STUART MORRIS S
quality and the ability to turn around large scale orders. “Our real specialism is household textiles – aprons, tea towels, bags. The majority of our customers are within the heritage sector, although the production of fundraising textiles for schools is a significant part of the business,” Stuart says. The companyʼs brochures include a dedicated school brochure, as well as product and promotional brochures. “Weʼve worked with English Heritage for nearly 20 years,” Stuart tells me. “We also do quite a lot of work for mail order catalogues – including Museum Selection, which grew out of the Past Times company. We also do quite a lot of work for Scotts of Stow.” Itʼs clear that artistic ability is a thread running throughout the company. According to Stuart, the strength is in having an in-house design studio, with a team of talented illustrators led by Diz Andrews. “Design is king,” said Stuart. “Design, quality of product and service at the right price. I mustnʼt blow our own trumpet but we do produce some beautiful work.”
ouvenirs available from the former Royal Yacht Britannia are a classic example of the quality of work produced by Stuart Morris. To its credit, the company was recently
commissioned to produce the design for a new Royal Yacht Britannia dinner service, which is being manufactured in Stoke on Trent. “Although our work is mostly textiles, there are spin-offs into ceramics,” Stuart adds. “Our real forte, however, is textiles and one of our key products is silk scarves.” He shows me some exquisite examples that are available for sale at many of the countryʼs top heritage attractions. When a design is popular – for example, a complex Celtic knot design in vibrant red – it will be reproduced for years. Stuart also shows me another beautiful scarf that references Botticelliʼs Primavera painting and another that was designed for the Royal Academy of Art.
Such is the reputation of the design team that the company is frequently approached to undertake the design element alone. “A lot of our trading relationships have been built up over the years and have been built on trust,” says Stuart. Often the designer will make a site visit to research an historic home or castle, before coming up with a design. An example is the late Sir Winston Churchillʼs family home, Chartwell, in Kent.
The resulting tea towel design features all of the elements that Churchill loved about the house, from his favourite garden seat, to his cat.
The company is also keen to foster new talent and has recently taken on its first apprentice. Although her role is mainly admin, she has expressed an interest in screen printing, which Stuart
www.printwearandpromotion.co.uk is keen to cultivate.
Having recently expanded into a new unit, Stuart opted to equip it with an MHM carousel and the latest, state of the art Tesoma dryer.
Reliability is essential and for Stuart, MHM topped the shopping list. “They are really good quality machines, which donʼt give us any trouble. Weʼve got two jumbo carousels – one is six colour, eight stations, the other is eight colour, 10 stations, which weʼve just installed in the new unit. We also have a smaller one for T shirts and bags. “The MHM machines have been so good – they hold their registration really well.”
The latest MHM carousel and new
Tesoma Drylight gas dryer represent an £80,000 investment. But Stuart considers it money well spent. “I had an Advance dryer to start with, then I replaced it with the Adelco, and then I replaced it with the Tesoma, which was supplied by MHM,” continues Stuart. “Itʼs definitely a bit of a beast. Itʼs very well built – a bit of really high quality German engineering.” The Tesoma Drylight is suitable for drying plastisols, water-based inks, solvent-based inks and for other applications. And the running cost and gas consumption of the Drylight is said to be “lower than any other dryer in the market”.
T
The emissions and carbon footprint are also low, making it environmentally sound. Running costs were a major consideration for Stuart. “When youʼre looking for a new dryer, you donʼt want it to consume masses of gas and electricity. Itʼs got to be very well insulated. Itʼs got to be reliable. And itʼs got to get air going through the textile to get that bake power. Itʼs no good just applying heat. You need that airflow to get through the fabric.”
he dryer has been designed so that heat does not escape, which helps to improve running costs. And, according to Stuart, the “bake” is quicker and better. A difference that you can really feel in the end product. In the short time since it was commissioned, the Tesoma appears to have ticked all the right boxes. “It feels like the real deal,” says Stuart. “We were doing very long hours here and the second unit has given me more flexibility in terms of output. I also have the capacity for doing more colours now and it will be ideal for the larger scale orders.”
As I leave, I ask Stuart about the companyʼs philosophy and for once, it isnʼt all about “money, money, money”, he tells me. “The quality of product and great service are more important.” And it shows.
n For more information visit:
www.stuartmorris.co.uk www.mhmdirect.co.uk
TOP: The new MHM carousel in Stuart Morris’s second production unit which was commissioned in November. MIDDLE: The Tesoma Drylight gas dryer which was supplied by MHM. BOTTOM: The beautiful artwork for the Chartwell tea towel.
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