This is something Blueprint Nottingham can certainly attest to. Established by Richard Monk in 1987 as Lines & Designs, the company steadily grew in size to become Blueprint in 2005, and to now specialise in vinyl graphics, banners, vehicle wrapping and particularly – with most jobs involving this – signwriting vans. 

Establishing a relationship with a strong vinyl supplier has been crucial. And the firm has bought its materials from Spandex for as long as it can remember.

“We’ve been using Spandex’s ImagePerfect (IP) range since the day it came out. Before that we used its predecessor and we were introduced to IP automatically by Spandex,” says Monk. “The old range was stopped and this replaced it so we just switched over with Spandex.”

The IP vinyls play an important part in most of Blueprint’s day-to-day work. And with such a strong and established reputation for signwriting vans in the Nottingham area, Blueprint has become a major client for Spandex.

“We sign about 80 vans a week and IP vinyl is on virtually every one so we spend a lot of money with Spandex, about £17,000 or £18,000 a month,” reports Monk.

Spandex has recently started to offer 25m rolls of vinyl film alongside its standard 50m option, which has proved handy for jobs featuring unusual colours. “If somebody requests purple or aqua lettering then it now means that we only have to buy a 25m roll. We’re probably better off doing that as those are not colours that we usually tend to use,” says Monk.

Blueprint uses the IP vinyls on its Seiko ColorPainter H-74s and H-104s printers and Summa S160 plotters. “The films are very easy to load up onto our machinery. Once we’ve set the job up, we’ll then design something, save it and start cutting it,”
says Monk.

There are a variety of reasons that Blueprint has been such a loyal Spandex customer over the years, not least the durability and flexibility of the IP vinyls.

“We like the IP range so much because the vinyl goes on and comes off so easily. If a client comes back to us after three years and wants a van destickering, we find the vinyl easy to remove and no glue is usually left behind,” says Monk.

Blueprint replaces its rolls of vinyl almost daily due to its high volume of signwriting work. It sources them direct from Spandex. “We’ve probably tried almost every vinyl there is over the years and Spandex is our favourite. We’re very happy with the service and we love the films. They’re really high quality and we always get next-day delivery regardless of the size of our order,” says Monk.

And Spandex’s service personnel are always on hand to help out when needed, says Monk. “If anything goes wrong they always try to fix it as soon as they can and they’re always there to advise us and tell us about new products,” he says.

Reliable performer

The firm’s favourite thing about the IP vinyls is the confidence it has in them. And as a long-term user Blueprint knows how to get the best out of the product. “I’m confident with using the material and I know that if I need to do something with it that it’s not designed to do, it’s likely to be able to do it anyway,” says Monk.

“The confidence to know that applied vinyl will still be going strong in five years time is the other great thing about it. But I also know that it can be easily taken off as well if need be,” he adds.

But it hasn’t always been completely plain sailing. “There was an issue last year where Spandex didn’t put enough glue on the back of the vinyl,” explains Monk. “People were doing signwriting on vans and the vinyl was literally falling off.” 

Spandex fixed the issue by recalling all of the affected vinyl but the process took around three months to rectify. “It didn’t affect us too much but it was definitely a problem,” says Monk. He confirms that everything has been fine since.

Gabriela Parish, marketing manager at Spandex, explains what happened: “Over a year ago we had made an improvement to the formulation that we later on realised was not very well received.”

“But the beauty of owning your own manufacturing facility is that we can quickly respond to customers needs and we quickly changed the formulation in line with their requirements,” she adds.

Blueprint has no plans to switch from the IP range as it feels that maintaining a relationship with the same supplier has brought a consistency to its customers.

“If somebody had smashed the door on a van that we’d worked on five years ago, for example, we could change the vinyl on that door and make it look exactly like the vinyl on the rest of the van,” explains Monk.

He stresses that the quality of the IP range is superior to anything similar he’s seen from other manufacturers. And it seems that the company’s customers agree, with many returning to Blueprint time and time again. 

“If all of the vinyl was falling off the van then customers wouldn’t return but they know that it’s a high quality product with a long life,” says Monk.

Almost perfect then, although the one thing on Blueprint’s IP vinyl wish list would be a wider range of colours. Monk feels that this would enable the firm to take on more interesting signwriting jobs.

“We use all of the colours that Spandex produces, but it doesn’t bring out new colours very often,” says Monk. “There is a good range of around 40 colours available, but they’re all quite pedestrian. Some of the more unconventional colours, such as purples and out-there shades of green, just don’t exist.”

Spandex’s Parish responds: “Demand would be a primary driver for the addition of colours and at the moment we do not have plans to incorporate any other colours. However, our range is evolving constantly and again, because we have our own manufacturing facility, we are able to be close to customers and respond to their needs where appropriate.”

Monk stresses that this is more of a suggestion than a gripe. “It’s not a complaint, as Spandex offers standard colours that it knows will sell. But it would be great if it brought out 50 new colours as I feel like it would bring us more opportunities.”

Overall though, Blueprint is quite content with Spandex and Monk wouldn’t have any hesitation in recommending its IP films to other firms.

“We would definitely upgrade if Spandex changed the range again and we would without a doubt recommend its films to anybody,” he says. “They do what they say on the tin and they’re great.”  

SPECIFICATIONS

Examples from range IP 2503 white gloss, IP 2504 clear gloss, IP 2506 white gloss grey back

Roll lengths 25m, 50m 

Roll width 1,372mm

Vinyl thickness 70 micron

Price £170/50m roll

Contact Spandex UK 01454 616444 www.spandex.com/uk

COMPANY PROFILE

Blueprint Nottingham was established in the city in 1987 by Richard Monk, who has served as the firm’s managing director for 27 years. It was first known as Lines & Designs before becoming Blueprint in 2005. The company specialises in vinyl graphics, signwriting, banners and vehicle wrapping for a range of clients including Nottinghamshire County Council, the Royal Air Force and the Queen’s Medical Centre. The nine-staff firm, which has a turnover of just over £1m, runs Seiko ColorPainter H-74s and H-104s printers and four Summa S160 plotters. 

Why they were bought…

The firm had bought its films from Spandex in the past so when the range it had been using was discontinued in the mid 2000s, it was a natural choice for Blueprint to switch to the replacement ImagePerfect (IP) range, which it has used since. “We didn’t need to test or trial anything before we first used the IP range as we were so familiar with Spandex’s older products,” says Monk.

How they have performed…

The IP vinyls have brought a high level of quality and consistency to Blueprint. Customers have continued to return to the firm safe in the knowledge that they will be provided with lasting results due to the strength of these films, backed up with Blueprint’s passion for good service. “They’re high quality products with a long life and I wouldn’t consider using any alternatives,” says Monk.