Images Magazine November 18

company’s clients were mainly bands, but it subsequently expanded into work for charities and breweries, and local companies and large corporates. Previously, work had come from repeat orders and recommendations, which were considerable, but to achieve faster growth the company now adopts an increasingly proactive approach towards potential clients. Along with the sales team pitching for business, it has become more active on social media, with Instagram being its favoured channel. It’s a strategy that appears to be working. “Instagram is about photos rather than text: it‘s so easy to show our customers or future customers a nice colour separation or a print,“ says Zsolt. These marketing activities have increased customer demand, which in turn has required Fifth Column to expand its production capability by investing in new machinery. The last few months have seen the installation of both a new MHM S-Type Xtreme carousel and a Pro-Cure dryer from Adelco, which is Carbon Trust-approved and promises low emissions. Both MHM and Adelco are brands that Fifth Column has stuck with for many years simply because their machines have the best specs, according to Zsolt. Another shrewd purchase was the company’s Spyder II computer-to-screen system, which it bought soon after moving to Tottenham. “It‘s much more accurate than putting anything on films – it‘s money well spent,“ Zsolt comments. A more recent addition is the embroidery department at the back of the factory, which houses two Tajima machines – a single-head with a sewing area that measures more than one-metre wide, and an eight- head. These machines were bought at the same time as the new carousel and dryer. In-house embroidery is a new departure for the company – it previously outsourced all its embroidery orders – but Dawn, who runs the department, has 10 years of experience, so it was able to hit the ground running. Core technology One area that Fifth Column has yet to investigate is DTG. “It something for the future. I don‘t think the technology is there right now. The core of our business for the next few years is definitely going to be screen printing and embroidery,“ says Zsolt. Speciality inks will play a part in this future with the company being particularly impressed by Magna Colours’ new special effects formulations. Zsolt also notes the growing customer demand for water-based and discharge inks, with Magna’s inks once again being the go-to solution; “They are brilliant,‘ he confirms. Stock is held on a large mezzanine area and includes Stanley/Stella garments – Fifth Column is one of the brand’s three UK distributors. It has been distributing Stanley/Stella’s 100% organic cotton and mainly recycled polyester garments for five years now, and in September won an award for Best Performer from the brand. It’s obvious that the company is extremely proud of the award, which came as a complete surprise, admits Zsolt. With its production facilities sorted, the company’s current priority is its website: it‘s been nine years since it was last updated, so a new site NOVEMBER 2018 images 37 The company uses only MHM automatic screen printing carousels Fifth Column has paid the London Living Wage for five years IS DECORATOR PROFILE There is growing customer demand for water-based and discharge inks