Member Article

Shutter Media gives football club new look

A North East football club has been given a new look thanks to a fast-growing Teesside firm.

Shutter Media, set up just two-and-a-half years ago, has been working with Middlesbrough FC to brighten up various areas of the Riverside Stadium, ahead of their new season which started on Saturday.

One of the highlights includes a huge mural on the side of the stadium’s west stand, above the club shop, which captures one of the biggest moments in the club’s history.

The giant illustration, designed by Craig Pinder in Boro’s community department, shows Massimo Maccarone’s diving header against Steaua Bucharest in the semi-finals of the 2006 UEFA Cup.

It’s one of many new features around the stadium which Shutter Media has been commissioned to produce.

Boss Steve Hale, originally from Liverpool, is aiming to triple turnover this year and add as many as 10 new staff to his 12-man team after launching the company in 2011, to provide colourful vinyl coatings for shop shutters.

Now the entrepreneur expects turnover to top £750,000 after winning contracts with Ferrari, Hugo Boss and an advertising agency in Milan.

He’s also working on a deal to potentially supply shutter blinds to a £38m-a-year national company.

“Things are moving really fast, we’re growing at an alarming rate,” said Mr Hale.

“Winning the big contracts is brilliant, it shows that we can compete with the bigger outfits and that we can work with the big players.

“But we also love working with our local firms - the likes of Ramsden’s and Middlesbrough FC - which is our bread-and-butter.

“Some of the stuff you can do now is fantastic and the work we’re doing is really getting picked up.”

Other recent contract wins include a £40,000 deal with Fermanagh Council to redesign roller shutters and street furniture on the high streets of Enniskillen, Northern Ireland.

He has also won work from local authorities in Middlesbrough, London and Anglesey.

“The boarded-up shops in town centres have actually provided a good opportunity for us,” he said.

“By putting eye-catching graphics on roller shutters you can create an effective form of advertising.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Martin Walker .