“We were almost tripping over everything and everyone, especially when a big job came in for vinyl wraps or large panels for a restaurant, petrol station or shopping centre,” says the managing director of Signs & Imaging (South East).
The challenge
At just 250m2 in floor area, the business was small. Perfectly formed, however, it was not because Johnson’s team had been a victim of its own success. Signs & Imaging (South East) started in spring 2013 and business rolled in, lots of it large-format jobs that swallowed up precious floor space in the unit on the Medway City Estate in Rochester.
Success on the shop floor threw up the need for more equipment that would make space tighter still. By the time Johnson, a former DJ, knew what he wanted, a 1.7m-wide Bubble-Free Applicator manufactured by Hungarian firm Akkor-Dekor, he was no less sure he had to expand his facility to accommodate the machine – and the growth of the business.
It was now winter 2014 and a move to larger premises for such a fledgling company was costly, risky and too much of an upheaval. Leasing an adjacent or nearby unit to the one in Rochester was also out of the question on availability and cost grounds, while moving sideways into a new-build office extension was not feasible for a property leased on a three-year term.
“The lease was quite short and we weren’t sure at this early stage of the business how things would go. We were also getting a lot of walk-in trade on the estate, so moving everything seemed an added and risky complication.”
The need for more equipment, however, made finding extra space all the more pressing.
“We wanted the Bubble-Free Applicator, which of course had space implications. A lot of what we do is printed Dibond panels, which are sizeable – 3x1.5m.”
The only other option to help accommodate this bulky piece of kit was a mezzanine: when you need more space and compare the costs of installing a raised split level with the multiple costs involved in moving to larger premises or a bigger unit, mezzanines can pay for themselves in a shorter time, Johnson says. But these too can be pricey for a small business finding its way in a highly competitive market.
The method
And then Johnson had a stroke of luck that saved him a lot of money: “An old customer had a modular mezzanine level he was keen to dismantle and get rid of.
“I had done a bit of research and knew a structure for our type of premises could have cost us at least £18,000, but we bought ours for £2,000.”
Of course, buying it was one thing, installing big sections of heavy metal was another.
“We scheduled installation for the Christmas and New Year break when we were either closed or business was so quiet disruption would be minimal.
But as so often happens with best-laid plans, things weren’t quite that simple: “As it turned out, that particular December-January period was one of our busiest and we were working flat out.”
So while Johnson’s team beetled around creating signage, banners, hoardings, posters, graphics and vehicle imagery on two digital printers and finishing equipment, two local engineers started the process of building the mezzanine, a post-and-beam structure of free-standing steel.
“When they came to install the mezzanine each day the engineers told us what they wanted to do and we would steer clear of that particular area. There were a few metal legs dotted about the place to hold up the mezzanine, but they were fairly well spaced out and it wasn’t too inconvenient.”
The engineers advised on health and safety issues and recommended loading for the specific needs of Signs & Imaging (South East), but that’s as far as specialist advice went. The free-standing nature of the split level was crucial, and saved lots of additional hassle as well as costs, explains Johnson.
“Because the mezzanine was not ‘fixed’ to the building – it was a free-standing structure four inches away from the main load-bearing walls of our industrial unit – we did not have to run it by the local planners. And because it’s free standing we also didn’t have to pay more rates.
“The engineers took two weeks to build the mezzanine; it doesn’t go up as quickly as you would expect because those beams are very heavy, have to line up perfectly and the two men building it didn’t have specialist equipment; just their two bare hands and sound structural judgement.”
The result
Prior to the project the footprint of Signs & Imaging building was 250m2. Total floor area is now 400m2, with printers, laminator and studio occupying the high ground while the guillotine and new applicator, used for bigger projects such as wraps for vehicles, are on the ground floor.
“All the manufacturing gets done downstairs because heat rises and you need the warmth when you are dealing with vinyl. We don’t do as much dirty work as we used to; we are doing lots more tasks such as mounting where a dust-free environment is quite important, so if you are downstairs cutting materials, the dust is kept away from the areas upstairs.”
In terms of benefits of the new mezzanine Johnson says it “hasn’t had dramatic changes” on areas such as turnover, but that wasn’t the purpose: “I bought it to make it easier to take jobs from start to finish and to quicken up the speed at which we got stuff out of the door. For those reasons the mezzanine has been very good.
“It wasn’t a big outlay and, unlike the new applicator where we took out a loan, we paid for the structure outright. In future we may have to look at introducing a circulation system: when you have a high-roof building and all the heat rises, you need to look at what you need the heat for and if necessary introduce a cooler or something that pushes the heat back down again.”
The case for mezzanines stacks up for companies like Signs & Imaging, says Johnson, who insists the only way is up for businesses in the same circumstances: “Finding space is hard, especially if your company or business specialises in storing items or sells products from a wide range of stock; and while including racking and extra shelving can solve short-term problems, most people will eventually need something more permanent that will last for a longer length of time.”
VITAL STATISTICS
Signs & Imaging (South East)
Location Rochester, Kent
Inspection host Managing director Dean Johnson
Size Turnover: £300,000; Staff: four
Established 2013
Products Signage, banners, hoardings, posters, graphics and vehicle wraps for shops, warehouses, petrol stations, shopping centres, councils and building sites
Kit Two Roland digital printers, an XC-540 and an XJ-640, a Seal 60in-wide laminator, an Akkor-Dekor 1.7m-wide bubble-free applicator 1700 and a hand-operated guillotine
Inspection focus Increasing your floor space
TOP TIPS
Make sure you have permission. You may need to tell your landlord of the proposed changes to ensure you comply with the terms and conditions of your lease.
A free-standing structure that is not attached to the building’s load-bearing walls should mean the mezzanine floor is not subject to planning conditions or additional rent or rates.
A site survey from a suitably qualified engineer will help you assess the need for staircases, walkways, escape routes, loading requirements and structural needs.
Check floor-loading requirements, specified within British Standards BS6399, stating minimum loading requirements for office, production and and storage floors.
Be involved every step of the way to make sure you know exactly what is going on regarding issues such as health and safety and fire protection.
