All fired up!

The reason why event and retail display graphics specialist Silver Bullet Services Group chose its name is obvious says MD Matthew Kingsford: “The dictionary defines a ‘Silver Bullet’ as the solution to a difficult and intractable problem and that’s what we offer to our customers”.

Over the last four years Silver Bullet (www.sbsg.co.uk) has grown into a thriving, European-wide print management company that specialises in providing a one-stop service for all the promotional and graphics items that you may need for an exhibition stand or event. Combining its in-house creative and production services with a rosta of preferred suppliers, Silver Bullet manages everything from branded clothing, pens and gift giveaways to inflatables, signage and leaflets. It also designs, produces and installs vehicle livery and wraps, retail graphics, retail displays and interior graphics, from wall coverings and graphics to freestanding display units and POS materials.

The company’s strong focus on customer care has attracted some well-known customers, including energy drinks company Monster Energy. “We produce a lot of event material for Monster Energy, often within tight deadlines,” says Kingsford. A recent high-profile event was the Monster Energy rig at the MotoGP in Le Mans in May for which Silver Bullet produced event graphics (go to http://tinyurl.com/bq7sd9b to see some of these in action). “We welcome any brief - the more challenging the better - and like to come up with creative ideas and solutions.” 

Silver Bullet has just opened its first ‘walk-in’ wide-format print shop and installed one of the UK’s first Epson SureColor SC-S30600 inkjet printers in Sandy, Bedfordshire. “It’s always been our ambition to open a chain of print shops and take control of digital print services in-house,” says Kingsford. “We want the best of both worlds: the ability to produce some fast turnaround, high-quality signage products in-house, while still working with our partners to supply litho and screen print. In addition to servicing major retail clients with European-wide projects, we can now also provide a service to smaller local companies on a walk-in basis.”

The shop in Sandy is the first of a network of large-format digital print walk-in centres that Silver Bullet will be rolling out over the coming months and intends to franchise. Kingsford worked closely with Spandex, one of the UK’s largest suppliers to the sign and display industry, to suggest the best equipment to produce quality pop-ups, pull-ups, vehicle livery and large graphics. “They strongly recommended the new Epson SureColor SC-S30600 for its versatility, reliability, productivity and quality,” explains Kingsford. “These criteria are essential to the walk-in concept.  We often don’t know what the next job is until the customer comes through the door, so we need a printer we can rely on to produce high-quality work, quickly, on a wide range of media. We are really impressed with the SureColor, it scores on all counts and we already planning to buy a second.”

Spandex supplied the 64in (162.6cm), four-colour, roll-fed Epson SureColor inkjet printer to SBSG along with an Onyx Rip, Summa plotter and laminator. “Spandex is a perfect partner for us. They know our business very well and give us a lot of support. They handle everything, from recommending, installing and integrating the hardware and software to providing full training, after care and consumables supply,” says Kingsford.

“At Spandex we pride ourselves in being able to provide complete solutions that fully meet the application needs of our customers. This can only be achieved by working closely with leading industry suppliers such as Epson. As always, we will continue to work closely with our customers to ensure they have the right tools to be effective and profitable, even in the most competitive markets” says Leon Watson, Spandex general manager UK.

Launched earlier this year, the Epson SureColor SC-S30600 sets a new price/performance ratio in a highly competitive sector, delivering efficient, environmentally-friendly production at the lowest total cost of ownership. The printer is targeted at print providers, signmakers, digital copy shops and repro centres seeking to expand their service offering. It will produce everything from posters, signs, banners, backlit panels and POS displays to vehicle wraps, interior decorations, and exhibition displays. The SureColor SC-S30600 supports a wide variety of media, including vinyl, PVC and clear film, photographic paper and popular banner substrates.

The SureColor went into full production at Silver Bullet shortly after delivery in July and hasn’t stopped since. Epson has designed the new printer to be fast and easy to set up and use. Loading heavy media rolls, usually a two-person job, can be handled by one operator with ease thanks to a unique jack device. Media tensioning, traditionally only accessible from the front of the printer, is controllable from both front and rear, so operators do not waste time going back and forth. This reduces set-up time and maximises productivity.

The job batch capability of the Onyx Rip also helps maximise efficiency and media use. “It’s in our interest to waste as little time and media as possible and this is a useful feature of this excellent Rip, along with its colour management functions,” explains Kingsford.

Silver Bullet uses the SureColor to print a wide spectrum of clear, opaque and self-adhesive film, vinyls, PVC, textile and papers for standard and pull-up/pop-up banners, vehicle livery, general graphics and soft signage. Kingsford praises the machine for its “superb” image quality thanks to a maximum quality mode that exploits the printer’s full resolution of 1440 x 1440dpi. He is also impressed by its maximum speed of 29.4m2/hr on outdoor banners. “Since the printer arrived it’s handled several large runs comfortably and we are producing about 200m2 a day on average. We have left it running unattended all night on occasions, which shows the confidence we have in the machine.”

The company is not resting on its laurels. Alongside plans to open more ‘walk-in’ shops soon (although Kingsford won’t say where these will be yet), an online shop selling a range of personalised gift products and wallpaper is currently under development. “This is another logical step for us and will complement the service we provide to our trade and consumer customers and broaden our reach still further,” says Kingsford. “We already produce a lot of bespoke wallpaper and it is definitely an area with a lot of potential.”

Silver Bullet is a company with huge amounts of energy and ambition. Its creative flair is even reflected in its new shop! The company commissioned Frank Louis Allen, a partially sighted progressive artist and designer, to draw a stunning abstract design on one wall. “It reflects our fun side,” smiles Kingsford.

Silver Bullet can be contacted via email: info@sbsg.co.uk or tel: 01767 680035. Follow it on Twitter @SBSGltd and on Facebook @ SBSG Limited.

For information about Epson please go to: www.epson.co.uk.  Follow it on Twitter @EpsonUK

You can also go to: http://www.facebook.com/franklouisallen