Very Displays: Your Behind-the-Scenes Trade Printer

Very Displays was founded in 2017 by the Cox family and owners of Trifibre, a specialist in flight cases, storage, and transport solutions. Identifying a gap in the market for a trade-only portable display supplier of high-quality hardware, Very Displays was born – specialising in textile printing and supported with a strong focus on customer service and customer relationships.

The business was up and running by 2018 with its first container having been delivered. Today, Very Displays imports over 100 40ft containers and is made up of a team of 40 across its office, warehouse, print department, and Asia team.

Operating from a large trade print facility and a 25,000sq ft warehouse in Market Harborough, Leicestershire, Very Display’s print facility houses 3.2m-wide Agfa, d-gen, D, and EFI VUTEk printers. This enables the company to print on stretch polyester, flag knit, backlit, grey back, and pop-up PVC.

The warehouse has 1,250 pallet locations enabling the business to keep large stock holding of all hardware. Separate from the warehouse is the offices which are housed over 2,500sq m and two floors. Sales, marketing, finance, product development, and supply chain are all based in the office as well as Very’s product showroom which is open to customers.

Steady Growth

Senior manager, Andy Elliott, has been in the print and sign industry since 1999 and this is his 25th year working in the portable display and large-format printing sector.

“Part of our ethos is steady growth,” explains Elliott. “So, as we grow in capacity, we invest in our teams to support this. In 2024 already we’ve increased our print team by three to ensure we are providing the best trade print service we can and the best customer experience, first time around!

“We have also employed two more sales team members to help manage our accounts, ensuring we are able to deal with all queries and orders quickly. We believe we have vast scope to increase the number of staff as we continue to scale up year on year.”

Since its inception seven years ago, Very Displays has gone through several stages, especially having been hit by the Covid-19 pandemic in year three of business. Elliott describes how the company has spent the last few years following this period having to adapt, stabilising the business, growing its teams, and selectively expanding the ranges Very predicted to be the next big trend for its customers.

“For example, our Tube Fabric Displays, where we heavily invested in fabric printing and finishing, expanded into an easy portable modular tube offering and focused our marketing around the product – it’s now a bestseller for us,” Elliott says.

A Customer-first Ethos

Being a “behind-the-scenes” trade partner, Elliott explains that Very Display’s focus is to listen to its customers’ requirements and support their business needs. Therefore, the business is guided by several values such as being strictly trade only; being considerate over forceful by listening first, selling second; and only visiting or calling customers where there is value to be added – no hassling!

Other values the company follows include providing support over the hard sell; providing an efficient and personal approach with mutual respect by providing each customer with a dedicated account manager; and a promise to respond to all customers in two hours.

Very Displays also offers stable and transparent pricing with only one price list a year; incorporates a flexible day-to-day approach, looking to do everything it can to help; and engrains sustainability and improvement every step of the way.

A Full Offering

Describing the services Very Displays offers to the print and signage industries, Elliott says: “Whether it’s one roller banner or multiple display solutions, we’re here to help. With years of combined experience and knowledge of the industry, we’ve selected a mix of the most efficient and effective display products to add value to businesses and in turn increase profit.

“Now in our seventh year of trading we’re sticking to what we know and what we do well, so our customers can trust our offering. We sell promotional favourites at competitive prices, such as Tube Display Walls, Roller Banners, Pop Ups, Gazebos, Flags, and Café Barriers.”

Now in our seventh year of trading we’re sticking to what we know and what we do well, so our customers can trust our offering

Very Displays also provides hardware solutions and offers large-format trade printing and finishing in-house, ensuring its customers never have to turn an order down. The company also supports with marketing material, from imagery and videos to unbranded seller guides, making it as easy and seamless as possible for its customers to sell and fulfil portable display orders.

Having put a real focus on “departmental synchronicity”, Elliott says that when you walk into Very Displays now, you can feel a real buzz with phones ringing, keyboards tapping, and printers at full steam. He describes the warehouse as “in a constant flow, picking, packing, and unloading containers”.

This focus on ensuring the departments are working in sync has ensured teams are talking, sharing, and collaborating. “We need to be in sync to achieve our main objection of customer fulfilment and satisfaction,” Elliott says. adding: “We love to have a laugh as a team which gives a great relaxed feeling in the business as well as SO many brews being made!

“Day to day you will find our sales team on the phone with customers; marketing designing and making us do silly Instagram trends; and our product development guru creating CAD drawings of new products. Days are varied here and we all work together to just get the work done!”

Adapting Quickly

When quizzed on what he is most proud of about Very Displays, Elliott says it’s the teams the company has developed over the years and being influential in seeing the teams grow, as well as individuals achieving their potential and the atmosphere that’s been developed.

Secondly, Elliott highlights the way the company adapted during the Covid-19 pandemic, describing this time as “sink or swim time for everyone”. Adapting to the changing circumstances, the team predicted the products customers would require, from face masks to outdoor wayfinding and signage.

When the government announced they were going to encourage outdoor hospitality, Very instantly placed large orders for gazebos, café barriers, and outdoor displays to capitalise on the opportunity.
“These decisions kept the business going,” he says. “There was zero demand for bestsellers such as Tube Displays and Pop Ups during Covid-19 so when they eventually came back in 2022, we were relieved to say the least!”

Another challenge posed by the Covid-19 pandemic for Very was the way the team reached its customers due to home working and the furlough scheme. This meant the company had to act quickly in how it contacted its customers, but also in what it could offer to help.

“We could no longer do site visits and lots of products wouldn’t be needed in lockdown. Essentially, we had to change and evolve in the circumstances we were in. That being said, we quickly adjusted to digital communication, selecting the right product mix and offering the support our customers required in that really tough time.

“The post-Covid world was also initially tricky with an uncertainty on how and when the industry would bounce back, but we are beyond proud of the team and how the business has recovered and thankfully the industry.”

An Exciting Future

With that said, Elliott says his favourite thing about Very Displays is the potential. Having developed the business successfully so far, he notes that there is still so much growth that can be achieved and new goals to be met.

“We’re aiming to do what we do the best we can and to continue striving to improve and benefit the industry and our customer base,” Elliott says, adding: “With the company structure, the team, and the way we operate, we believe it gives us an exciting future to keep growing, react quickly, and be able to try new things without too many barriers in place. The possibilities could be endless!”

Looking to the future, what does Very Displays have in its locker? “To put it simply, we want to continue our steady and controlled growth and keep adding value to the industry with innovation and development,” Elliott says.

“To improve efficiency, we plan to get the whole company under one roof in a new premises in the future, as well as improving our e-commerce to make buying for our repeat customers simple and easy. Watch this space on this one!”

Elliott adds: “We will continue to work and tweak our offering and evolve based on customer needs; introducing new marketing support required, new products, improved processing, and importantly continue our work on our sustainability efforts.”