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From celebrity footballers’ sports cars to life-sized cows, this company has it wrapped up
A custom-designed wrap for a Ferrari 458 Premier Signs of Colchester, a family business, is celebrating 20 years of growth. Back, left to right, Jake Bell, Sean Aldous, Harry Longhurst, Danny Wilkes, James Johnson and Chris De Gidts. Front, Scott Thorburn, Koba (the bulldog) and Grant Thorburn. Picture: JAKE BELL - Credit: Jake Bell
WATCH a Ferrari 458 being wrapped in green and black graffiti style, and find out which current Strictly Come Dancing star had their car wrapped in Colchester
Most of Premier Sign’s customers come to them looking for a makeover for their car, but its amazing what else they can wrap up - including a life-sized cow.
The Colchester company is run by brothers Scott and Grant Thorburn, and Scott recalls the life size cows as being the most memorable wrap in his 20 years in the business. “It was just such a random request,” he says.
“We’ve also wrapped a £365,000 Lamborghini Aventador for Arab royalty in chrome, two Mercedes for former England goalie Joe Hart, and West Ham footballer Marko Arnautovi?’s car too.”
Danny John-Jules of Red Dwarf fame, who has been strutting his stuff lately on Strictly Come Dancing 2018, got a Range Rover wrapped with pink branding for a charity trip.
And the company also decked out a DJ stand for David Guetta.
Home appliances, furniture, lifts, mobility scooters and a variety of beer pumps have also been the focus of their wrapping talents.
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Scott claims wrapping is becoming increasingly popular, and their usual backlog of a four-week wait for orders has now doubled to eight weeks.
So is stand-out wrapping just part of a general trend for Essex bling?
“I think it has really taken off since the wrapper Yiannimize started doing a lot of wrapping on his TV show - that made people more aware of the possibilities,” says Scott.
Other celebrity clients include Harvey Nichols, Jon Culshaw and Tim Westwood.
The company now operates from a 3,000 sq ft unit in Whitehall Industrial Estate, with dedicated dust free wrapping bays with specialist heating and lighting, and it now employs nine staff.
Interiors can be decked out too, and not that Premier Signs is developing a line in personalised car designs, the sky’s the limit - “we could do out the interior with a planetarium-like star theme,” says Scott.
The brothers have just launched a new website and social media platforms especially for vehicle wrapping.
Their first post on Facebook was of a rose gold chrome wrap on a Range Rover Velar, reaching more than one million people within two weeks.
“At this time of the year we get some Christmas versions,” explained Scott. “We once did a Mustang for Ford in red for Christmas.”
Its not just about image - other people have alternative reasons for getting their wagon wrapped. “We wrapped a white BMW in white to protect it so the owner get a better re-sale value,” explained Scott. “It cost a £1,000 and added £6,000 to the value.
“Sometimes people like a car but get bored with it. With a wrap, they can love it again.”