When business partners Marcelle and Terry Woods first opened the doors of Kall Kwik in Chiswick High Road they never imagined that 30 years later they would be celebrating three decades of trading.
The design and print company was the first Kall Kwik centre in the country to reach £1m turnover and was voted the BAPC Quickprinter of the Year. From its early days mainly providing business cards, letterheads and a photocopying and fax bureau service to walk-in clients in the High Street, it now offers a comprehensive range of business solutions to local large corporate clients including broadcast giant BSkyB.
Today Kall Kwik Chiswick occupies industrial premises over three times larger and employs 12 people at their unit in Colville Road W3.
To celebrate the milestone, clients were given gifts of Prosecco and biscuits bearing the specially designed 30th anniversary logo. The business’ delivery van is also sporting smart new livery which incorporates the celebratory graphics.
Three of the employees have been with the company 17 years or more. Print manager Charlie Gray started 26 years ago as an apprentice. Then he swept the floor and made the tea – now he oversees work worth thousands of pounds. Centre manager Jonathan Bower has 21 years service and sales manager Neil Matheson has been with company for 17.
Said co-owner Terry Woods: “We’ve come a long way since 1984. In those days the fax was high tech, now very few youngsters even know what it is! Then we used Letraset instead of computers and Macs and digital printing wasn’t even on the horizon.
“Now digital makes up 30% of our business and over the years we have made significant investments in new digital printing and finishing equipment. Doing things like making large format posters and banners while clients wait is an everyday occurrence now in our industry, whereas in the 80s and 90s we would have had to send this kind of work out to specialists and it could take several weeks.
“But in many respects nothing has changed. The essentials remain exactly the same. We need to ensure that we continue to invest in the latest technology, develop our people and deliver a high level of quality and service to clients on time and to budget.
“I am immensely proud of the business that Marcelle and I have built here in Chiswick. We have a brilliant team of people working here and many of our clients have been with us for a very long time. We’re in a very competitive market but clients stay loyal to us because we consistently deliver an exceptionally high level of service and do out utmost to find a cost effective solution to whatever printing challenge they may have.”
Marcelle Woods added, “Neil and Jonathan have been at the core of this business for very many years and are well liked and respected by clients and staff and we are delighted to announce that they have both been promoted to directors; which will enable Kall Kwik Chiswick to continue to grow and prosper for the next 30 years!”
Kall Kwik Chiswick provides a complete design, print and fulfilment service to businesses of all sizes. It has built its reputation on delivering high quality communication solutions to its clients backed up by efficient project management that takes client projects from concept to completion with outstanding customer service.