Decorator Profile
having the other machines is that they are all loaded up with the alternatives, so that if somebody does walk in, we can generally fit the job on one of our machines.”
Learning your tools
After seeing the array of logos and designs the company embroiders, I asked Jenny about Springers’ relationship to digitisation, whether they do it in-house or outsource to an external digitiser. From this question, Jenny mentioned the importance of finding someone who works to your liking, if outsourcing is your preferred option. She said: “You’ve got to find somebody who works how you want it to be, because not all digitisers digitise it how you like it.” Jenny later added: “I do a lot myself, but I now outsource
Jenny using the Sprint 4
a lot because I can earn more money than the time it takes for me to do it myself. The only ones I don’t send away to be digitised are single colours that need carving on them because nobody’s going to know what you actually want. If you send a silhouette of something, you’ve got to imagine what the details are.”
It was clear from my conversation with Jenny that it is integral to find a balance between when to take matters into your own hands, and when to pass the task on.
An accidental introduction
It was interesting to learn that the company’s venturing into school uniform was entirely accidental, stemming from a conversation with a PTA asking to supply the uniform when someone else could not. The couple then became contract embroiderers for a local gentleman’s outfitters that supplied
Springers
co-owners Jenny Preston and Adrian Smith, with pet retired police dog Danny
school uniform, taking on some of the PTA’s schools when he retired. Since then, the company has been supplying school uniform to 11 primary schools.
Because of the unpredicted expansion, the couple had to think quick in order to remain efficient. Prior to this, they had been using three single heads including a, 15 needle embroidery machine. The 15 needle machine would be constantly going for weeks with just one school’s uniform on it because Jenny admitted she couldn’t embroider the logo on the other two embroidery machines as the design featured 14 colours. This was the final push the couple needed to purchase the Racer, from Printwear & Promotion LIVE! 2022. Jenny admitted: “I knew I wanted one, I had known I wanted one for ages, but it was space.” Well, it’s a good thing the couple took the plunge with the investment, because the
The 23-year-old Brother PR-600
Springers currently supplies uniform to 11 primary schools
request for school uniform has only been rising. Jenny spoke of the rise in school uniform purchasing and especially in the post-COVID era. Jenny described the rising trend in schools opting for hoodies and a changing attitude to retail. Jenny
said: “People’s attitude to buying has changed as well. Just post-COVID, basket prices went up massively. Instead of ordering two jumpers for the week, parents were ordering five jumpers so kids attended in fresh clothing every day.” As a result in rising basket prices, Jenny told me of the company’s increase in
turnover. She said: “We’re 60% up from last year, which was 50% up from the previous year, and we’ve been going like that since COVID.”
Thin Blue Paw Foundation
Aside from their work in schoolwear, Jenny and Adrian also have a hand in supplying embroidered garments for the charity, Thin Blue Paw Foundation, which was set up to support, celebrate and rehabilitate serving and retired police dogs. Given Jenny’s closely-formed relationship with police dogs through her previous line of work, and the couple’s adoption of Danny, an energetic and charismatic German shepherd cross Belgian Malinois and retired police dog, it was clear from the offset why the couple choose to work with the foundation.
Safe to say to the business will not be slowing down any time soon and is looking to a happy and successful future.
www.printwearandpromotion.co.uk October 2024 | 63 |
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