Profile: Sophie’s love of art and design led her to Kingston University to study Fashion, where she went on to win Student of the Year and Best Collection before graduating in 2007. Following unanimous acclaim for her final collection, Sophie went on to start her eponymous British accessories brand. Her beautiful accessories are sold globally and are known for their clean and sophisticated designs, gold hardware and surprising playful details. She still draws inspiration from her now extensive collections of whimsical objects and each season she creates a charm to proudly hang from the signature gold-plated hardware on her handbags.
The challenge
After an initial business consultation with some key personnel, it was evident that the company had grown significantly and a new printing solution was required. As one of the UK’s leading designers, handling documents and information is key to the operational side of the business and its printing infrastructure needed to be updated to support this.
Sophie Hulme Ltd has grown extremely quickly in a short period of time and now exports products all over the world. The printing solution that was being used had limited functionality and was expensive to run and administer. One small desktop device was costing the business more than £1000 per quarter in toner, so it was obvious there had to be a more cost-effective option.
Buying printers in the past had been a little hit and miss, with no real internal IT support. The office space was split across two floors with no network cabling, so the entire IT infrastructure was managed across a Wi-Fi connection in a purely Mac environment.
The solution
MR, in partnership with IT Document Solutions, was invited to visit, along with several other suppliers. As part of the process,a thorough audit was conducted across the site to gain a full understanding of the business requirements and the ways in which staff interface with documents on a daily basis.
On the back of our recommendations and projections, MR won the contract and implementation began almost immediately.
“Sophie Hulme needed a solution quickly, but weren’t sure which way to turn. A managed print solution was the way forward to reduce the burden of running a small unmanaged print offering and provide immediate cost savings. As a result, we immediately focused on the business requirement and created an investment proposal delivering the solution and savings they required.”
— One of the senior consultants
Having assessed the organisations requirements, MR recommended the implementation of a Xerox Work Centre Pro as the main office device and a small Lexmark MFD for backup and resilience. Installing a managed print solution instantly provided a faster and a more productive multi-functional digital solution for the business. Keeping costs down was important, as was being able to work with limited IT resources, both of which were addressed with the new solution.
The benefits
The transition to the new solution was seamless. MR conducted key user training to ensure all staff took full advantage of the new devices immediately. The tools available to staff have been greatly improved, saving crucial time and money. More importantly, the remote diagnostic software means the business no longer needs to order expensive consumables, place services calls or take meter readings, as this is all done automatically. This proactive service and support has lifted a massive burden off the shoulders of the internal team, enabling them to focus on their job roles.
“The new devices are great and we have immediately saved 25% on our printing costs. MR in partnership with IT Document Solutions offered us a good balance of dealing with a trusted supplier with a new service/product offering. Having had time for the solution to bed in we would be happy to recommend MR to other businesses.”
— Simon Defoe, Finance Director