firm took on more workers, and increased turnover by 82 percent.
Mark Baker, managing director of CIM, says: “In 2017, we completed over 500 vehicle graphics and wraps. Our new customised climate-controlled facility gives us greater capacity, as well as improving the efficiency of our application and drying processes. The addition of the Rollsroller and wide-format print machines will also increase print capabilities and productivity, while delivering even greater accuracy than before.
“It’s a very exciting time at CIM. Business continues to grow, enabling us to further invest in new facilities, machinery and staff. We’re passionate about what we do and the success of the company is down to the dedication of the entire team here, who all work together to create stunning signs, liveries and print with great customer service.”
Have you just bought a new wide-format printer? Let us know if you are expanding your company. Email your views to Harry - Harry@linkpublishing.co.uk or call me on 0117 9805 040. Or react to the story on Twitter and have your say.
If you have an interesting story or a view on this news, then please e-mail news@signlink.co.uk
Follow Harry on:
