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.” 

AS Engage Creative proceeds into its third year, we're excited to announce that we've invested in the latest generation digital print technology.

EXCITING NEWS! - We're excited to share exciting news of our next stage of growth here at Engage Creative & Marketing Ltd - We now taken delivery and had installed the next generation technology of commercial production colour digital printing press - THE RICOH Pro C7500.

This exciting new model only joined Ricoh's production press line-up with its launch in November 2023, making Engage Creative the first in North Staffordshire to install this press. 

Our ethos has always been to invest and keep up with print technology. With printing capability bolstered with heavier card stock weights of 470gsm, banner long sheet and 5th colour options, this acquisition opens up exciting opportunities in the bespoke and lightweight packaging sector. The 7500 press also gives us room for growth in our general printing of leaflets, brochures and bespoke wedding printing, increasing our print volumes, faster turnaround without compromising on quality.

In addition to our print room finishing fleet we have also installed a laminating/foiling machine so that we can now offer in-house double sided gloss, matt and soft-touch laminating finish to business cards, menus and invites, as well as foil gold or chrome to add a touch of luxury to bespoke invitations.

The 7500 press was installed at the beginning of April and with a few weeks running under our belts, and training by RICOH we are already feeling the benefits. We're most impressed with the quality of print, ease of setup, and front to back registration.  Ability to duplex print 400gsm has increased our throughput of work.

Ricoh Pro C7500...

The RICOH Pro C7500 is a high performance digital press designed to power productivity. This acquisition expands our offerings to stay current, more reactive and relevant to our client needs.

For 2023 we are very proud to have been chosen as the official Leek Show Programme partner.

Leek Show moved to its new venue last year at Dunwood Fields, Leek Road, Longsdon and was a roaring success. For 2023, Engage Creative has been chosen to manage, design, publish and print a show programme that will be distributed to an expected 10,000 visitors at the entrance gate.

Leek Show Programme 2023...

We're excited to be publishing the show programme this year, which we're planning to be a substantial quality publication with editorial features and content from both last year and whats coming for the 2023 show. 

With an anticipated 10,000 visitors the programme is an ideal opportunity for businesses and organisations exhibiting at the show to broadcast their location, and any promotions or show offers on the day. 

If you've booked a stand for 2023 and wish to advertise in the programme, please get in touch to reserve your advert space.

steve@engagecreative.co.uk

We're finally excited to announce that we will be moving to our new HQ very soon.

We've built a solid reputation in a short amount of time and have many customers in the Baddeley Green and Milton area, and we're pleased to say we're staying local!

Engage Creative new HQ...

Working from home during our first year in business 2022 has been great, and has had its advantages, however we've been bursting at the seams for quite some time so needed our own premises.

Engage Creative & Marketing were excited to start 2023 by welcoming Dan Gregory to their design, web and digital marketing team.

Having graduated in 2016 with a graphic design degree, Dan’s first position was within an in-house marketing department and has since served the last 4 years gaining valuable print production experience with a local commercial printers. Dan’s move to Engage gives him the opportunity to unleash his full creative potential further.

Stephen Bishop, owner and creative director of Engage Creative commented, “having worked with Dan previously, he was the perfect fit when he expressed an interest in joining us. The timing was perfect, as we had been joined by several new clients with an overwhelming prospect of many exciting design, print, web and social media projects for 2023. Dan is a great all rounder, and has so much to offer, and will be a valuable and important member of our team. He brings with him a great design flair, as well as After Effects animation skills, and web knowledge that will strengthen our services and growth moving forward”.

The 'go to' for branding solutions

Based in Baddeley Green, Engage Creative opened its doors in March 2022. Despite being ‘newcomers’, owner, Graphic designer, Stephen Bishop, has amassed almost 35 years experience in the industry, with hands-on management and team leading studios in design agencies, commercial printers, newspaper and magazine publishing as well as signage and display companies building very solid and valuable industry experience. 

Engage for many businesses has quickly established itself as the ‘go to’ for branding, from design, printing, publishing of newsletters and magazines. 2022 saw the installation of many exciting signage installation projects for Engage and has become the preferred supplier of branded workwear and apparel to many local, national and international customers. Engage Creative also offers their clients complete digital branded marketing solutions to complement traditional methods, as well as website builds with fully hosted and managed solutions. For 2023 Engage is proud to have been chosen to build and manage several new e.commerce website, and manage social media marketing for several exciting global brands for a UK distributor. 

September 2022 Engage took its 'show on the road' and setup stall at 'Let's Do Business' the Staffordshire Chambers Business Festival hosted by the superb venue Uttoxeter Racecourse.

With some initial trepidation as to whether a full day out of the studio would be worthwhile, we displayed branded banners with pride, and our wares and were overwhelmed at the interest in Engage Creative.