Four generations have helped to build up The Signature Works – a company with a rich heritage that continues to adapt and grow
According to the sign above the door, The Signature Works has been “making it personal since 1971”, but its roots go back much further, starting life as a handkerchief embroidery business in the late 1950s. Based in Bangor in Northern Ireland, it is now in the hands of the third and fourth generations, but this is not a family business stuck in the past: it has grown into a garment decorator and schoolwear supplier on both sides of the border, embracing the latest technology from ecommerce to direct-to-film (DTF) alongside screen printing and embroidery. “It’s rare you get a company of four generations that’s changed so much over the years,” says Peter McConvey, who is joint managing director with Malcolm Ditty, grandson of founder Stanley Ditty. “We’ve never stopped adapting to the market.”
Peter joined the company – then called Sports Crest because of its focus on sportswear at the time – in 1999, through a merger with his screen printing firm. Both screen printing and embroidery remain core to The Signature Works’ production set-up, allowing it to decorate both large and small runs. Instead of a minimum order quantity, it operates a “minimum invoice” of £25 plus VAT. “One of the challenges for us is that, the size we are now, it can give off that you only do large orders,” Peter adds, “but we do very small, personalised runs for customers as well as the large-scale bulk orders.”
Malcolm Ditty and Peter McConvey
Signature Leavers specialises in leavers’ hoodies
Tribal knowledge
For those large runs, The Signature Works has two automatic M&R screen printing presses, supplied by Screen Print World: a Copperhead with 10 stations, of which two are for flash curers, and a Diamondback with eight stations. For smaller runs, they use a six-station manual press. The presses require a large arsenal of drying and curing equipment comprising two M&R Fusion tunnel dryers, two M&R Global Jalapeno flash curers and three M&R Red Chili flash curers.
Peter admits that as he started out as a screen printer, he still prefers it. “We have adopted the new ways of printing over the years but, for me, screen print is the ‘proper way’ to print. It’s a personal thing. Multi colours are no problem on screen print. I like the finish and its durability. But Joe Public does not know the difference so long as it has a good finish and represents what they were asking for. It’s now only designers who ask for something to be screen printed.”
Screen printing is part of what Peter describes as the “tribal knowledge” that he and his colleagues feel they need to pass on to new generations. “Screen print is a skill that we’re trying to keep alive, and we’re trying to embrace that skillset going forward. When I started in 1990, getting people interested in learning the craft of screen printing was a lot easier.” He says The Signature Works has created a “robust” training programme covering all aspects of garment decoration including DTF and embroidery. “If you know it, you should be passing that tribal knowledge along, adding anything that needs to keep it up to date.” This extends across the whole business including people in sales, retail and admin. “Part of running a business is managing risk and you can’t have one person holding all the skills cards.”
The Signature Works expanded into DTF in 2024, adding the Mimaki TXF300-75 system alongside an Adkins shaker and oven. The first months involved a lot of “trial and error” dealing with issues such as humidity and extraction, he says, but “we’ve got it off to a fine art now”. DTF has opened up more opportunities for work. “We can now offer small runs with multiple colours quite easily with quick turnarounds if that’s required.” The set-up also includes a Roland VersaStudio GS2-24 cutter and a Mimaki CJV150-107 printer/cutter, with Sefa single-unit manual and double-unit automatic heat presses for transfers.
In the early days doing handkerchief embroidery, Stanley Ditty – or “Mr Stanley”, as he was known by staff in the style of the times – used Swiss embroidery machines. After Malcolm’s father, “Mr Alan”, came into the business in 1997, they switched to Tajima. Over the past three years, the machines have all been replaced by newer Tajima models, all sourced from AJS, to create a powerhouse of 10 eight-head machines and two single-heads. “We used the single-heads for sampling, but we don’t use them so much for that now,” Peter explains. “We use Wilcom digitising software, which gives us the ability to send out TrueView visualisations instead of physical samples. We’re trying to make it more digital as we are across the whole business.”
The Signature Works has 10 eight-head Tajima embroidery machines
Opportunity in adversity
The company has customers covering the full gamut of decorated garment sectors, from workwear and business-to-business to teamwear and clubs, but having in-house embroidery is important for two core parts of the business: schoolwear and leavers’ hoodies. The latter is something that The Signature Works has been doing for years for schools, colleges and universities, but it really took off after Covid lockdowns fragmented classes by moving teaching online. The portal for parents to order is open for just one week, promoted by the school, and then all the orders are amalgamated, normally with embroidery front left and initials front right and print on the back. They are delivered in bulk to the school for distribution. “Covid presented adversity and within that adversity was an opportunity which has snowballed over the past four years,” Peter says. Its success, driven by leavers’ hoodies being adopted in other areas, such as clubs and performing arts schools, led the company to set up a dedicated business, Signature Leavers. “It’s a time of the year when we’re not doing as much schoolwear, so it fits in very well with the business model.”
