What’s having the greatest impact on your business at the moment?
Covid-19. Due to the lockdown we saw a downturn in turnover by 60% at the start of the second quarter. Luckily this was short-lived and the need for safety signage and floor graphics then kept us extremely busy. The pandemic is something we know we will survive but our concerns are with our smaller clients that we know are feeling the pinch.
​Where do you see the greatest wide-format opportunities?
We have seen a tremendous shift in the wide-format print industry in the past few years - moving from conventional signage type projects to bespoke branding opportunities such as unique digital wallcoverings, wall art and personalised decor. This led us to launch our ecommerce site www.houseofwalls.co.uk
What would make your day-to-day operations easier?
We aim to invest in new technology each financial year. Recent years have seen the installation of our Rollsroller flatbed applicator and last year our Summa F1612 flatbed cutter, both ensuring printed products are to the highest quality, cost effective to our clients and offer a quickest possible turnaround.
Your favourite bit of kit is..?
Finishing equipment is great but as our name suggests we love to print so has to be our printers. They are like our extended family and most days we spend more time with them then we do our actual families!
What’s the best bit of business advice you’ve been given?
The best advice I have been given is to look after your existing client base chasing new customers is great but not always the right approach to increase turnover. Keeping your clients happy that we’ve been working with for years is key. Offering them new and alternative products and medias, sample packs branded with their logo goes a long way.
What are you most proud of achieving?
The Print Hive all started in the back bedroom so to see how far the business has progressed over the past eight years is amazing. I have a great team behind me and they have the best kit on the market behind them.
What lesson does the wide-format sector need to learn?
How environmentally conscious we all need to be. Lockdown has enabled the environment to thrive again and I think this can be a lesson for our industry. People are becoming more aware and this should be reflected in print, whether more eco-friendly options being specified for print projects or more thought into where these printed products end up once their shelf-life has ended. Now is the time we should all be looking at greener processes.