Using an EFI Vutek FabriVu 340i dye-sublimation printer with inline curing system, Shrewsbury-based distributor CMYUK produced a number of large wall graphics to decorate the premises of Hill’s new Uttoxeter-based business, Stradale Italia.

The opening of Stradale Italia is the fulfilment of a childhood dream for Sam Hill, who followed in the footsteps of his mechanic grandfather rather than his chart-topping rocker father Dave, who visited the CMYUK premises alongside his son to thank textile business development specialist Joel Willcock and his team for its work on the shop.

“I’ve fulfilled my own dream and that was to set up my own Ferrari workshop,” said Sam Hill.  “Joel has helped me with the aesthetic side of things because that's what it's all about. 

“When anybody walks in here, they just go ‘Wow, this is lovely’. If you've got a £300,000-plus car, you want to take it somewhere which is very well presented. Stradale Italia is not like your average workshop, when customers walk through the door, they get the ‘Wow Factor’. The images are amazing.”

Hill got his start as a tinkerer by pulling apart the musical equipment his father used on a number of 1970s legends Slade’s hit singles such as ‘Merry Xmas Everybody’ with a screwdriver as a young boy. He left school at 16 to become a mechanic.

Training at the Ferrari Training Centre in the UK and the Ferrari factory in Italy to become a gold tier master technician, he worked for Ferrari and Maserati for more than 15 years before starting his own business.

He met CMYUK’s Willcock when buying a 1980 Pontiac Trans Am from him four years ago and remembered the print specialist when he needed graphics for his new facility.

CMYUK distributes a range of wide-format equipment and substrates to the UK and Ireland, enjoying exclusive deals with a number of high-profile brands.