Chris Holland catches up with a Bradford graphics firm which grew from the ashes of a failed business and is pioneering a new niche market in specialist healthcare products

SHOULD you ever have occasion to visit a British embassy or high commission in some far flung land the chances are you will find a slice of Bradford there.

It is more than likely that the prestigious looking stainless steel signage was made locally by Laisterdyke graphics firm New Vision which has supplied signs to diplomatic locations around the world - including Europe, Africa and Australia.

It is just one string to the bow of a business which emerged from the ashes of a previous operation and is creating pioneering specialist products for the healthcare sector.

New Vision managing director Steve Duff is carrying on a family business tradition - but has worked hard to avoid the pitfalls which led to the demise of a business founded by his sign writer grandfather.

Innovation and a determination to have a broad spread of clients has been the driving force of continued progress at New Vision , which was launched following the closure of

of William Duff Signs which went into voluntary liquidation on Christmas Eve 1997 with the loss of 22 jobs after trading for nearly 50 years.

Steve launched New Vision in February 1998 from the premises of William Duff in Ventnor Street with six staff.

He said William Duff Signs had fallen victim to both tough trading conditions and relying too heavily the Gallagher tobacco company providing signs over shops and other tobacco sales outlets.

"That was the core business but as tobacco advertising restrictions came in that business was cancelled and a recession forced closure of the old business," said Steve.

"When New Vision was launched several long-standing customers moved their business over to the new company. That helped us get started and provided a basis for building a new operation whose business model was focused on having a broad spread of clients. "The retail sector - especially multi-outlet high street operators - has been the sector on which we have built the business," said Steve.

A key client is shoe repairs, key cutting and engraving chain Timpson for which New Vision is the sole signage supplier and also supplies its sister brands Max Spielmann and Snappy Snaps.

The surge in mobile phone use also created an opportunity for New Vision which has worked for several retailers in the sector, including T-mobile and One to One. and Vodaphone.

Travel businesses such as Going Places, Travel World and The Flight Centre ; card chains PaperTree and Card Warehouse and George in Asda , a project on which New Vision worked with shopfitters Cardinal, have also been a source of work. The Go Local value retail chain is also a regular client.

New Vision is also working for the UK's largest independent dental practice Oasis Dental, which has 300 practices with three million patients and is rebranding following an acquisition.

As austerity has pushed more people to use pawnbrokers New Vision won the contract to provide signage for the expanding Cash Converters chain.

A prestige client is the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for which it supplies official crests and signage in UK embassies and high commission premises overseas.

New Vision's clients also include parcels delivery giant Hermes, formerly part of Bradford-based mail order firm Freeman Grattan Holdings.

Changes at FGH also led to New Vision winning one of its biggest orders to design and install a large illuminated sign at the gateway to FGH's Listerhills site, which has been developed as a base for tenant firms.

New Vision produced a five metre high sign for the 786,000 sq ft warehousing site.

Tony Stead, New Vision business development manager, said: "The project was challenging due to the scale of the signage and its position on the gatehouse structure.

The letters house low-energy LED light modules, creating a subtle 'halo' illumination at night. "

Tony said LED technology has largely replaced neon for producing illuminated signs and has become popular with architects and designers. Fluorescent tubes, although still used in fascia signs and overhead lighting, are now less common due to the lower maintenance and running costs of LED.

"A number of people here have been around long enough to remember when sign writing was still a force. That all changed in the 1980s with the introduction of the first computer aided vinyl cutting machine.

"In the 1990s the digital print revolution changed the signage industry again but opened up a whole new world. Large building wraps, images on vehicles, full colour window graphics, short run displays and wall murals are now the norm but the possibilities on what you can achieve with digital print are endless," said Tony who revealed that new Vision is investing around £60,000 in a new CNC cutting machine .

New Vision has also worked for many years for the Yorkshire Sculpture Park providing digital print and graphics for exhibitions .

It was through contact with designer Andy Edwards on Yorkshire Sculpture Park projects, that New Vision embarked on a new area of business which has seen it become a pioneer as a leading designer and producer of products aimed at helping dementia sufferers.

Mr Edwards was involved in a ground-breaking £450,000 healthcare project at Bradford Royal Infirmary and involved New Vision in Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust's redevelopment of BRI's wards 23 and 29 to improve the environment for acute elderly care patients living with dementia.

It was the first step towards the launch of its specialist healthcare division which has seen New Vision develop new products, including dementia friendly image boards, memory boxes and Kodak style slide wall displays.

Tony Stead said:“This has been a real journey for our business and incredibly rewarding.

We’re keen to bring new products to market – for example, we supply a 1950's style TV relaying films from the Yorkshire Film Archive as a memory booster.

"We are also introducing a 1970s version in recognition of the growing number of younger people living with early onset dementia . We have also developed a digital fish tank for use in hospitals which replicates the real thing.

"We're also upgrading our website which should allow more hospitals and care homes to see what’s available and the next step is an online shop which we hope to have up and running in a couple of months or so."

Tony said New Vision's ability to handle bespoke projects had been invaluable in the growing healthcare market.

"We worked closely with the clinical team at BRI to develop the first products and also to appreciate the very different environment we would be working in. For instance, the behaviour of our installers needed to take account of the needs of patients ."

Tony has attended dementia awareness courses and set up the Queensbury Dementia Friendly Community and is involved in the Bradford Dementia Action Alliance.

Since the award-winning BRI project New Vision has worked for around 20 NHS trusts in Rotherham, Doncaster ,Yeovil, Bedford, London Bolton,Pinderfields in Wakefield and at Airedale Hospital where it created a giant mural to brighten up the children's ward. .

It devised and supplied artwork for the children's emergency department in St George's Hospital, Tooting, London, supplying precision-cut self-adhesive vinyl shapes for a new 'Friendly Forest' wall mural.

Work for the healthcare sector now accounts for nearly 15 per cent of New Vision's £1.2 million turnover and is expected to continue growing.

Steve Duff said: "We're busy working for commercial clients but the health sector is becoming increasingly significant. It is a niche market where we are pioneering new ideas and products to benefit patients.

"We aim to double our turnover in the next few years. We have added a couple of people to take our team to 12 people and there will be other new employment opportunities as we move forward.

" The key thing is that we have achieved our aim of having a diverse client base which provides us with a strong foundation on which to build."