A whiter shade of pale

When Brett Martin needed a digital print specialist to trial its new Bright White Foamalux foam PVC, it didn’t need to look very far. Lisburn–based Alexander Boyd Displays, who produces a wide range of signs and display graphics for customers across the UK and Ireland was only to happy to oblige.

A family run business employing 50 people, Alexander Boyd Displays is the perfect example of a company who has moved with the times, morphing from a mainly screenprinting operation into an all round graphic provider, with a portfolio of clients that includes leading high street names and top advertising agencies. Director Robin Boyd, who along with his brother now runs the company originally established by their grand- father, says: “We have some very high profile clients, and get involved in some really exciting work, which occasionally challenges us to the limits of our capacity. ”He goes on to reveal that Boyd has its own design studio, as well as offering digital, litho and screenprinting facilities, together with in-house finishing to clients throughout the UK, Ireland and continental Europe. He continues: “During really busy periods we operate a flexible shift system and work pretty much 24/7, producing everything from multiple execution outdoor poster campaigns and in-store promotional and point of purchase material to signage and vehicle wraps.” Much of this work makes full use of Boyd’s capabilities, with, for example, some digitally produced jobs also necessitating screenprinting in special colours. “We specialise in the unexpected and original, as well as more pedestrian work,” says Robin ,“since nowadays versatility is the key to success.” He adds that any company coping with such a large volume of work needs to use suppliers that it can depend upon.

This is why the company is a regular customer of the Belfast branch of Robert Horne Sign & Display, where sales rep Vanessa Fusco takes charge of all Boyd’s material requirements. The effervescent Vanessa, who has become something of a media expert during her years at Robert Horne, enthusiastically describes Boyd as ‘just lovely to deal with’, and when she heard about the advantages that Bright White Foamalux offers, she knew immediately that it was just the company to put the new material through its paces. “Boyd has a very varied workload and uses a combination of printing methods on a huge range of different substrates, so I knew that they would be totally up for trying any new product which promises better quality results.”



Barry Desmond, Boyd’s Sales & Marketing Manager takes up the story, explaining that since some projects require printing on to a wide selection of paper, vinyl and rigid substrates, the consistency of the final print quality is sometimes an issue. He says: “We’ve invested in a full line-up of digital printers including a HP Scitex XL jet, two HP Scitex Turbojets and our most recent acquisition, the Durst Rho 600. Added to that, because we also use litho printing and screenprinting when projects demand it, we need to ensure that all of the resulting graphics achieve the same uniformly high standard. This presents a few headaches when dealing with the idiosyncracies of the individual machines and the different media. We also have to meet some very tough deadlines, so there is little margin for error. When it was suggested that we try Bright White Foamalux, which as its name implies has a bright white finish and has been especially created for use with digital printers, we were all for it.”

Robert Horne provided all of the different profiles Boyd needed for each of its machines and the company chose Bright White Foamalux for the production of a Christmas point of purchase promotion. Barry Desmond reports: “The results more than surpassed our expectations, providing a noticeably brighter and truer end result, which was virtually indistinguishable from that achieved on paper. As an extra bonus, drying times were also reduced, which meant that the job could be progressed more speedily and efficiently.”

Ricky Martin who looks after Boyd’s logistics, confirms that Foamalux Bright White will now be its first choice for all of its printed POP and display requirements adding, that as the person responsible for ensuring that stock levels are maintained and that finished work is despatched as required, he feels confident that the combined capabilities of Brett Martin and Robert Horne will provide the company with a consistently reliable material and the ‘just in time’ delivery service which helps him to keep stocks at a manageable level. He says: “Our business continues to grow, but our available space is finite. We get through shed loads of material every day, so it’s a real boon to us that Robert Horne can provide just what we need, when we need it.”

In future, Boyd will no doubt be using quite a lot of Foamalux Bright White, especially since it plans to offer a confidential trade service to UK sign companies. Robin Boyd concludes: “We have a lot of expertise and excellent facilities and it seems silly not to share them with signmakers who need to outsource their printing requirements. We are looking forward to becoming a whole lot busier!”

To contact Alexander Boyd Displays, Tel: 028 9030 1115 visit: www.alexanderboyd.com.
For further information on Bright White Foamalux or any of the other Foamalux products visit: www.roberthorne.co.uk or contact your nearest Robert Horne Sign & Display branch.

Top of page