A COUNTY sign company, which started life in an attic bedroom 12 years ago, has managed to stay open during three national lockdowns and revealed its hope for the future.
Like many small firms in the UK, Covid 19 hit Kempsey-based Ocean Blue Graphics hard, but as the country rolls out its roadmap to recovery, owners Blake and Gemma Hobbs have urged others to keep the faith.
As the main signage contractor to Malvern’s Three Counties Showground, Ocean Blue Graphics produces hundreds of banners, flags, marquee displays and roadside boards for events like the RHS Spring Gardening Festival each and every year.
It could only watch as one by one the 2020 events were cancelled and the pandemic tightened its grip.
In spite of the challenges facing them, the husband and wife team determined to survive and thrive – quickly re-thinking their business strategy, reaching out to potential new customers and adapting their services to meet a new kind of demand.
Their resolve paid off, they remained working and this month they returned to Three Counties, having won the signage contract for the NHS Vaccination Centre.
“Our business has been trading for 12 years now, and sometimes we forget how hard it has been to get to where we are,” Mr Hobbs said.
“We are reminded when we see our work displayed across the three counties and further afield and love the fact that we’ve helped other businesses to grow. We weren’t about to let a pandemic wipe out a decade of effort just like that!”
“The current crisis has definitely forced us to work in new ways”, said Gemma.
