Sudbury family firm makes its marque with growing sales
A stitch in time saves nine – but embroidered branding on work wear saves lots of confusion for customers, according to businessman Steve Gates.
Steven and his wife Lisa own Sudbury business Top Marques, which specialises in producing digital embroidery and print logos and branding on uniforms.
Their daughter, Tessa, also works in the business, overseeing work from start to finish, as does Steve’s brother, Andy, with Sandi Brampton running the embroidery machines and responsible for quality control.
Steve took over the established business five years ago, and he has recently rebranded from Top Marques Direct to Top Marques.
This week, the family launched a revamped showroom in Warner Way, on the Chilton Industrial Estate, to showcase the range of its work on work wear, school uniforms and sports kits.
As well as clients such as Sudbury Town Council, the business works for companies in Greater Manchester and Surrey.
Steve said: “As a company, we have grown and have increased the turnover since taking the business on.
“It is a growing market; businesses see the benefits of having their branding on workwear; it helps customers to identify staff and provides a smart image.”
The firm’s skills extend to getting a company’s logo digitised prior to being embroidered.
“It’s definitely a skill,” explained Steve. “You have to get that right from the start.
“We have to create an embroidery file from the logo and then it depends on how many stitches there are in the design as to how long it takes.
“We always do a sample and make sure the customer is happy.”
He added: “Some designs don’t take very long to produce, but some can take longer. For example, when we embroider Sudbury Town Council’s crest on a piece of cloth, it takes three quarters of an hour because it has 70,000 stitches.”
n For more on the firm, go online to www.topmarquesuniforms.co.uk.