Sign of the times... the NI women who made it their business to help schools and shops keep the public safe from Covid-19
Nuala Mcilroy and Natalie Johnston’s print design company hit hard times as the pandemic struck, but the easing of lockdown has pointed the way to a whole new market, they tell Stephanie Bell
Nexttimeyoustepon a social distancing marker outside your local shop, chances are that Belfast business partners Nuala Mcilroy and Natalie Johnston designed it. After years of working for others, last October the two women decided to pool their talents and set up their own print design company aimed at small businesses.
As Covid-19 hit and many of their customers were forced to shut down, the two women feared their fledgling business would flounder.
But a keen eye for opportunity saw them come up with a range of new signs explaining coronavirus restrictions to customers for those businesses which were able to stay open.
And now as lockdown starts to ease and more businesses prepare to open their doors to begin trading in a new way, Belfast Print Online is working flat out to help them get ready.
What is even more remarkable for Nuala is that she has managed to launch a new company and put it at the heart of the community while also giving up alcohol for a year.
Exactly one year ago this month she pledged to give up alcohol to raise funds to help combat the rise in the suicide rate in Northern Ireland.
As someone who loved a drink most nights of the week, vowing not to touch a drop for a year was a huge challenge.
And as she clocked up her 12 months of sobriety last week, she shed a tear of joy as she celebrated, not with a glass of wine but by presenting a cheque for £2,100 to the suicide charity PIPS.
“I am super proud of myself,” she admits. “I know to some it might not seem like a huge amount of money but to a small charity like PIPS which does such a good job it will make a huge difference.
“At the moment with the upturn in business I am starting work at 4am and working until midnight most days so I don’t have time to drink!
“I really don’t think I could have done that or been able to see the business through this crisis if I had still been drinking the way I was.”
Nuala (43), from Dunmurry, and her business partner and friend Natalie (39), from Ballyclare, are both experienced graphic designers.
They decided to set up their own print business last October, offering to design and print a range of materials for local business including flyers, stationery and booklets.
But just as they were getting on their feet and starting to build a solid customer base, the Covid-19 crisis led to lockdown and the girls had to think fast to survive.
Natalie explains: “We work online so we could keep going but most of our customer base was forced to close. It was a very worrying time but because we had no overheads or big premises we very quickly decided it could be an opportunity to grow the business.
“I had seen the stickers and signs in England to help businesses explain new rules for their customers on social distancing and thought we could do something similar here.
“We started to produce a range of social distancing floor markers and hand sanitising signs and other different signs that relate to the current situation.
“We have gradually increased our range of Covid products and we now also produce them with a company’s chosen font and colours or logo.
“We are currently working on 300 floor stickers in preparation for Action Cancer shops reopening and floor vinyls for Tile Market stores when they start trading.
“There are not enough hours in the day for us right now. We are flat out, it has been phenomenal,” Natalie says.
“This month has been the busiest yet as more businesses get ready to open and we’ve had a 300% increase in turnover since last month.
“We are currently ranking on the first page of Google for printers in Belfast and are getting hundreds of visitors to our website daily, mostly from Northern Ireland but also the numbers of customers from England has grown.
“The last two weeks have been the busiest to date and we have even been asked if we can deliver our Covid signs to Greece!”
Of course, reopening with Covid signage detailing safety and social distancing advice does mean extra expense for businesses although the two women have worked hard to try and keep costs as low as possible.
A small business can kit itself out with Covid safety signs for around £255. This includes floor stickers, acrylic sneeze guards for counters, safety signage and custom branding.
Floor stickers are selling at £25 for five or 30 for £120.
A full hand sanitising station that holds the sanitiser and paper rolls in concealed shelving is also available for £199.
Nuala explains: “Our floor stickers are our number one selling product as they are the main social distancing product that all businesses are buying.
“It’s important to give customers and staff a constant reminder to keep their distance as this way of life is going to be here for the foreseeable without doubt. We have printed thousands of floor stickers over the past couple of months.”
Nuala and Natalie have also been using their skills to help small businesses to keep trading during lockdown by designing online shops for them.
And they are also currently working on a range of products in preparation for schools reopening.
“We have had orders from schools in England for pull-up banners and we are also working on developing new products for classrooms,” says Nuala.
“These include classroom sneeze guards to put round the children at their desks.
“We are customising them to try and make them child friendly, with illustrations and the child’s name on them and a window at the front.
“We now have a wide range of predesigned Covid-19 products which can be ordered as they are or we can adjust the art work to suit the business.”
That business is booming at what is such a difficult time for many, is not lost on the two
women who are keenly aware of the amount of people who are finding life very tough due to the pandemic.
“We feel very lucky to be busy at a time when many businesses are struggling,” says Nuala.
“We love the fact that we are growing our business by helping other businesses to adapt and get theirs up and running again.
“Our business strategy is focused around customer service and customer care as we understand the large amount of blood, sweat and tears that goes into any business, big or small, and don’t take that for granted.
“We appreciate all of the customers we have gained during the Covid crisis and hope to continue working with them all in the future.”
On the personal front too, Nuala waged her own battle to try and control her drinking while raising funds for charity.
She has been living with her partner for 10 years and feared her alcohol intake was getting out of control and impacting on her relationship.
Also distressed by the soaring suicide rate in Northern Ireland, she felt the need to do something to help.
“I was a big drinker and loved to party so it was a massive challenge for me to stop drinking for so long,” she admits.
“I would have drunk most nights, usually four or five beers a night.
“I was also starting to feel depressed and had attended my GP because I had no energy and the only time I felt happy was when I was going to bed to sleep.
“I knew that wasn’t right and I felt the drink had something to do with it.
“During lockdown so many people seem to have turned to drink and in our society, everything seems to evolve around drink and it is hard to get away from it. I think many of my friends and family thought there was no way I would do it, which just made me more determined.
“I knew if I didn’t try to nip my drinking in the bud it could become a problem for me.
“I was also struck by how many young people in Northern Ireland were sadly taking their own lives and wanted to do something to help so I decided I would go dry for a year and get people to sponsor me for suicide awareness and to raise funds for PIPS.”
Once people had pledged cash for the charity if she kept her promise not to drink, Nuala was determined not to let them or herself down by giving in to temptation.
And while she did struggle when socialising with friends, overall she has been surprised at just how better life has been without alcohol.
She says: “I did struggle when I was around other people who were drinking but I was really strict with myself, I didn’t even put wine in my beef bourguignon!
“I will drink again but it will be very different from the way I drank before. I have learnt that the life benefits of not drinking far outnumber the benefits of drinking.
“Before things always evolved around drinking but that is not as big a part of my life now. I have found that I am exercising more and I feel happier and healthier. My depression has completely gone.”
She adds: “Our suicide statistics in Northern Ireland are very scary and I believe a lot of depression and anxiety is caused by drinking. I hope that maybe people can be encouraged by what I have done to know that life can be better without booze.”