27 June / July 2023 - Issue 247 email: news@signlink.co.uk No Pigeonhole in Sight This is quite fitting when you consider the broad range of products the company has since grown to offer and as a result, the name hasn’t pigeonholed the business into just one area of print. According to Williamson, the founders never wanted 2601 to be a large-format printer only due to the design and artwork skills Williamson offers. “We don’t want to just be a printer because we work with other printers. We wanted to let people know we are here to create whatever you need, but predominately in the print environment. We’re a little arm to your company in whichever respect you want us to be, rather than ‘we only do print’ or ‘we only do design’.” This ethos can be seen in the work 2601 produces today, having moved away from traditional work such as posters and banners, the company enjoys producing interior work due to its creative nature. This includes a lot of wall coverings, and playing around with various materials. Then came the TV and film sector which is very fast-paced and what Williamson and Johnson have been used to in previous roles. “We’ve always been geared to quick turnaround, so to be able to apply quick turnaround to quality and bespoke work and design was like the golden recipe I believe,” says Williamson. “It’s lovely to have someone turn up at two o’clock in the afternoon with a fully printed job that is very lucrative to us, and ticks the boxes for them and has gotten them out of a hole. A lot of the people in TV and film rely on us so heavily for our speed and expertise.” When you look at the quick turnarounds and variety of work being produced day in, day out at 2601 HQ, it can be baffling to comprehend how the company is pulling this off with such a small team. The workforce is made up of four in production including a newly hired production manager, Williamson and another in the studio who do artwork and design, Johnson and another in sales and production, and another person who works a couple of days a week who assists in things that aren’t day-to-day work related. Working Smart When quizzed on how the team stays on top of the never-ending load of jobs coming in, Williamson says: “Work smart. get the right kit for what you’re trying to achieve. We’ve always wanted machines that we can chop and change materials on really fast because we’re not doing metres and metres worth of print on the same machine. “We needed that flexibility of creating whatever we want, whenever we want, and doing it fast. But at the same time, the long runs that we do get, we can run them overnight and work smart that way.” Also keeping the business going smoothly is the way the entire team puts their hand to any task in front of them. Everyone looks after the day-to-day and gets stuck in. The addition of a new production manager in recent months has also enabled Johnson to take a step away from the general running of jobs and focus more on the business development side of things. “Myself and Steve were spinning a lot of plates,” he explains. “I’m not saying that they were falling off, but it took up a lot of our time. You end up coming in on the weekends, staying late yourself, and we felt that the business wasn’t going to grow if we were a big part of being in it. “Especially myself, I was up and down the stairs – I managed to get my steps in – ◄ The company has designed its own premises to reflect the broad range of services it can provide COMPANY SPOTLIGHT / 2601 Founded – 2015 Size of site – 4,000sq m No of staff – 9 Statistics ◄ [L to R] Paul Johnson and Steve Williamson founded 2601 in 2015
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