KGK Genix has a number of well-known brands in its portfolio and is known for its creative and forward-thinking approach. Carys Evans speaks with Sarah Davis, group marketing director to find out more.
An award-winning family-run business, KGK Genix has been servicing the print and sign markets for over 20 years. The company provides visual marketing solutions for a variety of markets including retail, building and construction, events and exhibitions, hospitality, museums and attractions, leisure, corporate, and sports.
For these sectors, KGK Genix produces everything from retail design and graphics, visual merchandising, window displays, exhibition stands, building wraps, signage, and bespoke printed wallpaper, to light boxes and illuminated displays, construction site hoardings, pop-up shops and retail booths, floor graphics, logo design, branding development, and illustration and graphic design.
KGK Genix also provides a range of services specifically for the sign industry such as internal and external construction site hoardings, shop front signs, illuminated signs, bespoke branding, totem signs, and more.
This vast array of work is all done by over 60 members of staff across three sites. The 140sq m Design and Client Services site is located in Central London; the 616sq m Design and Production site is situated in Thundridge, Hertfordshire; and the 1,115sq m Artwork and Production site is in Harlow, Essex.
The KGK Genix story began over 20 years ago when Ken Pitts, father of the Pitts family recognised a gap in the market for a large-format print supplier that was capable of operating to the service levels of an advertising business.
Sarah Davis, group marketing director of the company explains how at that time Pitts struggled to locate a printing operator in this market that provided a service with high deliver criteria and quality standards, so together with his wife Gail and their three sons Graham, David, and Daniel, founded KGK Print.
Following this, the company was introduced to Genix Imaging as a client and Pitts recognised that whilst the London-based business had a strong portfolio, it lacked the production resource to fulfil demand. As a result, a strategic partnership was formed which married Genix’s sales expertise with KGK’s production capabilities and in 2014 KGK Print acquired Genix Imaging.
Five years later and the group rebranded to KGK Genix in 2019 to reflect the combined skills of the two brands and following Ken and Gail’s retirement, Graham stepped into the role of group managing director. David Pitts, Matt Walsh, and Mark Wicker head up operational management roles at each site with the leadership team supported by a wider leadership and operational board.
Fast forward to today and with creative design at the forefront of its operation, KGK Genix has a number of well-known brands such as Superdry, the national History Museum, craft beer brand Beavertown, Calvin Klein, Nike, TikTok, and more within its portfolio.
KGK Genix has evolved into a multidisciplinary agency providing creative, print, project management, and installation solutions
Reflecting on how the business has evolved and grown since it was founded, Davis says: “KGK Genix has evolved into a multidisciplinary agency providing creative, print, project management, and installation solutions. We’re proud to create graphics and display solutions for some of the world’s biggest brands and retailers such as Nike, Superdry, Kier, Selfridges, and Apple."
“Our clients choose us because of our ability to turn a limited brief into a creative concept and display activation that blows their socks off. Our creative team work hard to understand our client brands, fully immersing themselves into their style guides, learning how to develop and push the boundaries in order to deliver amazing results. We pride ourselves on creative ideas, great communication, and a resounding commitment to deliver a fantastic result, every time.”
According to Davis, KGK Genix’s core values provide the guiding principles that shape the company’s culture, inspire its employees, and help to determine the brand. These core values are commitment, creativity, reliability, and passion.
“We strive to generate superior value and service for our clients; we use our combined talents for imagination and original ideas to create exciting solutions; our clients trust in our ability to perform consistently well; and our drive to combine our innovative ideas and high-quality delivery in producing a successful business,” Davis says.
One example of work produced for a high-profile brand is for Superdry’s Neymar Jnr. X Organic Cotton campaign. The clothing brand needed help from KGK Genix to launch its new organic cotton essentials women’s and men’s underwear and sleepwear ranges featuring global football icon Neymar Jr.
This launch featured installations in Superdry’s London flagship store and two additional stores in Paris which formed part of the brand’s #growfuturethinking campaign. The brief for KGK Genix was to produce a display that wouldn’t look out of place in an art gallery. The company worked with Superdry’s in-house creative team to develop a number of options which they presented in the form of 3D visualisations and technical production drawings.
To bring the brief to life at the London Regent Street store, KGK Genix sourced sections of driftwood that was adapted as clothes rails to hang the cotton T-shirts from. A monotone theme was settled on as it made the best use of the campaign imagery. Large sustainable fabric prints were framed and suspended from the ceiling in front of bespoke-made regency panels with the display finished with gold vinyl decals on the windows.
The challenge in Paris was slightly different as the store staff were asked to install themselves. Because of this KGK Genix adapted the design to feature a freestanding frame to sit in front of a modular Regency backdrop to be fixed onto the back wall. Another frame was constructed for the hanging rail and cut vinyl decals were supplied for the glass.
Commenting on the project, Superdry’s VM field support manager, says: “KGK deliver again making this a key feature window in our flagship store, sourcing materials that weren’t readily available. It was delivered and installed during a tricky time in France due to lockdowns, yet we still delivered the schemes perfectly.
“This window was in place for quite a while and was easily adapted to suit our product in changing season. Great result and one that was posted on Neymar Jr’s personal social media too.”
Another example of a project KGK Genix has produced is for craft beer brand Beavertown for the branding of its Beaverworld office. The beer company wanted some colour injecting into its new purpose-built brewery in Enfield, Beaverworld and called upon KGK Genix to make this happen.
This job included decorating the offices, meeting rooms, corridors, and breakout spaces with the brand’s unique and colourful style. KGK Genix used images supplied from Beavertown’s creative team to produce and install over 230sq m of vinyl and digitally printed wallpaper to transform the space.
“KGK Genix is one of our most reliable partners, and one of the easiest companies to work with,” Beavertown says, adding: “With our brand and visual identity being a massive part of our mission it’s nice to be able to rely on them to consistently make us look great.”
Remaining successful and obtaining such an array of clients over two decades is something to be proud of on its own, however the success for KGK Genix doesn’t stop there. The company has bagged a number of awards from POPAI, the VM & Display Awards, and the UK Graphic Awards in the past couple of years.
One award Davis says the company is particularly proud to have won is the SME Hertfordshire ‘Business of the Year’ award which as a result also shortlists KGK Genix for the SME National Business Awards.
As well as scooping these accolades, KGK Genix has also developed and launched an exclusive range of ECO alternatives to traditional display materials. This range was launched at the 2022 edition of the VM & Display Show in April with a stand that was made from sustainable materials that could be recycled.
“It’s amazing what can be achieved with environmentally friendly materials and our stand was a great example of that,” Davis says, adding: “Our environmental focus has led to us being referred to as the ‘experts in the room’ for sustainable display solutions.”
KGK Genix has also recently implemented a new ECO recycling scheme by partnering with local high schools to supply waste off-cut materials that students can repurpose and upcycle in creative, design, and technology classes. Students are able to repurpose these materials and design and make other products, as part of their school classes and projects.”
Davis explains that this idea was formed and developed by KGK Genix’s operations director at Harlow, Matt Walsh. “We’re proud that members of our team are coming up with new recycling initiatives that benefit the business and those in the local area,” she adds.
This research and development with supply chain partners to expand its sustainable solutions and further develop its ECO product range will be a main focus for KGK Genix going into 2023 and beyond. Alongside this, Davis says the company plans for further acquisition and investment in green product machinery that delivers higher quality, multi-layer printing with reduced power consumption; and will also continue to develop its company culture to create a “desirable and exceptional place to work”.
