Warwickshire exhibition specialists growing their services

 An exhibition and display specialists are expanding their services across the UK after receiving support from Warwickshire County Council.

Kaleidoscope Displays Ltd (K Display) was established seven years ago by Karl Oldershaw and Callum Holmes in Harbury, near Leamington, to provide exhibition and display graphics for first-time exhibitors as well as experienced event professionals at national, regional and local shows.

The innovative business has gone from strength to strength and further expansion is on the horizon after Warwickshire County Council awarded the company a Small Capital Grant of £34,011 towards buying a flat-bed router and cutter machine.

K Display also invested £100,000 towards buying the state-of-the-art machine which is improving its efficiency.

Karl, creative director at K Display, said it was the first time the business had applied for a grant and the process had been straightforward.

He said: “We are a large format printing business who specialise in exhibition graphics and we have developed a reputation for helping customers through the whole process to the finished product at the exhibition itself.

“We also have a great deal of work from advertising and design agencies to produce graphics on their behalf.

“Since Callum and I set-up the business, turnover has almost doubled each year which led to the recruitment of Martin Phillips.

“He was doing most of the chopping and cutting by hand but we thought we could get even more work done quicker by investing in a flat-bed router and cutter machine.

“It means we can make the business as automated as possible because it can do much of the work on our behalf so our efficiency has increased and we can secure work from different markets such as 3D designs and making bespoke printed furniture.

“In March before Covid-19, we produced over 150 exhibition stands in the time it would previously have taken us to do 70 so our productivity has more than doubled.

“We can now print and cut medias made from recycled material that can also be recycled, which is an environmental alternative to using plastic medias which are then thrown away.”

The business is now gearing up for when the exhibition industry opens up again due to the Coronavirus pandemic which is expected to be in October.

Karl added: “Once we get straight back to work, we will have a larger product range and customers will be able to buy all their printing from us rather than having to use different suppliers.

“November is one of the busiest months for exhibitions so we are hoping to hit the ground running.”

Cllr Izzi Seccombe, Leader of Warwickshire County Council, said: “I’m delighted at the progress that this company has made. It’s really encouraging for everyone to see that businesses are looking to the future and can be optimistic.

“Warwickshire County Council is committed to creating and sustaining a vibrant economy and that is never more important than now.When we invest grant money into local businesses, we look for that to trigger growth and creation of jobs. This is an excellent example of how that works in practice.”

Since 2015, WCC’s access to finance programmes have supported over 100 businesses with investments that have created 172 new jobs.

Caption: Callum Holmes (left) and Karl Oldershaw from K Display with the machine which was bought with a grant from Warwickshire County Council