At Dufaylite we’re always working hard to create a safe and pleasant environment for our staff and as such we’re delighted to have received the ISO18001 accreditation. This accolade means that we have reached the highest standards of health and safety, sustainability and staff welfare and is testament to hard work, dedication and a significant investment of time to ensure that we passed with flying colours. It is also something that not many other businesses in our sector can shout about which makes us even prouder.

The recent refurbishment of our Cambridge HQ has played a big factor in improving facilities for our staff and helping to achieve the ISO18001 status, which alongside our existing accreditations, ISO9001 and 14001 stands us in great stead for our international expansion plans.

Our Health, Safety and HR Manager, Sharon Ellis couldn’t be happier with the achievement, she said, “Reaching ISO 18001 is a proud moment for Dufaylite, and a real testament to everyone’s hard work. This voluntary international accreditation relates to the complex operational systems that we have in place and underpins our efforts to be both sustainable and a great place to work. It’s a fantastic step forward in building our solid platform for expansion and as this will be audited on an ongoing basis, I can guarantee that we won’t be resting on our laurels, after all the only way is up…and abroad!”

Following on from the second post in our ‘Going Global’ series on how to build relationships with customers abroad, here is some advice on how to expand your reach overseas. Although UK based, we have managed to secure new contacts in all four corners of the world – and everywhere in between. So, how have we done this? Well, as touched upon in our last post, the digital age has enabled the business community to build and maintain relationships overseas. Although we all use phone, email and Skype daily; social media is also a firm staple in our lives, but most businesses still don’t know how to use these online channels to their advantage.

The press release was once the only tool a business had in its arsenal – it was the voice and medium to speak to the masses. However, social media can change the way businesses communicate and interact, bringing bite sized pieces of information directly into your target audience’s hands.

Unlike traditional marketing and PR, social media must be approached differently, as you are not directly selling your business, but creating relationships through two way communication with online communities – this is word-of-mouth marketing at its best!

At Dufaylite we have our own blog, Twitter and LinkedIn profiles and so we can talk till to cows come home about how many followers we have on Twitter, or how big our network is on LinkedIn, but at the end of the day what does that mean to our business? Well, since launching our blog and Twitter in January of 2011, we have increased traffic to our site by 80%, seen businesses from Australia regularly read our blog, and have received in-bound enquiries from businesses overseas – clearly showing that the proof is in the pudding! However, how can capitalise on these ‘followers’ and ‘readers’ and turn them into new business contacts? Well, one social media platform has got this nailed – LinkedIn.

Launched in 2003 it now claims to have over 135 million business contacts subscribed, so this is one online channel that every business MUST utilise. LinkedIn connects you to your business contacts – new, current or old – and helps you exchange knowledge, ideas, and opportunities with a broad network of professionals regionally, nationally and internationally.

So, over the last few months with our posts on Going Global, we’ve taken your business to international markets, told you how to maintain those all important client relationships and now how you can expand your reach overseas… you’re now one step away from global domination. Good luck!

It may have been April Fool’s Day, but the latest rise in landfill tax on 1^st April is definitely no joke.

Now at £64 per tonne and set to increase at a rate of at least £8 per year, landfill tax is an expense that no business can afford to ignore. Reducing the volume of waste being sent to landfill has to be a priority; especially when you consider that by 2014 the tax will have reached a very costly £80 per tonne – and will still be on the rise!

My advice is for businesses to rethink their product lifecycle strategy. The age-old ‘Cradle to Grave’ process needs to be switched for a sustainable ‘Cradle to Cradle’ approach that takes into account new uses for the product once it has fulfilled its original purpose.

Ultra Board is created from up to 87% recovered fibres so it’s already had at least one life before even reaching the printers and designers. It is then recycled again at the end of use, continuing the cycle and moving on to a variety of applications – the possibilities, and process are quite literally endless.

Many retailers already have zero landfill targets and strategies to reach them, so now is definitely the time for the display and signage industry to take advantage of this and re-evaluate the materials in use. Swapping traditional PVC substrates for sustainable alternatives is a crucial move in reducing the waste sent to landfill, not only reducing business impact on the environment but also benefitting that all-important bottom line!

From rocking horses to chairs, here at Dufaylite we’re always amazed at the variety of different Ultra Board applications, but the latest is more ambitious than ever before!

