NEWS
Masking progress - the Imprint
Applications team outside their
new Riverside Park headquarters.
TOP OF
THE CLASS
Even Covid can’t mask Imprint’s progress
Diversification and market knowledge
means a Middlesbrough firm run by
former schoolmates has continued
its ambitious expansion plans
despite the pandemic.
Set up in 2016 by directors Ashley
Robinson and Nathan Sutcliffe, Imprint
Applications was originally a print and
embroidery specialist for the clothing
industry but since the start of 2020 has
switched to providing its own range
of sportswear, workwear and most
recently school wear.
And their ambitious plans show no
signs of abating after they moved into
new 7,000-sq ft premises on Riverside
Park after creating eight new roles –
with more to follow.
In its latest innovation, Imprint has
now diversified into bespoke face
masks during the ongoing pandemic
- receiving a big early order from
Middlesbrough Council via mayor Andy
Preston.
Recent years have seen Imprint
establish themselves as leaders in the
field for adding print or embroidery to
sportswear, mainly for local grassroots
football clubs but also for big names
such as the West Indies cricket team,
England and Saracens rugby teams
and Hartlepool United FC.
Now they’ve launched their own
sportswear brand they are confident
it will prove a big hit across the sports,
while they offer an ever-increasing
range of customised workwear and,
most recently, school uniform too.
Their recent move from Lawson
Industrial Estate to premises ten times
the size at Riverside Park has allowed
WORDS: DAVE ALLAN
PICTURES: CHRIS BOOTH
them to not only recruit more staff but
also to create an impressive showroom
to display their expanding range of
products, and what they describe as a
“Google-style office” featuring meeting
pods and a pool table to encourage
customers to discuss options in a
relaxed environment.
Anyone who visits their new HQ will
be left in no doubt that Imprint is on
the rise.
Now they’ve had the endorsement
of mayor Preston too, the sky’s the
limit.
“It’s brilliant to see local firms
innovating like this at a time when their
traditional markets have temporarily
dried up,” said the mayor after
personally placing the council’s order
for 1,000 bespoke red and white face
masks sporting Middlesbrough FC’s
‘UTB’ slogan.
The Imprint directors agree with the
town’s mayor that masks look like they
are set to stay for the foreseeable
future so Imprint has a potentially
growing market too.
Orders have flooded in for masks
from local takeaways, pubs, salons and
restaurants including the Cleveland
Tontine, The Oven and Ramside Hall –
and, from further afield, Wimbledon FC.
Now Imprint plan to be part
of a push to bring more textile
manufacturing back to the UK – and
have been lifted by the quality of
candidates during a recent recruitment
drive.
“Everyone tells us that the textile
industry is dead in the North-East and
one of our main worries was whether
we could
find the skilled
operatives we
need,” says Ashley Robinson with one
Middlesbroughborn
Ashley,
of the council’s masks.
who studied at Cleveland College of
Art and Design and London College of
Fashion before starting out in business.
“But the response has been
phenomenal. When we advertised
for machinists, we had more than 150
applicants, with 45 strong enough to
take on tomorrow if we could.”
For now they’ve taken on four in
the shape of Kieran Wedlake, Sharon
Metcalfe, Janet Bold and apprentice
Matthew Holt, together with graphic
artist Eddie Turner, head of digital
marketing and content creation Lee
Waite, former intern and Teesside
University graduate Emily Day as
creative director and sales, sales
executives Carole Bennett, Diane
Wilkinson and Ameed Khan and
marketing consultant Mark Holt.
“If things go the way we hope
they will go, we’re forecasting
more recruitment before the end
of the year so we’re also investing
in the equipment they’ll need,”
says MD Nathan, who was raised in
the New Marske and Redcar areas
before studying sports science in
Manchester. “We’ve invested in eight
sewing machines to ensure we have
everything we need to move forward
with confidence.
“We’re massively excited for the
future, buzzing to be back and raring
to expand further.”
To see the range of workwear, sportswear, school uniforms
and masks available, visit imprintapplications.com
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