Simon Garrett of Surefire Print visited the Newtech London Show at Sandown Park Racecourse in 2014 as he was interested in finding a new revenue stream based around image transfer paper.
He met with TheMagicTouch at the event and “after 10 minutes I was sold on the OKI machine,” Simon says. “I realised it could do this and this and this…”
After the show, he invested in the OKI C711WT white toner printer which has now added more products to his business;
“We started printing matt mugs,” says Garrett. “Somehow it sparked off far more ideas and we realised we could print and bond onto almost anything using the transfer paper supplied by The Magic Touch and the OKI printer.
“Everybody does T-shirts,” he says. “But we’ve been more ambitious. We’ve particularly worked hard on perfecting our work on leather. We’ve found a way to get the print to sink into the leather and this has meant printing, not just on iPhone and iPad cases and bags, but also on leather jackets.”
In fact, Surefire’s customised leather jackets have now become legendary.
“Most people assume that you can only print on flat items,” Garrett continues. “But if you know what you are doing, you can print on virtually anything. In my opinion, the OKI printer gives you that freedom – and it’s enabling us to differentiate ourselves as a business. I’ve been in the industry for 30 years and in my opinion there isn’t another machine on the market that would do what we wanted it to in this way.”
He believes very strongly that these days, printers need to diversify in this way to compensate for changes in the industry due to the increasing use of electronic marketing materials and communications. “Printers such as the C711WT offer a tremendous opportunity.”
He adds that, in his view, printing companies that wish to achieve similar success need to do two things. The first is to put the work in upfront to get new methods right. “You might need to waste product at first, but if you are breaking new ground this is inevitable. Once you have cracked it, every job should come out right first time. But you have to be prepared to take a risk.”
“It’s a case of using your imagination – and then you can do almost anything. For me, Newtech was a very good show”.
Jim Nicol, MD at TheMagicTouch says: “Surefire Print’s success with our transfer process is a great example of the importance for suppliers to get out to the regions with Newtech to give all customers new and old the opportunity to see first-hand the great marketing and sales potential. Traditional national exhibitions would not enable us to spend the time with specific customers to really understand and listen to what they require.”
Next venues are Liverpool 6-7 May, Durham 9-10 June, Bristol 14-15 July, Wetherby 6-7 October and the Kia Oval London November 24-25.
For further information or to register as a visitor: www.co-opevents.com
