< < < < < < < < < < < < BADGEMASTER / COMPANY PROFILE
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UNDERPINNING 24 YEARS OF BADGE MAKING EXCELLENCE
This January, Badgemaster celebrate a colossal 24 years in business. We catch up with founder John Bancroft MBE, to find out the ways Badgemaster remains at the fore in badge making.
F
rom humble beginnings of a set up in the back of a portacabin to a dedicated multi million pound badge making business, the up
and coming birthday of 24 years marks the staggering journey for Badgemas- ter to become the UK’s leading British badge manufacturer. The big birthday, which the
company will celebrate this January, is a fantastic opportunity to mark just how far the business has come. From their single self-sufficient manufacturing site in Nottingham, Badgemaster service over 20,000 accounts, processing on average 5,000 orders per week. Founder John Bancroft MBE, has driven the business forward with a very clear vision of what he and Vicky, his wife and co-director, want the business to be. He says: “From the very beginning, I saw an opportunity in badges. They are at the backbone of every great customer facing
business in the UK. Badges
serve a practical function of helping customers get to know a company’s staff, and are also essential for helping a company’s brand equity. I was certain there was an opportunity to be explored – not only in supplying initial rollouts of badges but also in terms of ongoing supply and service. We didn’t want to be A badge company, we wanted to be THE badge company.” This inherent focus on continual
customer service and long term relationships is something that is still very much at the core of the business as it stands today, and John remembers fondly the challenges posed to him by so many as he chose to move into this market. He says: “So many people questioned the business model – an entirely bespoke, labour intensive item with a low retail value is not good
business sense on paper. When you consider manufacture, logistics and postage, no one could understand how making badges was going to make me any money.” The
value John saw, was in
the long term reliability of being a badge supplier in what was a very underserviced market at the time and today despite opening new accounts daily, conscious efforts are also driven into maintaining existing accounts to ensure the consistent year-on-year growth the business has benefited from. On an average day, Badgemaster’s customer service team are fielding responses to 30-40 enquiries, with 150+ orders processed per day – a colossal volume for the team of staff on site. The beauty of a contained all-encompassing production facility on the one site means a unique ability to control and monitor all aspects of the business as an entity, from design right through to postage of the final product. The same process is applicable to businesses of single staff figures, right up to the big orders for thousands.
Continued growth and investment Much can change in 24 years
– not least of all the technology and resources available both in day to day business systems and also manufacturing. Compare the initial business operating with no email or internet and basic machinery, to a fully bespoke website ordering system and millions of pounds invested in high-spec manufacturing technology currently on site at Badgemaster. The growth of the business is described as truly organic – with slow and steady growth consistently year on year, and facilities and resources expanding in tandem with success to accommodate further growth.
Most recently in 2011, the company made a significant investment in American technology which allows highly controlled application and creation of acrylic domed finishes – one of only three machines of its kind understood to be operating in the UK which is supported by laboratory regulation conditions to ensure total control in product finish. This latest technology allows a badge to be domed, cured and set in under a minute – a phenomenal comparison to previous alternative methods which can take up to 22 hours. Since moving onto their current site in Newstead, Nottingham
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