One of Wales’ best kept secrets, Inigo Jones Slate Works, has transformed itself into a prestigious global brand using the ‘power of three’ to develop its place in today’s competitive marketplace.
Combining traditional values and craftsmanship, with a keen eye for design focused product lines, and an ambition to reach wider markets; the company has built a world renowned reputation. And now it has turned to technology to drive a 5% increase in online sales, with plans to access the potential of a younger customer base via the new Inigo Jones App.
Embracing traditional and digital
“Combining traditional with progression is key for us,” says John Lloyd. “We have some beautiful products but we needed to take them to market and adapt what we sell and how we sell them to meet customers’ needs. You can see historically we have a reputation for transforming ourselves to remain current without losing our integrity.”
Global brand
Founded in 1861 selling writing slates to local schools, today Inigo Jones is a prestige global brand. Alongside its innovative use of slate as souvenir products, recently the company has supplied slate for more domestic use and enjoys world-wide recognition for its high-quality homeware products including clocks, placemats, wine racks, hi-fi speaker stands, flooring and kitchen worktops.
Historically, the company’s home near Caernarfon has provided it with a good base within the important Snowdonia tourist market. But that geographic advantage has also been a hindrance to its ability to reach wider markets. Taking full advantage of online technology has changed all that. John Lloyd, Inigo Jones’ Managing Director said: “Reaching wider markets has always been a challenge.
Maximising sales
“From the one-to-one support received by Superfast Business Wales we were better able to understand how to grow sales by maximising our world-wide online sales potential.
Now, wherever they are in the world, our customers can not only see the product they’re ordering on multi-platforms, but can also pay for it securely before sitting back and waiting for it to be delivered to their doorstep.”
Raising brand awareness through increased digital marketing activity, hand-in-hand with maximising the potential of online sales through Cloud services, has also enabled the company to respond to the needs of bespoke, high-value markets.
John said: “The ease with which customers can now share their specific design requirements with us has changed the face of how we engage with clients. I find it really exciting to think that 500 million year old Welsh slate – from coasters to plaques to kitchen worktops - can now be found in homes and prestige buildings around the world thanks to 21st century technology.”
Innovating the business
The company’s latest innovation has been the launch of the Inigo Jones App. For use on the iPhone and iPad platforms, it’s available for download from Apple’s App Store. Aimed at giving the company access to the potential of a younger customer base, the Inigo Jones App offers an interactive audio tour of their slate workshop and features their highly skilled craftsmen in action.
Adopting a Cloud-based accounting system has also been another recent development which John Lloyd acknowledges has made the day-to-day running of the company so much more effective with the time saved on the billing process and other routine administrative tasks. “With automatic back-up and regular software updates we are also happy in the knowledge that our data storage is secure” added Mr. Lloyd.
The advice from Superfast Business Wales advisers has played an important part in enabling Inigo Jones to keep abreast of on-line developments.” John Lloyd said: “We have taken on board that advice in order to take full advantage of the local and global possibilities which to date has seen a 5% increase in our online sales. We are confident that continual investment in our web-sales interface and digital marketing strategy will again open up new markets for us both in the UK and world-wide.”