Friday, 04 Sep 2015 10:14 GMT

Funkeefish

Starting up a business in the sign industry is no mean feat. Mark Chamberlain, managing director of Funkeefish, opens up to Rob Fletcher about the success of his unique company

Reeling in the profit

When you look at some of the major players in the sign-making market, it is easy to forget that they started life as much smaller companies. After all, even the biggest companies—both inside and outside of our industry—had to start somewhere.

Take Facebook for example; the social media network started life in a Harvard College dorm room, and now finds itself as one of the most influential brands in the world. Companies as big as Facebook start life as just an idea in someone’s head, and when it comes to great ideas, you need not look further than our own industry to gather examples of how these thoughts can be turned into a profitable business.


 


One good example of this is Funkeefish, which offers a whole host of services but specialises in vehicle wraps and design in particular. The brainchild of managing director Mark Chamberlain, the firm has gone from strength-to-strength since its foundation in 2009, establishing itself as one of the major players in the vehicle design market.

“I’ve been in the industry 30 years and worked for another company for 25 years,” Chamberlain explains, adding: “I have great skills in the area of vehicle design. I decided to leave the company I had been working for as I wanted to start my own business. I’m a graphic designer by trade; I basically applied that to vehicles rather than computers or other areas.


 


“There isn’t a major car manufacturer in the UK that I haven’t designed graphics for—I designed for Citroën, Ford, Toyota, and Hyundai—the list is endless. In fact, a lot of the cars from the late 1980s to the early 2000s were basically my handwriting!

“I’ve tried to apply this skill to my new business now. Although we only hold one manufacturer at the moment, which is Ford Racing. We do every-thing for their Formula 4 motor-racing championship team and work closely with Ford Europe designing stuff for their cars.”

Addressing trends

With Funkeefish having established itself as a force in the vehicle design market, Chamberlain is keen for the company not to rest on its laurels and has set his sights on more growth within the business. He discusses how one of the best ways of ensuring new business is by addressing trends within the market.

“Nothing changes too much in this market, but what we have noticed is people are now spending more on their livery,” Chamberlain says, adding: “They like to promote themselves and livery really does make a company look good.


Widely regarded as the highest echelon of aesthetic car design, Lamborghini have commissioned Funkeefish to wrap vehicles for it following a private commission



“I think, in the car industry, they are starting to bring back graphics on cars now. This used to be a massive area, and it is starting to go back that way and is certainly an area of growth. Partial wraps are also growing a lot; we’ve got an almost endless supply of work where we wrap just a roof or mirror to people’s colour preferences. I think this is a growth industry.”

However, despite his ambition to grow the business, Chamberlain is not so keen on the company expanding too much. He explains that he enjoys working with a smaller team of experts and that everyone can have their own input.


(Above & below) “Nothing changes too much in this market, but what we have noticed is people are now spending more on their livery,” says Mark Chamberlain, adding: “They like to promote themselves and livery really does make a company look good.”



“I don't want to be massive; it’s not about becoming a big company,” he explains. “We’re a small community, everyone has an input and that’s what I like. I like to have highly trained staff and I’m working to have them trained with as many manufacturers and their products as I can.

Our strength is that we are very individual; our designs are out there and maybe a bit wacky. It’s not everybody’s cup of tea ”


“Our strength is that we are very individual; our designs are out there and maybe a bit wacky. It’s not everybody’s cup of tea. We’re a bit like Marmite; you either love us or you hate us!”

Standing out from the crowd

Chamberlain goes on to explain that the company has carried this belief in being individual within its work, highlighting a number of key projects that he believes show off Funkeefish’s talents.

He says: “We do work with the energy drink company Relentless, who do a lot of outlandish stuff. This can include wrapping odd things such as fridges, tables and we’ve done a massive oversized drink can.

“Another project we’ve done is for Muck Boots. This is a little bit different to the work that we normally do and is quite challenging. Our work with Ford is also ongoing and we’re going back to France next month to wrap cars for Dubai for Ford Motor Company which will promote Ford’s new EcoBoost engine.

“We’re also getting quite a lot of high-end wrap jobs. For example, we did a wrap of a Lamborghini not so long ago, and Lamborghini approached us as they were quite impressed with the finish of one that we did. We’ve just been given another one to do, so that is quite exciting.”


 


Such is the success of Funkeefish’s work, the company was recently honoured at Arlon’s first 2015 Wrap Wars competition. The firm clinched the award after wrapping a modified Audi TTT in Arlon’s Ultimate Premium Plus Series 2600LX in blue aluminium.

“I never really knew what to expect from that as I did it off my own back after seeing something on social media,” Chamberlain says, continuing: “I came up with about 15 designs and put it to the whole company.


We’re a bit like Marmite; you either love us or hate us,” says Mark Chamberlain



“It was a real shock to win it but Arlon have been really supportive of us. The car has done wonders for us as a business. I never expected in my wildest dreams to have as much back from winning it. We’re immensely proud because it was a very fair, open competition that we entered, so I’m very happy about that.”

It was a real shock to win it but Arlon have been really supportive of us. The car has done wonders for us as a business”


With the Arlon Wrap War win under its belt and a host of ongoing projects with a number of major companies, the future looks very bright for Funkeefish. And with Chamberlain keen to retain a tight-knit team of skilled workers, all of which have an impact, the business looks set to remain on course for further growth within the vehicle wrapping market.


Funkeefish are the exclusive wrapper for Ford Racing in the Formula 4 motor-racing championship team and work closely with the design team at Ford Europe
 




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