Former customer who saved Fife business from closure plans expansion

When a customer heard the owner of a 20-year-old Fife signage company planned to close its doors, he decided to take on the business.

Piers Rickard had used the Glenrothes business to make designs for his company, Crow Mountain Bike.

When he visited the shop in May 2020,owner Jim McManus said he would be closing.

But rather than see the business shut for good, Mr Rickard stepped in.

He said: “I spoke to the former owner and he said he was planning to close. I have another business and Sapphire did work for me.

“When I was in picking up an order, the then-owner said that would be the last because he was closing.

“His wife also runs a business and he said he couldn’t do both.

“He’d offered the business to his staff but they did not want to take it on, so I said I’d buy it.”

Fife signage firm doubles sales

Despite difficult trading circumstances, the business has boomed with turnover doubling.

In May last year, Sapphire relocated to premises at Newark Road South in Glenrothes, more than doubling the size of the production facility.

“We got to the point where business was backing up and lead times for delivery were growing due to the limited space we had,” Piers said.

“We started to offer additional services. Before, we could only fit one vehicle in the previous workshop.

“The preparation area is now the same size as the whole of the old unit.

“We can have up to four vehicles in at any one time, so we’ve more than doubled the space.”

‘I’ve never worked so hard’, says boss

There have been challenges along the way, including adding to the team.

But two years on, the new owner is reaping the rewards of deciding to take on the business.

“I’ve never worked so hard in all my life,” Piers said.

“It has been very challenging, but I think anyone who runs a business will know that.

“Staffing is always the hardest part of the business, but the team I have are absolutely brilliant.”

As a client of Business Gateway Fife, Piers was able to access funding to invest in new machinery, including a grant to buy new computer hardware.

His HR adviser, Catherine Bartle, said: “Piers has made rapid progress over the last few months and has already secured four new employees.

“We were able to help him access funding opportunities to continue to invest in the operations for the new vehicle wrapping and graphics service.”