“My father has been in print since he left school at 14 and my mother was very quick to learn sales and customer service together with all the nuances of running a business. The company filled a unique niche at the time offering short-run colour litho printing for which we quickly found a reputation. We have remained true to our size and continue to serve a wide range of local and national clients,” Nick says.
Where are you based?
Thorpe St Andrew, on the east side of Norwich
How many staff do you have?
We are currently running very efficiently with just four humans (three staff and myself) and my dog, Cody, who is the first to meet and greet customers and delivery people alike
What does your firm do?
Our roots in litho short-run colour enabled us to embrace colour digital printing and we now offer both. We stick to what we know: basically anything on paper or card – business stationery, brochures, leaflets, carbonless sets, books and so on. We are proud of our extensive litho spot colour skills and offer Pantone spot colour matching to both business and trade nationwide. More recently we have extended our finishing equipment and now have a very healthy trade finishing arm for PUR binding, square-back stapling and wire binding
What’s your typical customer?
The diversity of the businesses we serve is the one thing that has never changed in nearly 40 years of trading – we see our local window cleaner for his A6 leaflets every six months and dispatch fund-related documents worldwide on a daily basis for a large international investment company. In between is a huge gamut of interesting people and companies!
Which areas do you serve?
Local, national and international. Our trade with local businesses who also prefer to trade local is very rewarding. Our ongoing litho spot colour printing means that we are finding many new national customers now that those skills are disappearing elsewhere
Which markets do you serve?
Just about every one
Where do you see your business in five years’ time?
Like all business at the moment, we are planning but also largely waiting to see just what the business world will be like when the financial supports are finally removed. We will survive and I think the next 12 months will be very, very interesting. Ask me again this time next year!
Anything else you would like people to know about Gowise?
I would like to pay tribute to our amazing staff and our customers who have moved me a great deal during this pandemic. Our team have all played their part, firstly staying safe, but also been amazingly understanding and supportive. Our customers have been communicative, honest and loyal.
What’s your team’s favourite biscuit?
I defer to our quadruped staff member who knows exactly which drawer contains the ginger nuts. Any customer or delivery driver who at any time had any biscuit in any pocket is also fair game
