An invaluable project partner

Applelec has built itself an excellent reputation, so how did it all get started?

Applelec started life as a metal fabrication company and was owned by the father of our managing director, Ian Drinkwater. When Ian took over the business with Paul Stothers, our production director, they started making signage which became increasingly successful. Ian has always been interested in new technology and so the company embraced LEDs when they started to become more readily available for use in illuminated signage. This was a real turning point for the company, which triggered the start of a growth period for Applelec as LEDs became more widely adopted.



Over the last four to five years, we have been investing back into our fabrication facilities and equipment to enable us to really meet the very varied needs of our clients. Over recent years, sign-making has become increasingly creative, particularly with internal signage schemes, and this has driven demand for more experimental signage employing unusual materials, techniques, and lighting solutions. At Applelec we love a challenge, and I would like to think that creative problem solving is a strength that has helped us build our reputation in the industry.

Can you explain the most important technology developments on your books at the moment and the advantages they can bring to sign-makers?

Our announcement in January, that Applelec is now an official UK distributor for SloanLED, means we are now selling the brand’s full range of LED products for signage in kit form. From Flexi Brite to Poster Box 3 to Prism, and the new Prism Mini, the performance of these products has been impressing a wide range of our clients, many of whom have not tried SloanLED systems before. For example, Nebula Creative recently selected the Poster Box 3 system to create two lightboxes for the first direct arena in Leeds. The modules have been designed to illuminate large yet narrow flex face lightboxes, where just two rows of LEDs are required to illuminate a maximum width of three metres, providing illumination for single-sided lightboxes as shallow as 50mm and double-sided lightboxes at just 100mm deep.



Elsewhere, we have continued to develop our LED Light Sheet product, particularly in the range of LED options available to embed within the panel—including Individually Addressable and Dynamic White (tunable) LEDs, which enable light to be altered within a warm to cool white colour temperature range. Finally, our interest in new technology has seen Applelec begin working with OLED light panels over the last couple of years—indeed our showroom in London is lit exclusively with around 100 OLED lights—we have been involved in a few experimental projects so far and will be looking to begin stocking OLED light panels towards the close of 2017.

The trade supply sector is fiercely competitive, and seems to get more so every year, how do you differentiate yourself from your competitors?

We have always tried to be a very creative company and looked for products or developed products ourselves that offer something unique to our customers. LED Light Sheet is a great example of this. We have built on this over the years by adding more innovative products to our offering that set us apart from other trade suppliers. At the same time, we are aware that we have very varied customers, with very varied needs. While we work with a handful of customers on more creative or adventurous projects, which may involve months of prototyping activity, the majority of our customers need more straightforward fabricated fascia signs, illuminated letters, and so forth.



All customers though, get the benefit of the knowledge Applelec gains from the creative and innovative projects, and ultimately that knowledge does not cost our customers a penny, it is just something that comes hand in hand with working with Applelec. It is difficult to gauge if you only know of us, but once you have worked with Applelec on a couple of projects, it will hopefully become clear that our expertise and willingness to work alongside you as a partner are invaluable.

You recently signed up to exhibit at the very first Signlink Live exhibition, what was the draw and what will you bring to the show?

We exhibited at The Sign Show by Link Publishing a few years ago and were impressed by both the quality of visitors and the range of exhibitors from across the sign-making industry. We always said we would return if the show did and so we are. Looking at the exhibitors already attending this year, I am sure we will all be looking to demonstrate the innovative and interesting, and this should make for a strong show for potential visitors.


I think Signlink Live will have a great atmosphere and with its 100 percent focus on signage, it will be a chance for the industry to come together to share knowledge and expertise. In regard to what Applelec will be bringing to the show, things are still pretty secretive at this stage, although we will of course be demonstrating what is possible with the SloanLED product range. We have a new product currently being put through testing that we are hoping to officially launch at the show, but for more details, you will have to watch this space.

What is your best piece of advice to sign-makers that find themselves in a bit of a doldrum when it comes to company growth?

I spend the majority of my time visiting customers and getting to know them and their business needs. Over the years, this has helped Applelec to identify areas where we can provide additional support to customers, because they are having difficulty sourcing a particular product, or they have been asked by their client to create something that is a little beyond their comfort zone. By assisting customers with these projects and continuing to challenge ourselves, I hope we have been able to make a difference and this attitude has been a significant part of what has helped us to grow.


On a really practical level, lots of companies decide to do some promotion and marketing when they are quiet but it quickly falls by the wayside once the workload picks up and everyone becomes too busy to do it. A dedicated and committed approach is required to constantly seek out new business, and keep up the momentum required to sustain a business over the highs and lows of each year.

What makes you most proud when you look across Applelec’s operations?

Applelec is a much bigger company now than it was six or seven years ago, and without a doubt, our growth has not been without challenges. Due to the speed of growth, up until a year ago, operations had become spread out across three sites in Leeds and Bradford, and so the logistics involved in coordinating production were problematic. As of just two weeks ago, we are now all located on one purpose-built site owned by Applelec that we have been developing over the last 18 months. With connected factories, we have been able to design workflow all the way through production, from fabrication to paint, LED population to packing, and we are already seeing improvements in speed and quality of work.

What makes me so proud is the commitment and hard work of the whole team at Applelec to build a company that we are all a part of and that can effectively deliver the results our customers expect. The true value of Applelec is the knowledge my colleagues have, from our sales teams to our fabricators, everyone does a great job. As a medium-sized manufacturing company in the north of England, we are also really proud to have grown over recent years and to have created new jobs in the region.



Key stats

• 1998 Ian Drinkwater took over Applelec
• 80 employees at Applelec
• 18,880sq ft of production space
• 370 sign projects completed per month (not including LED Light Sheet activities)

For the full interview go to www.signlink.co.uk and search ‘Armitage’.



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