Along with his father, Ford conceived the idea behind Signwaves in 1988 before officially opening for business in April of the next year.
The company started life in the Ford household, with the front room serving as an office and the garage acting as the workshop—complete with a homemade screen printing bench to carry out orders. Now, 25 years later, Signwaves is regarded as one of the market’s major players, boasting nearly 100 staff, production facilities measuring 50,000sq ft and a list of clients that many would envy.
Speaking to Signlink about the company’ evolution, Ford looks back with an immense sense of pride.
I have the highest admiration for anyone who has a go— because I know how bloody hard it is”
“When we started the business, there was no real vision and it was just about survival,” explains Ford, who started the businesses with his father after they were both made redundant at the same time.
“I was only 29 with not a great deal of commercial experience so I was fairly naive and wet behind the ears. But what we had was a ‘get up and go’ to work hard and see what we could do.
“I have the highest admiration for anyone who has a go— because I know how bloody hard it is! I have particular admiration for my Dad who was nearly 60 when we started out. After being made redundant at 59 that took guts.
He talks about it now being the last roll of the dice as he’d always wanted his own business but never had the opportunity.
“At the time, if we could have looked ahead and seen what we had in 10 or 25 years time, we would never have believed it. It makes me immensely proud; you get a lot of satisfaction seeing your products on the market.”
Ford goes on to highlight what he thinks has been the key factor behind the company’s success.
“We do genuinely feel our culture and the way we do things is important,” he says, adding: “If you’re doing everything well and effectively, producing the right products right and operating well internally, then the customer will be the one to benefit. Everyone plays a part in this service and that what’s we feel very passionate about.”
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