Images_Digital_Edition_August_2019

www.images-magazine.com AUGUST 2019 images 55 IS DECORATOR PROFILE Pally has also used Adelco dryers from the start, and now has four of the company’s latest Pro-Cure models, each one serving two presses. “They keep the heat at a constant temperature very accurately and the extraction at the front and back means there’s no mist,” Pally explains. He is also pleased with his two new compressors, which are almost silent even when working at full throttle, from Leicester-based Cooper Freer. Elsewhere in the building, other kit includes Reliant heat presses, four Monti Antonio sublimation machines and a D.gen Papyrus G5 direct-to- paper printer in its own temperature- controlled room. Along one long wall of the main print shop, something like 10,000 screens are lined up, creating a vast library of past work. Retail fashion With this set-up, Pally International currently produces around 100,000 pieces per week, supplying manufacturers direct with fashion clothing, especially T-shirts, for retailers including Topshop, Topman, River Island, Urban Outfitters and Boohoo. It means that Pally is witness to the latest high-street fashion trends: the factory shimmers with diamanté, foils, glitter, sequins and colourful transfers. Long sleeves are very much in vogue right now, and there is increased demand for three or four different prints on one garment. “These are time-consuming and keep the machines busy,” Pally adds. The company is constantly investing in new technology, such as a new neck-label machine, in response to customer demand. Pally’s ambition is to do everything in-house and he is planning to introduce dyeing facilities at the factory later this year instead of outsourcing it as he does now. The business remains committed to screen printing, which meets its production needs; however, it also has access to digital printing thanks to garment manufacturer and designer The Tshirt Factory Europe – headed by Adam Steventon and Nick Higgins – which was set up with Pally’s help and rents part of the building downstairs. “We have the digital machine if we want to do something quickly to show a customer,” Pally says. Pally has also invested in constructing a separate new office and manufacturing spaces throughout the factory floor, including meeting and sampling rooms, as well as new facilities for staff. The company is involved in Leicester’s Fast Forward initiative to build legal and ethical labour standards compliance among suppliers in the garment industry. This scheme was originally instigated because of concerns about working practices among garment suppliers in the East Midlands. It aims to drive transparency and help prevent exploitation, tackle areas such as fair wages, employment contracts and employee mistreatment, and ensure a safe working environment. At Pally International, some of the 100-strong workforce has been there for 20 years. “I treat everybody the same,” Pally says. “We give them all the things that they need and everybody knows what they are doing. Everyone gets a proper wage. Some other companies pay less but we pay a fair wage.” Pally is on site at 6am every day, personally opening up the factory so it is ready to go at 8am and shutting up after work stops at 5pm. “I put in the hours. I keep it running smoothly,” he adds. In-house embroidery One of the latest investments was to bring embroidery in-house, with the company acquiring two 12-head Happy Japan embroidery machines over the past 12 months. Pally’s 30-year- old son Garron has led this project and also looks after design and the preparation of samples. “After buying the first machine a year ago and the second a few months ago, we can do it quicker now,” Pally points out. Garron is also an entrepreneur with his own fashion clothing brand, Loud, based in the centre of Leicester, which sells to consumers via loudshop.com . He is not the only member of the family involved in Pally International: Pally’s wife Ruby works in the business and his brother Solly has been there since the start. Even their print shop pooch, Caesar, a seven-year-old Bordeaux mastiff (like the canine co-star of the film Turner and Hooch), has a special place in the business, immortalised as an oil painting on canvas that greets everyone entering the building. The key to success The flat management structure is part of the company’s success, Pally points out. “We’re a big company but we don’t have sales reps, we don’t have any agents, we don’t have any managers. I don’t have an accountant or bookkeeper in-house. All the graphic designs come from the high-street shops so we have no graphic designers in-house apart from a part-timer who comes in as needed. That’s how we keep overheads down.” Pally also points to buying in bulk – from ink to T-shirts – along with the prompt payment of suppliers as I get good rates because I pay suppliers straightaway There are eight MHM printing presses at Pally International, including a top-of-the-range Synchroprint 5000