Business

It Has To Be Brilliant calls itself a ‘pioneering cross-media production agency’ that does everything from web design, digital campaigns, bespoke photography, illustration and graphic design through to print and installation of ‘creative environments and exhibitions’ as well as packaging, direct mail, promotional goods.., oh, and now it sells cakes…and houses and… other stuff. Sounds like diversification gone mad? I put that exact question directly to founder and MD Simon Tabelin.

By Lesley Simpson

Wallpaper print specialist john mark is doing rather well by providing an innovative service. So could any printer with large-format digital capability follow suit?

To most business owners, selling a business is uncharted territory, and there are many pitfalls along the way. But, with his vast experience in selling - and buying - print businesses for clients, Paul Holohan leads you through this quagmire.

News of an MBO at North-East-based Simpsons Group came in February. The move saw well-known chairman Mark Simpson and his shareholding brother and sister exit the business formed in 1972 by Bill Simpson. Bill McNally (MD) and John Quinn (finance director) have stayed on to “lead the new management team through a period of transition” but in August the new management team takes over. So how will an MBO affect what was a family business? I asked new commercial director Mark Jerrard.

By Lesley Simpson

Digital Tyger is really one-man-band Chris Pitts. He doesn’t print, but he works with those that do - and with customers they might not otherwise reach - to deliver creative printed interiors. But could closer working relationships extend that market?

Wondering about employing a mentor and how to get the best out of them? Colin Thompson, managing partner at Cavendish academy and long time mentor, explains how to do just that.

Heard of Brief Cases? It’s a model for co-operation between academia and industry, to ensure the right talent gets to the right jobs. Its founder Veronica Heaven wants large-format print companies to get involved, so should you?

The first Pure Digital event will take place in Amsterdam in April. Organised by former Fespa men and InPrint founders Frazer Chesterman and Marcus Timson of FM Brooks, it aims to ‘excite the European creative industry with truly innovative digitally printed applications.’ Great idea, but will it work, and should you be involved? Here’s what Chesterman had to say…

By Lesley Simpson

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into effect on 25 May 2018. It applies to any business that has control over personal data, and those that process personal data on behalf of another business. If you’re not already compliant, this is how to become so.

Are PSPs in the large-format sector likely to flourish in 2018? That very question is being asked in our annual Widthwise poll, but being impatient to provide you with a grassroots point of view going into the new year I asked Signbox MD Mark Bartlett for his take on the situation.

By Lesley Simpson

Imaginators is giving itself a year from the installation of a Durst Rho 512R to increase turnover 20%. So is it all about that machine’s speed and flexibility?

Want to get your print possibilities in front of more creatives? Then get on the conference circuit. Don’t panic! There are strategies to help you conquer your fear of pubic speaking. Trainer and coach John Scarrott explains.

As a company specialising in all kinds of portable displays, including banner stands, exhibition stands and fabric displays, PrintDesigns knows a thing or two about how important offline marketing remains to companies and to consumers - despite the digital revolution. But co-founder Mark Thompson also expects more integration between the two as he outlines here.

How one Portsmouth-based start-up is ‘refreshing’ interiors with self adhesive vinyls - and how it could be creating opportunity for large-format PSPs.