Decorator Profile
After a tricky start to 2020 supplying products at cost to charities and Sikh temples across Southall and Slough, Shivers was left wondering where the future of the business lay.
It was here that Shivers says the stars aligned for him.
The stars aligned
His two eldest children AJ, 25, and TJ, 23, were showing a growing interest in joining the business. Both had grown up watching their dad printing and embroidering, and had helped out collecting garments off the dryer, folding and bagging. AJ is fast-approaching completing a Master’s degree, while TJ is due to graduate from his Undergraduate degree this month. As anyone can imagine, both young men have spent the last year contemplating what to do next with their careers.
“2020 and the coronavirus pandemic demonstrated to AJ and TJ that this business was both lockdown proof and recession proof. I think this is what cemented it as a safe bet idea in their heads,” Shivers explains.
At the same time as this, Shivers was contacted by a local screen printer and embroiderer who told him that he was shutting his business of 30 years down, informing Shivers that his equipment was up for sale should he want to buy it. Shivers was at a crossroads, and was undecided at what to do. However, unbeknown to him his sons had already been discussing joining the business and wondering what they could do to take it to the next level.
Following this happy news, Shivers took it upon himself to negotiate the purchase of a four-year-old eight-head Tajima machine, which had hardly been used, along with
various other screen printing equipment from his fellow garment decorator. However, this was just the beginning and Shivers began to look at other forms of investment with his sons’ help. In January he purchased a Roland VersaSTUDIO BN-20 eco-solvent printer, which means the small team is now able to produce vinyl stickers, full colour digital transfers and banners. A first venture into direct to garment printing followed with the purchase of a brand new unused Ricoh Ri 1000 for half the price of what it should retail at, and a slightly used Ricoh Ri 6000, both from the same company. An Epson SC-F2100 is also on order. “The boys convinced me that the future is digital. DTG printing is all very new to us. However, I think screen printing is around to stay. It’s difficult to do 500 single-colour prints on a DTG machine,” says Shivers.
After this investment in equipment, somewhere was needed to house it all. Shivers and his sons secured a 900sq ft unit in Slough Trading Estate. The team moved in in May and plan to use this unit to run the ‘non-messy’ machinery, such as embroidery, solvent printing and DTG printing. Screen printing will continue to be run from Shivers’ old workshop. However, at the moment the new Roland printer is still plugged in in his dining room, much to his wife’s displeasure.
A great move
Shivers says setting up shop on the trading estate was a great move for the business, as within days of the signs going up, they were getting enquiries from neighbouring businesses for new uniforms.
Shivers has gone from investing next to nothing in his one-man business for the
The inside of Shivers’ old unit which will now be used solely for screen printing
last decade, to investing over £50,000 of personal savings into the company in recent months. And with all of this investment and his sons joining the business it was agreed that a rebrand was on the cards. K.C Merchandising will now be known as Prestige Printwear, trading as Axiom Printing & Embroidery. Shivers says that his sons have provided a sense of renewed energy to the business, and with their youth and knowledge of social media they have both attracted a new raft of customers. Waiting in the wings to join APE further down the line is Shivers’ two youngest children, Jeeves, 19, and Isher, 12. “Isher is an excellent weeder and she’s the best garment packer around,” laughs Shivers. Should Jeeves and Isher join the business, APE really will be a true family enterprise. The main objective for APE going forward is to become the one-stop shop for garment decoration, providing a full in-house garment decoration service with no reliance on third parties. Shivers concludes: “The future of the business is in my sons’ hands. Sometimes the older generation needs to let the new generation take over. The sky really is the limit for them.”
The Ricoh Ri 6000 DTG printer
Hoodies printed to support the protesting Punjabi farmers
www.printwearandpromotion.co.uk July 2021 | 61 |
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76
