Vivid’s purpose-built 30,000sq ft premises in Ashby De La Zouch
Sign Update editor, Melanie Attlesey, fired some quick questions at Vivid Laminating Technologies’ commercial director, Lewis Evans, to find out more about the company’s latest product developments and growth plans for the future.
Q. Could you provide our readers with a little background on Vivid?
A. My father Martin set the business up in 1987, over 37 years ago. The first product developed was the Easymount laminating system, which we designed ourselves. It was this product which really put Vivid on the map. We won awards across the globe for this system and it remains one of our best-selling ranges. Around 2009 we launched the Matrix system, which we again won multiple awards for and sold a few thousand worldwide. More recently we have developed the Veloblade range, which adds huge value to a product or sign and enables it to be sold for a premium. We have just bagged our fourth award for this product, so things are going well! That takes us up to the present day where we have more plans for big ventures in the pipeline.
My grandfather was also involved in the business at the beginning. At one point all three of us were working in the business together. We have a number of staff that have been with us for 20 to 30 years, which we consider family friends. We are a very close team and I think that’s one of our biggest strengths.
Q. What area of expertise do you specialise in?
A. In a nutshell, we specialise in R&D, in-house manufacturing and patents for a variety of award-winning finishing systems for the sign industry.
Q. You recently attended drupa. How did you find your time at the exhibition and what did you gain from exhibiting?
The Vivid team pictured at drupa. Lewis Evans is fourth from the left
A. We had a really great time trying to capture a new audience overseas. We currently export to over 50 countries at the moment and we are currently looking to strengthen in those countries and expand. It is looking like exhibiting was a massive success in that respect.
We felt that there were maybe less visitors than the previous drupa eight years ago, but those that we saw were of a higher quality. I would argue that there were more buyers and more people looking to partner with us and do business with us. I think this could also be down to the fact that our profile has grown massively in the last eight years, where people now know us globally.
It’s a great show and it never fails to disappoint.
Q. Could you tell our readers about the recently launched Veloton, which made its debut at drupa, and what makes this system stand out in the market?
Vivid’s stand at drupa
A. The Veloton is a retrofitted attachment that goes onto a Veloblade. When you add the Veloton onto the Veloblade it enables products to be finished up to 10 times quicker whether that’s rolls of stickers or sheets of labels. It can be really timesaving, which in turn means more profit per job and you can get more jobs completed in a shorter space of time. Any design that has got certain shapes or artwork on rolls of vinyl or rolls of media, the Veloton can finish it.
There is no other product out there in the market like it. Every other cutter is cutting with one head, whereas with the Veloton you can add up to seven heads. Just think, if you can cut seven shapes at a time as opposed to one over a 50m roll of vinyl, that’s a lot of time saved! It’s also very affordable – just a few jobs put through the Veloton and you’ve paid for the attachment.
The Veloton garnered a hell of a lot of interest at drupa. People wanted to know exactly what it did and how it would save them time and money, which we were more than happy to show them.
Q. Did you launch any other product innovations at drupa?
A. At drupa we also showcased the Velotaper and our Zip Core design suite. These products were again very popular among visitors as they save people a lot of time in their businesses. Another hit at the exhibition was the Easymount Hybrid Laminator. This is a laminator and mounting table, 2-in-1. It’s got patented roll-to-roll hover technology, which again saves users a lot of time.
Q. What are your thoughts on the sign making and wide format print industry at this moment in time?
A. We’ve just had some internal signage updated here and it looks amazing. I think there are so many fabric designs and materials that you can offer now and that has really changed the dynamic of the industry.
For us, our Veloblade sales are showing that it is a really strong market – one which we value a lot.
We have found that a lot of companies are looking to take back control and bring their wide format printing in-house. They are wanting to do all of the printing and all of the finishing themselves. This again shows strength and positivity in the market.
Q. Have you been involved with any exciting projects recently? If so, could you tell our readers a bit more about them?
The Veloton is one of Vivid’s most recent patented product innovations
A. Our products are doing wonderful things for a lot of businesses all over the country and all over the world. A lot of big brands and designers are having work done on our Veloblades.
Within the last 12 months, we’ve done a really big install at the Royal Mail. They wanted to do a lot more packaging in-house and so purchased four Veloblades from us to be able to produce that. They have put a few million pieces through the equipment already. That’s been a massive success. A real showcase of just how well our machines are made.
Q. What plans for the future do you have? Any other exciting product launches in the pipeline?
The Veloton is a retrofitted attachment that goes onto a Veloblade
A. The plan every year is to grow. We are currently exploring ways in which to extend our building further, this is something that we are discussing quite seriously. We have a 30,000sq ft premises in Ashby De La Zouch, with a showroom, manufacturing and R&D all under one roof. It was purpose-built for us and we moved in 2017. As the range grows, we are going to need somewhere to display it all!
We are also looking to go wider with the Veloblade. We have just carried out some installs of our 3.2m wide version, and may even go wider than that – maybe up to 5m!
Q. Where do you see the business in five years’ time?
The Veloton garnered interest at drupa
A. Good question! I’d like to see us stronger in the UAE, Australia and America over the next five years. The export side of the business is very strong now, but I definitely see potential for us to grow that area, and grow alongside the UK market.
Q. Do you have any advice that you would like to share with our readers?
A. At Vivid we always take some time out of each week to work on the business. The team gets together to bounce ideas of each other to try and grow the business, to not get too bogged down in the nitty gritty details. Everyone gets a massive buzz if they come up with an idea that can be turned into something useable, and we can make money from it and our customers can make money and save time from it. It’s really, really rewarding.
