A Stratford-based photographic equipment and supply company which exports to countries all over the world is gradually getting back to normal after a challenging few months.
And a savvy acquisition made when times were good meant lockdown was not as devastating as it might have been to the business.
The Imaging Warehouse, which manufactures specialist printing paper and unique darkroom equipment, purchased a printing ink business around 18 months ago as a way of diversifying the firm.
During lockdown, it was this new acquisition that kept it going as many people worked from home and needed ink cartridges for their printers.
Now things are starting to open up after lockdown restrictions have eased, the export side of the business is gathering pace and the UK has shown promising growth again.
Robin Whetton, Managing Director of The Imaging Warehouse, was thankful his purchase of the ink cartridge business paid off.
He said: “When we bought the ink business, we knew it would be a useful addition to what we could offer, but we never thought it would be as crucial as it ended up being.
“Some of the other parts of our business had ground to a halt, so it was a great relief to see how well the print cartridge business was doing in lockdown.
“The combination of the three businesses really kept the wolf from the door, and allowed us to keep eight staff on full-time rather than having to furlough more of our team.
“Now people are going back to work, the ink business has slowed up a little, but the exports of our specialist printing paper have almost returned to where they were before.
“Because we export quite a lot of our products to Europe, the fact that they came out of lockdown before the UK has meant we’ve been able to increase our turnover before a lot of other businesses.”
The Imaging Warehouse was also helped during lockdown through a grant awarded to them by Stratford District Council.
Businesses like The Imaging Warehouse are being supported by the council to promote the safe reopening of the high streets in response to Covid-19 through the Government’s Reopening High Streets Safely Fund which is funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
Robin added: “The grant was an enormous help to us. Although our ink cartridge business was keeping us going during lockdown, the grant gave us much needed breathing space.
“The extra money has given us more confidence to bring staff out of furlough earlier than we may have done without it.
“I’m trying to stay grounded about the future, but I think we can keep going for a good while longer. Our best sales tend to be in the winter, so I hope we’ll be in a healthier state next year.”
The project has received £116,036 of funding from the England European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020.
The Department for Communities and Local Government is the Managing Authority for ERDF. Established by the European Union ERDF funds help local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support innovation, businesses, create jobs and local community regenerations. For more information visit https://www.gov.uk/european-growth-funding
Caption – Robin Whetton, Managing Director of The Imaging Warehouse