Back from South America

Apologies for the lack of posting to the blog. As some of you may know, I have been away in Argentina and Chile for a month on annual leave. The good ship Indigo was steered expertly by Jo and Essi whilst I had a well earned break in a beautiful part of the world (photo of Argentina above and for those that are interested, more Argentina photos are on Flickr).

Whilst I was away, it was Indigo’s 4^th birthday on the 26^th June and I had plenty of chances to reflect on what we have done over the past year. New offices, doubling the number of staff, great new clients and more, all of which ultimately provide a strong platform for growth. However, nostalgia and patting ourselves on the back has a limited use. Far more important are the plans for 2006/2007 and how we can further improve our commitment to quality, service and price, normally difficult things to provide all at once, but in the two days I have been back I have hit the ground running.

I have just had a excellent meeting with one of the largest UK printers and embroiders, a London based company with a passion that seems neatly aligned with our own. Rapid lead times, impressive and loyal clients, a strong work ethos and the deployment of IT systems to improve customer experience. Indigo is always talking to suppliers, old and new, to ensure we are providing that ideal ‘cocktail’ mentioned above. Being that Indigo is an agency, how does this exactly can we provide both low prices and high quality? Well, we use our large buying power to get major discounts that customers couldn’t achieve buying direct from source themselves. We then are able to pass these discounts on to our clients due to our low overhead, tight margin model, whilst using the best staff to make buying promotional clothing, whether it is 20 items for a Girl Guides group, or 20 thousand items for brewery chain, a more painless process.

I will tell you more about our plans as they come to fruition this summer but rest assured that, this, Indigo’s 5^th year, will be bigger and better than those that have come before!