The business signs are good for Omega

Turnover has nearly doubled in the past five years, up from £6m to £11m, while profitable growth levels have been maintained.

In an interview with the Yorkshire Post, Duncan Chapman, managing director, said the firm had achieved this as a result of refusing to panic and lower prices, instead focusing on good customer service and offering good value for money.

The company is owned by Mr Chapman and Tony Timmermans, but was originally set up a decade ago by the latter and Mr Chapman’s father, Mike.

Mr Chapman said: “It was just my father, Tony and a girl in an office [in Donisthorpe Street, Hunslet]. There was no manufacturing space and everything was subcontracted around Leeds.”

He said: “We’ve built the business from there up to the current head count of 88 employees with a turnover of £11m.”

The firm has a 32,000 sq ft manufacturing facility off the M1, having been extended by 30 per cent in 2010.

Mr Chapman said: “We have managed not to just weather out the recession but have managed to grow throughout the recession and add on new customers.”

He said: “In terms of this year, we’ve added Next, Tesco, B&Q and Mitchells & Butlers. In terms of Waitrose, for whom we have done a lot of work, we have now taken on the John Lewis side of things.

“Over the past three years we have added Hilton, Pizza Hut, Welcome Break, Road Chef.”

Mr Chapman explained: “At the start of the recession many of our competitors panicked by lowering prices to win business. This can prove to be a very short term strategy as it puts a strain on cash and means that service levels and continuity suffer. We took a different approach.

“We worked closer with our existing customers and got to understand each other’s businesses better. By doing this we were both able to reduce the cost base of our respective businesses, which was of course mutually beneficial and provided a robust platform for us and our customers to build on.

“We went through the whole process, from value engineering products, respecifying products where necessary and redefining service level agreements to ensure that our offering was as efficient as possible and dovetailed with our customer’s needs exactly.”

He added: “The added value benefits we can offer in terms of not over-specifying products and proactive project management [about 25 per cent of the company’s head count is involved in project management] can reduce the overall cost to their business much more than the top line figure. Added to this, we are able to offer stability and longevity which is key to some of the large rebranding programmes we undertake for our customers.

“In terms of our customer retention, that is second to none in the industry. We’ve been with Asda since 1992, Mercedes Benz since 1995, Waitrose we have been working for for about eight years now, and HSBC we have worked with for four years.

“These are all companies who will usually tender every year or every two years. But we retain business through competitive pricing, but not chasing down the cheapest price, it’s through good customer service and offering good value for money.”

Mr Chapman voiced an optimistic view on the economic outlook in the industry, explaining: “What we are definitely seeing in terms of the economic outlook, particularly in our industry, is that a lot of retailers are now starting to try and build the business back again.”

But he admitted there are challenges to be faced, in particular the rising price of materials, adding: “I think what we are seeing is material prices are really starting to rocket up and I think ultimately that would mean that the price of our products should increase accordingly.

“But price increases are something retailers are very, very reluctant to accept as it passes on to their customers.”

Omega Signs also has a subsidiary company, inn-fresco, which specialises in outdoor retractable awnings, commercial parasols and canopies for the leisure market. It was originally generated alongside the smoking ban.

Mr Chapman said: “We have always, and will in the future be looking for other business opportunities that complement the business or give us other areas to diversify and grow.”

Mr Chapman declined to discuss profit figures.

Working with blue chip clients

Established in 1992, Omega Signs, which is privately owned, designs, manufactures, installs and maintains signage for an array of retail, corporate and brewery clients.

It services some of the UK’s leading blue chip companies. Its client base includes Asda, Waitrose, HSBC, Marks & Spencer, Greene King, Punch Taverns, Hilton, B&Q, Fullers, Tesco and Mitchells & Butlers. For HSBC, the company is currently the sole supplier of all internal and external signs at its branch refurbishment programme.

As well as a head office and manufacturing facility at Newmarket Approach in Leeds, the firm has UK-wide installation teams with satellite offices based at Bristol, London and Glasgow.

The firm moved into its current purpose-built factory and offices in Leeds in 1999 and extended the facility in 2010.