London’s Disruptor Describing itself as ‘London’s disruptor’, Citiprint specialises in same-day turnaround of wide-format, direct-to-board, and vinyl/graphics installation. Founded in 2016 by Jacob Kent-Ledger, the company doesn’t do things by halves with one example being when it made a name for itself with a record installation on a 50m-tall wind turbine for energy provider Octopus. Aside from not being afraid to say yes to the big jobs, Citiprint has gained a reputation for delivering on its same-day turnaround promise and became a 24/7 business back in 2018 to provide its customers with a reliable service at any hour of the day. This involves delivering sameday to anywhere within the M25 but quite often further afield with the business having delivered to Scotland, Berlin, Nice, and even Sri Lanka (with a bit of help from DHL). Citiprint’s clients are mainly large brands and organisations which have been let down or simply left things too late to go elsewhere. “We really are often their last resort so it’s always rewarding to pull it off and have their undivided love and gratitude as a result,” Kent-Ledger says. The idea for the company itself came about when Kent-Ledger was running a London design agency and noticed a lot of clients were asking for the designs the company produced. He realised that rather than referring them elsewhere, he could probably handle it himself. “I shared an office at the time with a guy who sent advert proofs into London on a motorbike same day before tight newspaper deadlines and I realised the same could probably happen with print and signs,” Kent-Ledger explains. “I launched it and delivered with my own car for a while, though a large part of production was outsourced. We bought our first printer around six months later, and another, and another; and before we knew it, we were filling up artic lorries with our kit just to move to these new premises!” According to Kent-Ledger, no one else was doing what he was doing at the time and no one has replicated it since, successfully or otherwise. “It’s quite a feat when you think most of the industry still works in 4-7 working days and we work in 2-4 working hours,” he adds. Selling Bought Back Time Seven years on and as the business conFrom a strong tight-knit team, to utilising kit and software to the max, we catch up with Jacob Kent-Ledger, founder of Citiprint to find out how the company achieves its ambitious same-day turnaround We bought our first printer around six months later, and another, and another; and before we knew it, we were filling up artic lorries with our kit just to move to these new premises tinues to go from strength to strength, Kent-Ledger’s day-to-day role involves overseeing production and working with clients on planning installs and large-scale jobs (which he calls ‘the fun ones!’); and when he’s not proofing jobs or trimming vinyl, he’s busy with classic cars for weddings and events. Whilst Kent-Ledger has done a lot himself from day one, he has a strong tight-knit team around him who enable the company to pull off the mind-boggling turnarounds that they do. “My daily involvement does cover delivering where needed and fitting because I enjoy it. “I don’t want to be stuck to a screen all day but equally want to be the one to calm stressed customers and help guide them to the right solution when their time really matters. I have always seen us as selling bought back time really more so than the product itself.” Kent-Ledger says his dad has always been instrumental in the business, as has his fiancé who he describes as a “strong sounding board for all the big decisions”. Kent-Ledger’s brother joined the business to manage the social media and online presence, as well as develop his production skills. Fitter Dean, has also been on the team for the past three years and KentLedger describes him as invaluable and ▲ Citiprint offers same-day turnaround as its USP 27 Issue 248 - August / September 2023 email: news@signlink.co.uk COMPANY SPOTLIGHT / CITIPRINT
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