The rebrand had originally been scheduled for April, to coincide with the one-year anniversary of the large-format and instore specialist’s acquisition by Writtle's Magnet Harlequin wing, but the plans were deferred due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“For the past few months we’ve been holding back, and doing a lot of development work in the factory,” said managing director Richard Saysell.
“We’ve actually done really well during the lockdown period and it’s time for some good news. We’re involved with some big tenders at the moment and we want to talk to people with our new voice.”
The Letchworth Garden City firm worked with its colleagues in the Magnet Harlequin Group ‘Branded’ group of businesses, which includes brand strategy and design agency Identica, to devise the new look.
Fero is a Latin word meaning “to bring, to support”.
“We always strive to work transparently and in harmony with our clients, creating and supporting their vision and bringing it to life in-store,” Saysell said.
Recent investment at the business includes a Young Shin high-speed auto-platen die-cutting system that was purchased from Odessa.
“We have also invested heavily in the development of our new MRM system Workx to transform our processes and the data and insight we can deliver to our clients. We feel now is the right time for a further step change with a new brand to reflect our fresh outlook. We see this as a highly positive step for our clients, our colleagues, and our industry.”
He said he particularly pleased with the firm’s new look.
“The colours are building on Showcard’s heritage of colour management, quality and accuracy. We want to continue to build on that because colour consistency is becoming more and more important.”
Although the company is known as a trade printer Saysell said the circa £17m, 150-staff business was also developing its direct client base.
“There are clients that want a direct manufacturer relationship and clients that want a print management relationship. We are actively and strategically aligning ourselves with fewer print management companies,” he explained.
He said that September trading was likely to be up 40% compared with last year.
“The turnaround this year will be remarkable. It’s a real turnaround story and I’m quietly pleased with how we’ve developed the business.”
