Simon Osborne,
MD, Oasis Graphics
http://www.oasisgraphic.co.ukWhat’s having the greatest impact on your business at the moment?
Really it’s the volume of work we’re starting to see come in, which is all good news of course.
Where do you see the greatest wide-format opportunities?
For us mainly in building wrapping and retail graphics, which is a couple of areas we specialise in. We’re seeing some really creative briefs at the moment in these areas.
What would make your day-to-day operations easier?
We could do with a flatbed printer now. We’re in the process of researching the best fit for us and hope to purchase one early in 2015. Also, slightly longer deadlines would definitely help!
Your favourite bit of kit is..?
Our Vutek GS. It has its moments (like all machinery), but as it gets older it’s actually becoming more reliable weirdly. When we first had it some days it wasn’t even switched on, however now it’s never idle and we can push projects through very quickly.
What’s the best bit of business advice you’ve been given?
Don’t believe all you read! The country now seems to be slowly emerging from the financial doldrums, but during the real lows I don’t think the media helped and I felt they were scare-mongering. We bought our first Vutek just as the recession hit which was stressful to say the least, but in all honesty we didn’t find the situation as bad as the papers portrayed it.
What are you most proud of achieving?
Our expansion into retail graphics and wide-format print in general. We are given some really beautiful graphics to print these days and are proud to see our work displayed in so many prestigious places
What lesson does the wide-format sector need to learn?
I think sometimes attention to detail can slip because of the scale of the print produced. We scrutinise everything we print and if it’s not up to scratch it goes in the bin and we reproduce it. In the long run it saves time and money because a rejected print on site is far more costly to resolve in time, money and reputation.