“There’s a surge of big agencies to Dubai: five big London players we know have gone out there,” says sales director Dan Waller. “Our research shows they are getting poor service and poor quality.”

Finance director Nick Duncan adds: “All our clients were asking please, please, please get out here.”
And so last year the firm began looking at the market and running some work for Dubai from London. This month the project accelerates with the opening of a Dubai production facility. In time, Four Graphics intends that the site’s kit will mirror its London facility, but to begin with it will house a Roland solvent inkjet and the latest HP Designjet Z6100Z aqueous machines with finishing kit and an in-house installation team.

If Dubai takes off, then the inkjet units will be joined by a Chromira high-speed wide-format photo printer. In London the Chromira is one of the secrets of Four Graphics’ success. Despite advances in inkjet, Four Graphics believes there is no unit that can match the quality that the Chromira produces, which is crucial to its retail cosmetics clients looking for accurate skin tones.

That quality isn’t just down to the equipment. At the heart of the firm is a common workflow and colour expertise for balancing images and ensuring they are consistent across all its machines wherever the job is produced.

Colour control will stay in London, allowing clients to approve work here but with the guarantee that work will be output to their exacting standards over there.

Duncan and Waller believe that being in Dubai may secure more work in London and they are also developing the UK business. Last year they formed Four Exhibitions and they are investing in equipment for the UK, with a second Chromira on its way and plans to upgrade the rest of the operation too.

It was Waller’s need for high-quality production that led the two childhood friends to form Four Graphics in 2003. With 20 years’ experience selling display graphics, Waller was sourcing print and project managing work for a roster of clients, but was concerned that relying on third-party printers couldn’t deliver the control over quality and service that he wanted. Duncan, whose background is in IT and the automotive sector, took on the role of financial director and production started in February 2004. Since then the firm has grown to a turnover of £1.3m in 2007. Waller describes the firm as being “more of a production agency”, offering clients advice on how best to produce the work to achieve their goals. “That allows you to open up a client base that needs project management,” adds Duncan.

That client base includes some big names in the energy, heritage and retail sectors including Burberry, Clarins, Harrods, The Natural History Museum and Shell.

Until recently, when Four Graphics had reached the size where it could employ someone full-time, Duncan juggled mounting print with managing the books, and the size of the firm means that he still mucks in when needed. The duo’s ambitions mean that he’ll have his hands full with something else beginning with ‘M’ before too long.

“No one here talks about India, but they do in Dubai,” says Duncan.

“My next thought is Mumbai: it’s a much larger market than Dubai and there’s a much bigger quality difference,” says Waller.

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FOUR GRAPHICS AT A GLANCE
Established 2003
Located Bermondsey, South London
Staff 8
Turnover £1.3m
Sectors Wide-format graphics including high-quality retail, museums, exhibitions and events