Lots to smile about at the Big Display Company

The Big Display Company has a lot to smile about having taken receipt of their latest print engine, a new Avinci CX3200 dye-sublimation printer, which is giving them triple the output of its predecessor. The business is a new customer for Agfa but having had years of experience in buying their arsenal of printers, Marketing Director, Jack Murphy, knew exactly what they needed from this new machine, and he couldn’t be happier with it.

The Big Display Company, based in Slough, is a family business, originally established in 1978 by Vince Murphy as Bullseye Awards and Garments Ltd. For many years it specialised in the production of trophies and awards and became a leader in its field. In fact, even today they still produce the iconic annual BBC Sports Personality Award. But over the years, to future-proof the business, it diversified into many other areas and Vince now works closely with his two sons, Jack heading up Marketing and Joe driving Sales. Diversifying certainly aided business growth and they finished 2022, their best year ever, with a profitable turnover of £3.2 million.

Continual investment and diversification over the years enabled the business to offer a one-stop solution for their clients, who are a mixture of other printers, sign installers, promotional gift suppliers and event agencies. Today this established trade print business employs 25 people and supplies customers across the UK. It now has an arsenal of multiple printing systems and a Zund GS 3.2m cutter. And their latest addition, the Avinci CX3200 dye-sublimation printer, is the first Agfa-branded product they have purchased.

“We are really pleased with the results from our first Agfa print engine,” says Marketing Director Jack Murphy. “Our old dye-sub machine needed replacing with repair bills growing each year, so our raw material supplier suggested we talk to Agfa. We knew what the business wanted, we’ve purchased many machines over the years, so I asked Agfa lots of technical questions and their replies came back immediately, I suppose it’s the benefit of dealing directly with the manufacturer. I had looked at other suppliers, ones that we are more familiar with, and there were cheaper machines available, but they were going to be more expensive to run. Agfa has a good reputation and the Avinci delivers what we need.”

Jack Murphy added: “Once the decision was made on the printer, the finance deal was a great solution for us and very quick to set up.  The finance, coupled with the service offered by Agfa have been very impressive. Moving to a new supplier was a big decision for us, most of our machines are modular which means our operators can repair them and yet Agfa engines are close-down machines, so you must rely on an Agfa engineer to fix them. We know that all machines with moving parts will at some time need fixing and it’s how responsive the supplier is at these times that’s important. But as promised, Marcus, our closest Agfa engineer, has been very responsive throughout the installation and training and we have faith that will continue when other issues occur. Overall, the whole experience in buying from Agfa has been very impressive and we are very happy with our decision.”

This new investment by The Big Display Company will once again open new markets for the business. They are keen to promote the eco benefits of this new equipment and what it can offer, moving customers away from PVC and on to using dye-sub fabrics for POS that are easy to post and reduce single-use plastic. And now their new commercial fixation calendar unit is installed, they intend to target the soft furnishing interiors market too.