Nicholas Richards, Business Writer

Examples of the signs created by City Graphics. - Contributed

What started out as a printing company in a one room apartment, with a single vinyl machine on Haughton Avenue, St. Andrew, has now burgeoned into one of Jamaica's largest digital graphics solution company some 15 years later.

City Graphics, an indoor and outdoor digital graphics company, founded by Michael Lynn and Anita Bicknell, has moved beyond graphic printing, to incorporate interior design and billboards, among a range of product offerings.

New management

At the same time, the company which received its start up capital from a loan from the founders parents, is under new management.

It is now being run by newcomers Deborah Lanigan who has a 20 per cent stake in the company and Mark Ho Tai, who owns 40 per cent stake.

Ho Tai is in charge of graphic designing.

The other 40 per cent is held by Bicknell, who has been a silent shareholder since in 1999, the same year Lynn sold his stakes in the company to the two young entrepreneurs and migrated to the United States.

"I was working at Xerox, doing digital printing and design like I do here now, when Michael (Lynn) called me and invited me to work with the company," said Ho Tai, who has first and second degrees in architecture from George Brown College and York University, Toronto.

"The owners were looking for someone to compliment the staff both in terms of customer service and designing which is my area of expertise, so that's how I came here," said Ho Tai.

Lanigan's recruitment was similar, as she too received a call while working in human resources at Wyndham Rose Hall Resort and Country Club in Montego Bay. This time from Bicknell, who noted that her background in human resources would make her ideal for administration.

Technology boost

Since the duo came on board, City Graphics has sought to boost the technology in order to gain new efficiencies.

Nine months ago, they installed a US$300,000 VuTek Press/Vu machine which allows high resolution printing directly on any flat substrate, which invariably has "reduced production time by 50 per cent."

This follows the introduction of a Salsa 1500 four years ago, in which they invested US$200,000.

"This is a huge improvement from the simple vinyl machine we had when we started in that one room on Houghton Road in 1992," said Ho-Tai.

The company is now located at the Trade Centre, Red Hills Road.

The company detailed a number of challenges, none of which appeared peculiar to their circumstance - they face competition from other companies in their market, and are upset with the quality of service provided by Jamaica Public Service Company Limited.

"We had to even call in people from overseas to repair some of our computers," said Lanigan, claiming some of the damage were linked to power cuts.

Ho Tai added that they have lost production time due to the outages, the last being the all island blackout this summer which lasted for up to 10 hours in some sections of Jamaica, which is exacerbated by their high monthly electricity bills.

The company also faces competition from players like Caledonia Outdoor Advertising Limited, Signtex Limited and National Outdoor Advertising Limited, which has forced City Graphics to look at its business model.

"It cannot be business as usual for us, that's why we are looking into diversifying our product offering," said Ho Tai.

"Up to four years ago, we would have been doing a million banners, but now that is not enough because everybody is doing that," added Lanigan. "So that's why we have to be looking into new markets to maintain our competitive edge."

Looking to reposition

Lanigan adds that some of the City Graphics clients, especially the larger companies, have started doing some of their own banners and signs.

"... So we have to be looking to reposition ourselves by tapping into new areas within the market," she said.

The company says there is revenue potential in areas such as retail signage, electronic billboards instalment, trimedia and wall papering.

The challenges are not unique to City Graphics, as major players like National and Signtex also complain about intensified competition within the industry driving prices down.

Add this to the persistent hurricanes and the recent cement crisis which "affected many of our clients," said one industry player, "you see that this business is really competitive."

Lanigan and Ho Tai say they operate within a really fickle industry that is always undergoing changes, forcing adjustments.

"We are a really flexible company that is always looking to diversify within our industry, that is the reason we have survived for 15 years, and that is why we are targeting outdoor advertising which is a market that is not as saturated as banner printing," said Ho Tai.

- business@gleanerjm.com