The Big Interview
Give me five! L
ike many businesses in the UK, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 proved pivotal for Papergraphics. It was very much a case of do or die for many. Many print service providers turned to other markets to maintain their profits and to stay afloat, most notably turning their hand to garment decoration as an extra revenue stream.
Many of Papergraphics’ large format customers were already pretty handy with a heat press and so expanding into the garment decoration market, along with their customers, made perfect sense. When the pandemic hit, it was Alistair Travis who was tasked with finding out how viable this new and exciting market was for Papergraphics, and if his findings proved fruitful to form the new garment print division.
Thankfully, Alistair had a starting point in this market, for he had kept in touch with Andrea Sottana, now the sales director of Italian manufacturer of heat transfer vinyls B-Flex, from when Andrea had previously worked in the large format sector.
Alistair Travis and Marcus Hack form the new garment printing division at Papergraphics
With nearly four decades of experience in the large format sector, Papergraphics has used the last 12 months to get to grips with, and expand into, the lucrative garment decoration market. P&P editor Melanie Attlesey finds out more.
“B-Flex is a great company and manufactures great heat transfer vinyl films for the personalisation of garments, but for some reason had never made it into the UK. I asked Andrea about the possibility of Papergraphics becoming their UK distributor and the rest is history,” explains Alistair.
B-Flex’s heat transfer vinyl films are available in a range of colours
The team at B-Flex recommended before even considering to sell any vinyl or building a customer base that Alistair invest in a conversion machine so the imported rolls of vinyl could be cut down into metre lengths – the perfect size for customers. So, after taking their advice, a £35,000 Nepata film converting machine was installed at the beginning of 2021.
Off the back of this investment, Alistair was put in touch with Nepata’s sister company Secabo, a German manufacturer of heat presses. The team at Secabo were more than happy for Papergraphics to become a distributor in the UK, so coupled with B-Flex’s range of heat transfer vinyls, Alistair was now armed with a respectable offering to present to potential customers. And with the help of Marcus Hack, who joined the garment division last year, Alistair now has just over 12 months of sales under his belt.
What’s in the range?
At any one time, Papergraphics has around £30,000 worth of vinyl rolls in stock in the Crawley warehouse. Products arrive from Italy in around four to five days and if ordered by 5.15pm can be with customers the very next day.
| 42 | May 2022
www.printwearandpromotion.co.uk
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