Starting a print business from scratch, with no client-base and just one press, is a story that will be familiar to many in the sector. So when Neil Buckingham opened a bank account under the name Artisan Litho in 1995 and received the keys to his first business premises, he certainly wasn’t doing anything out of the ordinary.
What was slightly unusual about Buckingham’s situation was that the keys he’d received were to a Second World War aircraft hangar, and only half of one at that. Just as unusual, the next premises the company moved to had previously been a chicken shed.
Today, however, the company inhabits a purpose-built, 650m2-plus building on the same site at Kingston Bagpuize, Oxfordshire, and has changed its name to Artisan Print Solutions to reflect the addition of wide-format, web-to-print and cross-media services to what started as a traditional litho print house. But its ethos still nicely encapsulates the firm’s humble roots, according to managing director Daren Elsley, who joined owner Buckingham at the company in 2009. "We base our business on a friendly, get-the-job-done, hands-on kind of attitude," he says, reporting that this is very popular with the range of charity, education, hotel and other SME customers the firm caters for.
And, unsurprisingly, this approach is something Artisan values highly from its suppliers. It is certainly a quality the team value in the supplier of their Euromedia substrates, Fujifilm. In fact, this was one of the main reasons the firm chose to use these substrates when it first branched into wide-format printing three years ago, with a Roland XC540 printer.
"I was at a show and got talking to Fuji and it’s just gone from there really," reports Elsley. "With Fuji, it’s a really welcoming experience. If you ever have an issue with how to work with a certain substrate, Nigel Briggs [UK sales and product manager, Fujifilm Graphic Systems] is at the other end of the phone. He really knows what he’s talking about."
"We have trialled materials from another large supplier and the materials were good, but it’s more about the support to be honest; we just found that we didn’t have as good an experience with them," he adds.
Elsley says he could quote many examples where Briggs’ in-depth knowledge of which wide-format substrates work best for what applications and with what kit, has been invaluable. He relates an instance when the company needed to produce crease-resistant, flame-retardant flags for a new client and, never having produced this type of product before, needed some advice. "I gave Nigel a ring and he sent over some samples of Dreamtex FR. The customer liked it and it worked well on the machine," says Elsley. "We’ve been offering wide-format for three years now, but there’s a learning curve and you really need the support of your suppliers to offer a professional finish."
Another example of Fuji being very willing to lend support, was where Artisan was having problems with pop-up banners. "One of the things we were getting on our printer was bit of stretch, only by a mil or so and with most pop-ups you maybe wouldn’t notice it. But on a pop-up with very busy graphics and split over a couple of panels, you’d get some fit issues where you could see the graphics didn’t match up," says Elsley. "Nigel told us that this was because we were using a PVC product, which will stretch where there’s a heated element, and that we really needed to switch to a polyester product."
Impressive quality
This, along with all other issues Fuji has lent support on, was not a matter of anything being at fault with the Euromedia substrates, adds Elsley. In fact, he says, he can’t think of an instance where Artisan has encountered an issue where the actual quality of the substrate – rather than the way it was being used or its suitability for a certain job – was at fault. "In all honesty we haven’t had any problems," he says.
In fact, the quality of the substrates has really impressed Artisan, and, along with the helpful support given by Fuji, this has been a key reason for sticking with the brand. "Because we’re getting a quality product, we don’t have to reprint, we’re not having problems with the finishing," reports Elsley. "It has allowed us to be more efficient and customers are happy with the product – that’s obviously what you’re aiming for."
So impressed has it been with the quality of each substrate, Artisan is using more and more of the Euromedia materials on a regular basis. The company now regularly uses Satin Photo paper, RollUp Film Premium, Pop Up Film Premium, Project Banner White banner material and, as of pretty recently, 2D Smart-Apply Vinyl, for the range of posters, roller banners, pop-ups, mount graphics, flags, and vehicle wraps it now offers. And the printer has plans to switch supply of laminates to Euromedia soon too.
There is, however, one product the company feels is missing from the range: "It would be nice if they offered coloured vinyl as we are starting to use that for decals," says Elsley.
He qualifies that by saying that, tempting as it might be to get all wide-format substrates from one trusted source, businesses ought to keep their options open. "It’s not always a good idea to get all your supplies from one company," he says. "If you do, you can sometimes get a better price, but if there’s a problem with the delivery, for some reason, then it can backfire. It’s a balance."
Premium price
And Elsley does concede that Euromedia products are "not the cheapest" on the market, and that, while most customers are willing to pay a slight premium for good quality, the company needs to be able to cater for slimmer budgets as well.
"We do have to remember what we’re up against – when you look on the web, people are doing roller banners at ridiculous prices and it’s because they’re probably printing on low-quality materials," he says. "Some customers just treat it as a commodity so we try and offer a full spectrum if we can. If a customer just wants a cheap product tomorrow that’s going to be chucked in the bin after one day’s use, we need to be able to offer them that, using a cheaper substrate. But if a customer is really focused on the integrity of their branding and colour, then we can offer them the higher-end stuff."
And apparently most customers are more than happy to pay slightly more for high-quality products. "The products are still competitively priced and they pay dividends in the quality we can produce," reports Elsley. So with this in mind, he would certainly recommend other printers use this product, particularly as, offering materials to work with water-based, solvent and UV printers, the range has something to "suit any wide-format printer".
Certainly the range will feature more and more heavily in Artisan’s operations, reflecting, reports Elsley, the company’s shift away from conventional litho work to focus more on growth areas, such as wide-format digital.
One thing that will remain the same as Artisan’s business model continues to evolve, however, is the kind of focus on being approachable and down to earth that can perhaps only grow out of once being based in a chicken shed. And Artisan is confident Euromedia suppliers Fujifilm will continue to reciprocate this friendly, down-to-earth ethos too.
SPECIFICATIONS
Satin Photo paper
Price £1.58/m2
RollUp Film Premium
Price £7.40/m2
Pop Film Premium
Price £9.50/m2
Project Banner White
Price £ 1.45/m2
2D Smart Apply Vinyl
Price £ 4.07/m2
Dreamtex
Price £ 7.88/m2
Contact
Fujifilm 01234 245245 www.euromedia.eu.com
Company profile
Artisan Print Solutions was a very different company when it started life 18 years ago. For one, it was called Artisan Litho. But, more noticeably, it was based in an old aircraft hangar. The business then moved into a converted chicken shed and then a purpose-built 650m2-plus premises to become the £1m-turnover, 12-strong company it is today. Artisan has also now branched out into wide-format, web-to-print and cross-media, serving a range of SMEs, charities, schools and colleges.
Why it uses these products...
The company started working with Euromedia substrates three years ago when it started branched into wide-format printing with a Roland XC540. Artisan was attracted to the range not only because the firm felt its quality to be superior to other manufacturers’ products, but also because it was impressed by Fujifilm’s helpful, hands-on approach.
How they have performed...
Managing director Daren Elsley has been very impressed with the range. "Because we’re getting a quality product we don’t have to reprint, we’re not having problems with the finishing," he says. "It’s allowed us to be more efficient and customers are happy with the product – that’s obviously what you’re aiming for."
