Stoke-on-Trent-based print and signage specialist Engage Creative has marked a ‘pivotal’ year of growth, investing £100,000 in new equipment, delivering its largest-ever fleet rebrand and recording its busiest month since launching in 2022.
The company outgrew its previous premises in Baddeley Green and moved to Clough Street in Hanley, securing five times the space and a more prominent position.
Creative director and founder Steve Bishop said: “2025 was pivotal for us as a business – we’d built our brand and websites, and continued to invest in equipment. We were building a name for ourselves and a strong position in the market.
“We had outgrown our Baddeley Green premises, stifling our growth. With more planned equipment on the horizon, we took the opportunity to move to larger premises on the outskirts of Hanley. This move not only made it easier to service our customers due its location, it also gave us five times the space which we filled with more equipment much more quickly than anticipated.”
The new HQ enabled the firm to split its operations into dedicated print rooms, including a wide format signage and vehicle installation bay and a temperature-controlled digital print room.
New additions include a direct-to-film print machine, a Veloblade flat-bed CNC cutting and milling machine with a 5ft x 10ft working capability, a second HP 630W latex wide format printer and a Kala vinyl application table.
The move also led to high-profile new work, including a contract with a London-based global equine transport specialist to wrap over a dozen animal transport stalls.
Steve said: “We never anticipated or expected that our move to Clough Street would increase our visibility as a business and open up further lucrative opportunities. We were approached by a London-based global equine transport specialist to work with a local manufacturer of animal transport stalls to completely wrap over a dozen of them.
“This would be our most challenging project to date. Each stall involved over 30 metres of cast printed vinyl wrap and over two days of install per unit, due to the challenging surface with protruding welds and labour-intensive trimming around doors, locks, hinges and access panels, with each weld having to heat shrink the vinyl. The results however were outstanding.”
Engage Creative also secured work supplying reflective repair vinyl sections for West Midlands Ambulance Service via a neighbouring authorised accident repair centre, and completed a rebrand of a fleet of more than 60 vehicles for Tunstall-based Phoenix Gas.
With January proving to be their busiest month to date, the business has now expanded its team to four full-time and one part-time employee, with plans to recruit further this year.
Steve added: “What our customers most like about Engage is that we offer full brand management, with the convenience of having everything in one place, from business cards, leaflets and vehicle livery to signage and team workwear ensuring brand consistency without having to entrust several companies.”
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