A Nottingham-based signage business is celebrating 35 years in business with eye-catching projects including wrapping a £500,000 Ferrari. Blueprint Nottingham is based on Vale Road in Colwick and specialises in car wraps and signage.
Owner Richard Monk founded the company in 1987 after he became interested in fitting 'go faster' stripes and signwriting. The company has gone from strength to strength ever since.
Over the years he diversified into fitting vinyl wraps which can change the colour or add patterns or signs to vehicles which has led to some interesting jobs. The team at Blueprint spent 35 hours wrapping a £500,000 Ferrari for property developer Arran Bailey ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix, which takes place on Sunday May 29.
Richard said: "Arran has a nice collection of cars and he bought this Ferrari for £500,000. He came in one day and asked us to look after it for a few weeks while he went away. He is taking the car to the Monaco Grand Prix so he decided to get it wrapped. He is going to drive to Monaco in it and then over to Spain before leaving it there for the summer."
He added: "I'll be going out to Spain in three weeks to wrap the kitchen on his boat that he keeps out there too. The wrapping is very time-consuming as the Ferrari took 35 hours to complete. It was on Instagram for a few hours which caused the internet to go into meltdown but after that, it was back to reality."
After spending such a long time as one of the city's best sign specialists, Richard didn't feel nervous working on such an expensive car as it's all in a day's work. Ferraris aren't the only strange item the company has been asked to wrap over the years.
"You have to treat it all in the same way whether it's a ladder or a car. It's just what you do for a living," he said.
"We were asked to wrap hospital beds a few years ago in Brussels. The hospital got special beds for paraplegic patients so they can be changed from bed to bath without having to move the person out. There was a big exhibition and a conference in Brussels for it and I was flown out to wrap the beds to show them off," Richard said.
He added: "We wrapped buses for when Leicester City won the league but we also wrapped a wheelbarrow last week. I also wrapped my own pool table and kitchen at home."
Richard highlighted that while wrapping items and the occasional Ferrari is fun, the signwriting side of the business is where the business really thrives. Car wrapping can also be time-consuming.
"The wrapping is all well and good as everyone loves it but the signwriting is the bread and butter of this company. Wrapping is okay but it's very time-consuming and as the years have gone on, people want more done. They take it to extremes so it can take a long time to wrap a vehicle whereas you can make more money doing signwriting."
The reactions that customers have to seeing their cars for the first time are some of the proudest moments that Richard has had with the business. Some customers have even gotten emotional on seeing their car after it has been wrapped or signage has been added.
"We've had reactions where people have burst into tears on seeing the vehicle. We did one wrap for a woman around lockdown, when she walked in, I thought she was upset but she loved it and had tears in her eyes. That's the best part of my job, seeing people's reactions and getting the feedback," Richard said.