Leeds-based creative office space project, Duke Studios, has broken the mould by choosing Ultra Board to create ten unique and revolutionary studio offices. Taking up one 7,000 sq ft floor of an iconic city centre building, this exciting regeneration project is an inspiring haven for creative businesses and freelancers.

Ultra Board’s sustainable credentials and versatility made it the natural choice for Laura Wellington, designer and co-founder of Duke Studios, she said:

“The studio is a multi-disciplinary office space with creativity at its heart, so it’s massively important to have a space that inspires, encourages and supports the companies within it. Ultra Board was the perfect material to use in the space – creating interesting and flexible surroundings to encourage businesses to thrive and grow.”

With its first residents already moved in – Duke Studios is set to become Leeds’ premier creative destination and we couldn’t be happier that Ultra Board is right at the centre of it all!

Find out more on the Duke Studios website

My last post was the first in a series about ‘Going Global’ discussing how to enter the international market by following our footsteps, which hopefully whet your appetite for conquering markets overseas. This time round we look at how to build lasting relationships with customers abroad, without basing yourselves permanently abroad…

Once businesses enter the global market many are at risk of becoming complacent and “treading international waters”, as abroad there is no doubt that you will be competing against major global organisations and companies operating in their own country. So no matter how great your network, I can’t stress enough how important regular communication is – strong relationships really are the key to success.

Once a connection has been established with an overseas reseller, it’s important that you work on building and maintaining that relationship. Due to the distance, a contact can “age” quickly, so frequent communication is essential. At Dufaylite, we aim to meet with resellers face-to-face on a regular basis as it is crucial that we understand the company and the market first hand. In an ideal world we would have monthly or quarterly visits to customers or distributors, but as we all know too well travelling abroad that frequently is just not a cost effective option. Thanks to the digital age; telephone, e-mail, Skype and even some social media platforms such as Twitter and LinkedIn, are the perfect ways to maintain a working relationship from the comfort of the UK. I’ve had many virtual meetings with clients while I’m sat in my office – never has Australia or America felt so close. However, don’t be fooled into thinking it’s just about relationships there is no excuse to drop service levels just because your clients aren’t round the corner. All companies want to work with businesses that they can trust wherever they are based around the globe. So my top tips to remember are to listen, interact and educate your exporter to maximise sales opportunities and build that lasting relationship. It’s YOUR business, so get involved and get personal!

Today’s fast and ever changing competitive market demands global action and like it or not, without realising it you’re probably already competing internationally with foreign-owned competitors who are all fighting for your market share. So our advice, turn this competition to your advantage – get to know the landscape and be proactive about tapping into markets across international borders – a process that is easier than you may believe.

We are already distributing our own product, Ultra Board, in Europe and have also established links in South America and Australia. Not bad for a company based in Cambridge! However, rather than having to establish operations abroad, which would be time consuming and costly, we chose to work with a number of trusted global resellers who distribute Ultra Board on our behalf.  Although, you may feel like you are introducing a middleman into the relationship, we have found that it really is the best way to get your product on to the international market and makes reaching customers overseas simpler.

Why is this? Well to start with, it can help you avoid many logistical problems, helps to avoid the dreaded time delay issues, breaks down any language barriers, and reduces costs and other trade-related risks. All of which we think are worth losing a small cut of your profits to your reseller partners overseas.

It is important to however, to not become complacent and rely solely on your resellers to push your product abroad – remember your product won’t sell itself! Educate your distributors and provide them with the correct information, so they can help you market your product globally. Make sure you leave budget to develop new promotional materials, invest in travelling to foreign locations in order to build relationships and bear in mind the costs to ship your product overseas.

Given these reasons, we believe the decision to embark on international trade should be done with eyes open.

The rebrand now places the UK association under the global FESPA umbrella brand which not only means more support and guidance, but also opens up countless opportunities for existing and potential members. At Dufaylite HQ, we were honoured to host the first board meeting of FESPA UK, where there were some very interesting, not to mention exciting discussions about the future and all the great things that are to come.

A recent feature in leading industry title, Image Reports, offers a great insight to both FESPA and the reasons behind this exciting change – in fact I couldn’t have said it better myself so click through to find out more…

Image Reports 13^th December 2011

Despite gloomy economic predictions for the year ahead, there remain signs of positivity that companies are still investing in sustainable development. Household brands such as Unilever, Proctor & Gamble and Marks & Spencer, are continuing to invest their money in all things green and we feel that it is only a matter of time before other retailers and businesses follow suit – which is great news for companies like Dufaylite!

