ImagesMagUK_September_2021

IS DECORATOR PROFILE www.images-magazine.com 42 images SEPTEMBER 2021 E dinburgh-based decorator Get Branded has been supplying decorated garments and other branded products for 33 years. After the pandemic, the company saw an opportunity to grow its business further. However, such an expansion would have required it to increase its team of four by recruiting new employees and the company’s management felt anxious about making such a financial commitment while the future remained uncertain. Director Nacho Luna Borrás comments: “We multi-task here – I can print a shirt, do embroidery, answer the phone, clean the toilet – but you can stretch only so far and we needed more hands. We tried to do it based on money but it was impossible because, after lockdown, we had no idea of what would happen – one month open, then a second lockdown.” Kicking on Get Branded is growing its business with the help of four recruits under the government’s Kickstart scheme Fortunately, Nacho came upon the government’s Kickstart scheme, which provides paid six-month placements for people on Universal Credit aged 16 to 24. Run through the Department for Work and Pensions, it provides employers with £1,500 per person per month, based on the National Minimum Wage. At Get Branded, £1,000 goes to the employee for salary and national insurance for 25 hours per week, and the rest funds admin and coaching to help them find jobs. Kickstarting growth Between April and June, Get Branded took on four Kickstart employees – doubling its workforce – allocating them to different parts of the business: Hazel Peden focuses on embroidery and production, Leia Meredith graphic design and printing, Chardonnay Auguste-Lancaster sales and customer service, and Emma Yeats marketing. Get Branded has put in place structured training plans so they end the six months with a personalised manual of their learnings and achievements. They were recruited through Kickstart ‘gateway’ partner Atwood Tate, which provides sessions on CVs, interview techniques and job searching. Nacho explains: “We have the benefit of extra hands, but we have the advantage of being a family business and quite a small company so we are cross-training everyone on the placements so they can all understand production, customer care, admin, marketing. When they finish their placement, we want them to have all Nacho Luna Borrás in the showroom Hazel Peden working on the Happy embroidery machine Emma Yeats at work on a sublimation machine