The company was renamed The Signature Works in 2009 to reflect its expansion beyond sports into other areas – most notably schoolwear. As well as its base in Bangor in County Down, north-east of Belfast, it has Signature Schools shops in Belfast and, since last year, up the coast in Carrickfergus in County Antrim. While the shops sell schoolwear, they are also satellite sites for picking up any work done by The Signature Works. The company is also a trade supplier to other schoolwear retailers across Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, including being distributor for Banner.
Peter says The Signature Works favours Banner for school uniforms, especially as it has a “huge range” of eco-friendly, recycled products, which schools are now asking for. The group’s Aptus sportswear brand is also popular especially in primary schools where there is particular demand for “great, cost-effective” gear for PE kits. But he notes that it is a different picture in secondary schools where branded sportswear is still preferred such as Canterbury for rugby and O’Neills for Gaelic football.
At present, there are no rules restricting school uniforms in Northern Ireland, only a directive advising that schools’ uniform policies be “fair and reasonable, in practical and financial terms”, offering parents a choice of suppliers. Although there are moves to require schools to explain to parents the reasons for the price of their school uniforms, there is nothing as tough as the proposed curb in England of three items plus a tie. “I’d be worried about that if I were a school retailer in England,” Peter says. He noticed this summer that parents seemed to be buying fewer plain items, opting to go to stores like Asda and Sainsbury’s. “I think parents do want school uniforms, but they just don’t want to pay for them.”
In the screen room at The Signature Works – a print for County Down’s Copeland Distillery
Embroidery for Nina’s Notes music workshop
Increasing costs and prices
Like other businesses, rising costs such as energy bills have been a challenge for the company in recent years, although Peter supports the rise in national insurance and the minimum wage as “the right and proper thing to do”. With a workforce of 60 rising to as many as 80 over the summer for the back to school period, The Signature Works pays above the minimum wage and tries to look after its employees, some of whom have been with the business for over 40 years. After Covid, it changed its working hours from the standard 8am to 5pm Monday to Friday to 8am to 5pm Monday to Thursday and 8am to 1.30pm on Friday, so staff can enjoy a long weekend.
However, extra costs do mean that prices have had to increase, Peter adds. “It is a challenge to maintain your margin and increase prices while customer expectations have gone up: they want speed, quality, sustainability, but you can’t give them that at a bottom-basement price. You are balancing all that while staying competitive, which is a daily challenge. But if you run a business, costs will go up: that’s the price of admission. Every year there are challenges. You can’t just look at them – you have to look at the ways of how you get over them.”
One challenge that The Signature Works has not faced is Brexit. With Northern Ireland still being in the European Customs Union, there is unfettered access between the north and the Republic of Ireland. “From our point of view, there’s some extra paperwork but it’s probably worked to our advantage. We probably have the best of both worlds at the moment as we’re able to deal north and south without any problems.” In fact, The Signature Works has acquired more business in the Republic since Brexit – another “opportunity in adversity”.
The corporate structure has evolved as the business has grown, with Stephen Collins part of the management team as production director. More recently, they have started introducing standard operating procedures across all areas of the business. “It’s really important that the business runs on a daily business without constant input from management,” Peter explains. “When you have a multiple-site business, that’s important.”
Full-colour printing from The Signature Works
Embroidery on workwear for Ballyclare florist Hedgerows & Laneways
Slinging ink on the M&R manual press
Online sales and automation
About 40% of sales are now online, both for schoolwear and more generally, but Peter expects more digital transformation and automation in the future. “Moving forward, the more digital we can make the company for small runs and fast turnarounds, the better. We are trying to automate every part of our business but still focusing on service as well as technology.”
Sourcing garments from suppliers PenCarrie, Ralawise, Prestige and Russell Europe, the company is opting increasingly for more sustainable ranges due to demand from customers. “We are being asked a lot more now for recycled and organic products. They are asking where are the products made, how are they made, what are the credentials of the company making them, and we have that information on hand.” He describes sustainability as an “ongoing journey” to protect the planet for future generations – including his first grandchild, Saoírse, who arrived this summer thanks to his daughter, Aoife Dougherty, the company’s sales administrator. “Having four kids and now a granddaughter, I have to think about them and what their future holds.”
Despite change and growth, The Signature Works has retained the ethos of a family business, with Peter’s daughter and Malcolm’s son now involved. Not only is staff turnover low but they have many long-term customers. “It’s not just having family members on board but it gives staff a feeling of belonging. Your moral compass and values are leaning more towards family and I think the staff feel that as well. We’re all here to make profit for the business, but there’s more to it than just making money. As a family business, you hold those values high and you’re always thinking, ‘What would Mr Stanley think?, ‘What would Mr Alan have done?’.” But with a fourth generation on board, and a fifth generation in the wings, he says The Signature Works will continue to evolve. “As new generations come on board, their skill sets will definitely change the business in the future.”