This year we’re also excited to see the sustainability agenda placed well and truly in the spotlight, with London 2012 set to be the greenest Olympics in history. LOCOG has committed to a programme which will almost halve the games’ carbon footprint and result in the world’s first sustainable Olympics – a bold statement and one which clearly shows that these issues are at the forefront of both business and society.

On top of this, the 1^st April will mark another rise in landfill tax, forcing organisations to focus on their recycling strategies at a time when saving money is paramount. The print industry has answered this demand with a Planet Friendly Print Program at FESPA DIGITAL 2012 and the world’s first, dedicated, sustainable print-focussed exhibition, EcoPrint in Berlin – great signs of things to come. Both events will be showcasing green printing technology, expertise, applications, solutions and innovations, and will not only offer advice and guidance but also demonstrate that sustainability is important and will remain so for years to come.

2011 has undoubtedly been a challenging year for businesses with the impact of the economic downturn still being felt, but we are confident that sustainability is an important issue which will not be ignored by those looking to cut costs. 2012 is definitely a year to look forward to, and we can’t wait to find out what the next twelve months will bring – watch this space!

Click image to play video

Forget Gary, Louis, Kelly and Tulisa – there’s a new panel in town and it’s called Ultra Board.

Recently selected by Insight Print Media as its substrate of choice, Ultra Board was used to produce a unique stage for Sunday night’s live X Factor show. The top TV show tasked Insight Print Media to design the backdrop for its celebrity performer and international superstar, Rhianna, and thanks to its flexible yet ridged properties, UItra Board was used to create 10 foot props such as giant phones, over-sized lipsticks and a chair.

Kevin Davidson, Creative Director at Insight Print Media, explains: “Once we heard that a backdrop needed to be created for The X Factor, we had no doubts that Ultra Board would be the best medium for the job. Not only was the Ultra Board flexible and lightweight but we were able to print on it effortlessly, enabling us to produce a high quality stage that could be set-up on stage within 3½ minutes – which is essential when working with TV’s tight deadlines!”

In 1955, Dufaylite was founded by the inventor of paper honeycomb George May. Formerly used in aircrafts to make strong lightweight wings and air tanks, in the late1960’s paper honeycomb became the ‘sandwich filler’ for domestic doors. However, by the 1990’s the honeycomb was no longer flying off the shelves and Dufaylite knew that to grow the business it needed to innovate. So, when I took over as CEO in 2000, the first thing I did was identify the potential uses for paper honeycomb, to ensure that we kept moving forwards. Being innovative doesn’t necessarily mean you have to reinvent the wheel, so I simply looked at the existing product and thought of ways I could modify it to appeal to new markets. This proved highly successful and we came up with over 100 different ideas and over the course of a few years and with the support of my team, we analysed, discarded and perfected them until eventually we were left with five product ideas fit for market, and one of them was our market leading substrate Ultra Board. So when it entered the market in 2005 Ultra Board really was a revelation to the print industry and due to its great sustainability credentials, it soon became the substrate of choice for the discerning retailer.

Yet we all know that time never stands still and the key to success will always be to ensure we are constantly evolving to meet the demands of the market. Take Ultra Board for example, our sustainable substrate is widely used in retail PoS and signage across the UK but once we had a foothold in the market, we knew that we couldn’t stay complacent or rest on our laurels and so we proactively spoke to our customers to find out how it could perform better and in the last year we have made our board brighter, whiter, thinner and stronger. This has resulted in a rise in enquiries and most importantly in sales too. This really has been an essential part of our business growth and has even led to us employing staff to solely focus on product development.

However, focussing on our current customers hasn’t meant that we have forgotten about new ones. We continuously try to educate the market on how Ultra Board can be used in a variety of creative applications. Our flexible and sustainable substrate has proven to be very popular with many up-and-coming designers who have selected to use it time-and-time again. Just take a look at Shell Thomas’ pop-up shop or Julian Mayor’s angle chair for inspiration.

So what is the future for Dufaylite? Well as you can imagine we have a few tricks up our sleeve yet and 2012 is set to be another one of innovation, so keep an eye out for our new product developments and innovative uses of Ultra Board soon…