For many print companies, the word of 2009 was "niche". It became the accepted belief that to survive in the recession, you needed to find a niche market that generated stronger margins and featured less competition. Nowhere was this more true than in the finishing sector. The standard fold-stitch-trim guy was under the cosh and finishers were increasingly looking for niche areas that were too rare and costly for the printer to bring in-house.

Coatings Direct is, as the name suggests, a coatings specialist, and so is already an advocate of operating in one of those dark avenues that printers don't (yet) want to go down. But, rather than rest on its laurels, the management team at 2009's PrintWeek Finishing Company of the Year is investing heavily in R&D, or as operations manager Gary Byrne calls it, "trying things out".

"We will test things on main runs, do a few extras and see what happens," he explains. "I might have an idea, but I won't know how it finishes. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. But if it does, we can show the client what we achieved and they might get hooked on it. Our bread and butter work still makes up 60-70% of what we do, but our specialist stuff is definitely a growing side of the business."

Obviously, there are failures, and Byrne admits that pioneering costs can be quite high. He says that trials can fail due to a number of factors and sometimes - though he stresses it is a rare occurrence - ideas just plain don't work. But the biggest prohibiter is cost. Something may look fantastic, but the time it takes to replicate it 10,000 times can simply be far too expensive. Not that Byrne lets that set him back. He says: "Print is a progressive industry. In 12 months time, there will be better technology available, we can come back to things."

Innovative answers
Among some of Byrne's achievements are glitter finishes and textured varnish. Once a technique has been suggested, trialed and taken on by a customer, Coatings Direct can push it out as a new product. And of course, premium products attract premium clients.

As well as creating entirely new products, Byrne is also working on improving existing ones. He has developed a spot gloss that can sit on uncoated paper. In the last 12 months, Coating Direct's spot UV adhesion has also been improved.
Coatings Direct is the trading name of Olro Group Sales and Marketing, which has roots dating back to 1945 when Ronald Olley started a screen printing company. Olley's son, Michael, created a finishing business in east London, initially to support his father's business. Finishing took off and eventually outgrew the initial business, which was later sold.

The company remains in Olley hands, with Jon Olley now heading up the business. He joined Olro in 1982 at the age of 18 and by 25 he was managing director. The company grew to become one of the largest finishers in the country, but small finishers around London were driving prices down and Olley split the business in two. Half the business went to Harleston, Norfolk and half went to Romford, Essex. At this point, Coatings Direct was born.

It did not remain in this form for long. London finishing was as cut-throat as ever, so Olley sold the Romford site to the existing management team. Meanwhile, the company also bought the Celloglas site at Bury St Edmunds and set up a
foiling and embossing die-making division within the Harleston site.

Olley has now allowed others to help shape the company. In 2007, Ian Neal became the first non-family director of the company, alongside his wife, and Byrne, who brought with him 18-years experience at St Ives, has been given the Bury St Edmunds site to look after. "He has a different view of things," Olley says of Byrne. "He has print knowledge."

Although the financial downturn has hit the company, its turnover is currently up on the previous financial year to date and it is still making a profit, even if it is down slightly. Neal says: "Last year, when we had good months, they were as good as they have been. But the bad months were worse."

As it enters 2010, Coatings Direct looks well placed to continue its growth in the sector. Olley believes that even if turnover drops, profit should remain or increase. "£4.5m of profitable turnover is better than £5m with a loss," he says. And if Byrne can just bring down the cost of some of his wild ideas, profit levels could be even higher.

Coatings Direct
Locations Bury St Edmunds and Harleston
Directors Jon Olley; Ian Neal
Bury St Edmunds manager Gary Byrne
Turnover £4.5m
Staff 60
Key products Coating and varnishing