In such a short time period, it’s incredible to see the great strides he’s made in terms of both driving turnover and profit, but also his forward-thinking attitude, willingness to take on a challenge and thriving by pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. As a franchisee, Matt is an exemplary brand ambassador, a dream to work with and have as part of the network and we’re excited to see where he takes the business next.
We hear from Matt in his last diary entry for a little while:
“After a whirlwind six months, it’s quite cathartic looking back over the past few entries, being able to take in the huge amount of work we’ve delivered and the progress we’ve made. Delighted to say that our May performance was yet another record-breaking month and YTD sales performance is currently 63% ahead of prior year, with profitability also performing ahead of target, following this trajectory, we’re feeling massively optimistic for a great end to our financial year and beyond.
It’s been a busy month delivering a diverse range of projects, demonstrating the months of time and effort we’ve spent rebuilding and reconnecting with clients and also the amazing talents we’re lucky enough to have within our team, allowing us to take on more complex projects and push the boundaries of bringing our clients’ visions to life.
This month we’ve created and installed over 35m of bespoke wallpaper for customer ESP Play, creating a striking new environment. We’ve wrapped toilet cubicles in architectural vinyl, giving them a new lease of life, we’ve completed a car park project for client CPC, creating RA2 grade reflective signs and we’ve delivered a huge wayfinding project for long-standing client Community Gateway, consisting of both acrylic and oak signage, creating a striking and sustainable end result.
In addition to this, we’ve also delivered part wraps for seven vehicles for customer City Group and secured another large job with loyal client Aira, consisting of one large 4x2m tray and internal illuminated signage; plus, our usual array of eco health and safety construction packs which continue to fly out of the door!
It’s fair to say that none of this could have been achieved without such a fantastically loyal, hard-working, incredibly talented team around me and I’m enormously grateful to work with them each and every day, so it feels only right to give them all a mention and the recognition they deserve. Over the past six months, we’ve welcomed back Dawn to the business, our invaluable cornerstone navigating complex administrative issues with finesse, Tom Smith has been promoted to Production Manager (very well-deserved), Paul Morris continues to live up to his Employee of the Year status and Sales Manager Tom Van Boyd celebrated 11 years in the business with us, bringing over a decade of expertise.
Our installation expert Matt Carroll continues to demonstrate his ability to install every sign system imaginable, Eddy D’Antonio creates endless specialised design projects, and I was delighted to introduce John Weatherby into the team who was my first supervisor within the signage industry, bringing with him a wealth of experience. Alongside this, I’m thrilled to say that our apprentice Kyle Wright has recently completed his Sign Technician Apprenticeship and a week later we find ourselves congratulating him again as he was awarded the prestigious Rising Star Award from The Print Charity, which will see him celebrating at the House of Lords next month!
Owning the business is enormously hard work, but also incredibly rewarding. I’m beyond delighted with where things are going and excited to see just how far we can push the boundaries of what we can achieve as a team.
Over the next six months we’ll continue to rebuild and reconnect with clients and branch out to drive new business via different platforms and explore new possibilities. We’re investing considerably in our marketing and PR efforts, further expanding our brand reach and awareness and we’ll also continue to look at new, innovative kit to further expand our in-house capabilities.
Thinking about my decision to take on the business, in my opinion, everyone should do it and I’m enjoying every minute of it!”
