As you might expect of a Soho business, creativity is core to this wide-format print company where diversification is a constant remit.
By the time you read this Genix Imaging will be on the brink of having its first POS job using glasses-free 3D TV technology out in the marketplace. And it will be someway down the line in defining a management buy-in and in completing amalgamation terms with a print company that for now must remain under wraps. It’s all part of a strategic diversification plan that managing director Roger Bull expects to take the Soho-based company’s turnover from it’s present £5.5m mark to nearer £12m within three years. Big thinking.
And it’s that that type of thinking that has got Genix to this position of strength. ‘Chasing tomorrow’s markets today’ has become something of a company defining phrase for the operation which only started life under the current name at the start of the 1990s, ‘Genix’ standing for ‘generated pixel images’, something not everyone would know, which was one of the key reasons for choosing it. “It was a made-up name that had meaning to us, but could not be associated with anything the company had done in its former guise as Chromacopy,” explains Bull.
“That business, which had been going since 1980 had 25 franchises in the UK and others overseas, and as the name suggests it concentrated on copy services. Then customers started asking if we could do bigger sizes and we opened a photolab and bought a 50in processor that used the Ilford Cibachrome process, but towards the end of the 1980s we realised that digital print technology was going to bring with it massive competition and so knew we had to move on.
“We did 18 months of research and found Cactus software (a Rip engine effectively) and the Xerox electrographic process which was our first real foray into digital output. So then, in 1992 we decided to merge the original Broadwick Street and nearby Lexington Street photolab Chromacopy Soho sites and change the branding etc. to enable us to ride the digital wave. We thought it was imperative that we chose a name that people did not associate with copying, labs or whatever – we wanted a new start and a name that, when you rang a prospect and said you were from Genix, prompted them to stop and think for a moment and then ask ‘What’s that?’. It gave us a chance to explain what we were about.”
At that point it was largely about generating business for the Xerox machine but Bull, and chairman Jeff Vickers, could see that inkjet technology was about to change the game. “At that time we had a turnover of about £1.5m and digital print was growing as a part of the business. I could see that inkjet had massive potential, not just in terms of size of what could be produced, but in terms of quality etc. So in 1994 we bought a 42in Encad to progress digital print into the photographic arena. We were already doing 42in and 50in prints on the electrostatic machine, and for some uses it was quite good. But inkjet was something else. In fact it became so good that in 1999 we closed down our photographic process,” says Bull.
“For a while inkjet technology kept leapfrogging in terms of speed and quality and it wasn’t until the late 90s that I’d say we got really usable kit for wide-format – by which I mean 60in x 100ft in full colour. But at the time of buying our first Encad it was good enough to enable us to go to clients – brands, architects, local government – and offer them something unusual. And for us that was important. We have always been focused on the bespoke market to make any decent return on investment. Anything else is just ego and stupidity.”
Core to Genix’s development and make-up therefore has been a push to have the skill sets and flexibility to enable it to meet bespoke requests and all that entails. “We have always tended to go direct to clients, and particularly to Blue Chips which tend to be financially secure,” explains Bull, with a nod to recent notable business failures. “So we have to have the spread of services they will require – so we cover not only print but have teams that can handle everything from the creative concept through to taking down the print at the end of a campaign.
“Back in 2000 we knew digital print wouldn’t be enough to sustain everybody involved in it. So we developed a creative strategy to make us stand out. In 2004 we set up an artworking studio in-house and used freelancers where needed, but in 2007 we formed CRM as a separate creative company with whom we have a symbiotic relationship. That has worked for us. You have to be flavour of the month with creative or you don’t even get a bite of the cherry. If Genix went to a creative company there would be some suspicion over how creative a printer can be. If CRM goes in it’s a different story. We want to be as close to the person who is paying the bill as possible, so getting right up there in the creative space is important.”
It’s a strategy that over time has paid off. And it’s that forward focus that keeps Bull on his toes. “I have people who look after the business day-to-day. Strategy is my job. You have to be mobile and flexible enough to meet a future you can only predict,” he says, pointing to the amount of time the company invests in things like environmental research and development. “We have done a lot of research into what combination of substrates/inks can be used to produce greener product, and on improving our own green credentials. 99% of our clients don’t ask about our environmental policy or accreditations, and when it comes to greener product they won’t generally pay the premium it costs, but we spend a lot of time and effort in this arena because it will matter. My take on business is to forget what’s ten feet in front of you because by the time you hit an obstacle that close it’s too late to do anything about it anyway. Look to what’s coming over the horizon and be prepared for what you’re going to meet down the line.”
One of the developments the company has been preparing for is the advent of glasses-free TV screen technology, which Bull tells us to expect to see on general sale by Christmas. But before that you’ll see the first POS campaigns integrating the technology, which was demonstrated to me at Genix. It’s impressive. The company, which has been working with a screen developer in the US since the end of last year, took on a graduate in TV and film arts to work on the project alongside some of its existing designers.
“We’ve already handled motion activated integrated print POS projects – some with sound. But we’ve found that sound can be an irritant in that space. 3D screen POS will provide a massive wow factor and if used properly make great use of the viewers’ ‘dwell time’. We’re working with a large global perfume company for use of this technology in-store, in travel locations etc. It will be big,” enthuses Bull.
And the company’s diversification is ever ongoing, especially within film and motion graphics. But it hasn’t forgotten about print.
“The market is now extremely buoyant and heading into a buoyant future so we want to grow our involvement,” explains Bull, who confirms that getting flatbed direct-to-media print kit is a focus. “It’s largely why we are looking to amalgamate with a company that has that technology. There’s no room at this Soho site. Plus an amalgamation with an existing company means we start earning from the off because it already has a customer-base. Plus, there is space at the other site for us to move all our production kit. We’ll keep a central London base for creative/sales etc. which needs less space, but moving manufacturing to a site where the rent is considerably less makes sense. That should all happen within the first half of next year.”
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