Decorator Profile
A licence to... print! F
or many teaching is a calling and a career for life, so it may come as a surprise to some that after 18 years as a special needs teacher that David wanted to change his vocation.
David started initially by printing mugs, something that he had done with his pupils in the past. One day a friend of David’s asked if he could engrave a decanter and two glasses for a birthday present, with the phrase ‘Barry’s rum glass – forever a pirate’. As David already had the equipment to do this he thought, why not and gave it a go. As is the case with many fledgling businesses, from this single request, a dozen or so more people asked for their own glass with their name engraved.
Making the move into military licensed products was quite a natural one, for where David is based in Waterlooville near to Portsmouth, there is a large naval and army community. And how David did so, should be a lesson for everyone.
Challenging times During his time as a teacher, David worked in event organisation alongside a number of different characters over the years. Here he picks up the story: “One of the guys that I didn’t really get along with was a naval veteran and the reason I didn’t get on with him was that even though he had left the navy he thought he was still in the navy, so he thought he could order people around, particularly at events. ‘Move that faster, do that quicker’, that sort of thing. As a teacher, you never quite get used to being shouted at.
“One day he approached me and explained that he was working for this charity called the Veteran’s Outreach Support
David pictured with HMS Queen Elizabeth’s enterprise manager, Joe Robinson, and the Pompey Stormtroopers in the hangar of HMS Queen Elizabeth
and asked if I could print a mug with the military tri services veterans’ logo on it. I said ‘yeah, I can try and do that’. The mug was a success and so they asked for more to be printed and then some engraved glasses, which they raffled. I then started to promote what I had done on social media, as did the charity. “You would not believe the amount of backlash I received, with many people asking if I had a licence. One of the permissions the MOD does not authorise is the tri services badge. Licensed or not. Trying to find out what all the fuss and noise about a licence was, was a bit of a challenge.”
Do things right
David decided if he was to continue down this career path that he should do things properly and get fully licensed. From start to finish, the process of getting licensed by the Military of Defence took approximately 16 weeks and like any form of official contracts there are many things to achieve to be accepted. This includes Product Liability Insurance and Public Liability – something David would have never considered working from home. David worked with Lucy Rumming of The Willows Insurance Services, who navigated everything with ease on his behalf.
The process to apply is made as easy as possible online, once you register you have a timeline of application and can see where you are in the process. The team in the office will answer any questions and will support accordingly. The website
www.defencebrandportal.mod.uk will give anyone looking to get licensed the information required to apply. However, it is important to remember it is the MOD’s right to be selective on issuing military licences, after all that is where the standard and quality control sits.
Being licensed by the MOD means that David can now produce work for any branch of the military because he has access to the full library of military graphics that are used by regiments, squadrons and ships. Perhaps one of David’s biggest clients is HMS Queen Elizabeth, the flag ship of the British Navy’s Queen Elizabeth class of aircraft carriers and the largest warship ever built for the Royal Navy.
David pictured with Captain Darren Houston of HMS Prince of Wales (at the time this picture was taken Darren was The Commander on HMS Queen Elizabeth)
| 66 | March 2021
Joe Robinson, former enterprise manager of the HMS Queen Elizabeth, says: “Dave has been instrumental in the development of HMS Queen Elizabeth's enterprise store. He has consistently proven to exceed expectation when it comes to the quality of merchandise. His attention to customer satisfaction has been
www.printwearandpromotion.co.uk
Two years ago, David MacAskill wanted a change in career and so launched his own printing business. Now the former teacher is fully licensed to print military clothing and merchandise. P&P editor Melanie Attlesey finds out more.
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