Agripa gets ready for life on the open road

Former Innovation centre client Agripa.

A COFFEE in George Square has led to a multi-million pound business for a former five-a-side football entrepreneur.

John Pitt, founder of the Pitz football pitch company, has created Agripa, an advertising material for vehicles.

A fine PVC mesh which can be coated with a vinyl message or image and fitted to any van or lorry, it is capturing the imagination of the world's biggest businesses.

In less than two years of trading, Hillington-based Agripa has achieved a turnover of £3.5million, and contracts are already in place with Tesco, pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline and the Dutch Football League.

Sales director Roseanne Grant said: "Agripa came about over a coffee in George Square back in 2001, when John was looking at the advertising hoarding covering the old GPO building.

"It was made of a lightweight mesh, so he decided to develop something similar for motor vehicles.

"Thankfully he had sold his interest in Pitz because he spent the next year driving up and down the motorway testing the product."

With a team of 15 staff, the business was launched in the spring of 2003, but only after a £500,000 worldwide patent for Agripa was filed.

Roseanne said: "The first thing we did was launch a patent for the product.

"That's the key to its success. It is totally unique and any business that wants to use it has to come to us.

"The only problem is that the patent has to be reapplied for every year - which means we start every trading year with a £500,000 deficit.

"It's a massive burden."

The biggest challenge for Agripa has been creating an audience for the product.

Traditional banners for lorries and vans are well established. Businesses either paint slogans on the side of their vehicles or attach wooden panels or canvas sheeting carrying posters or woven images.

Roseanne said: "With every prospective client, we're always trying to address the 'if it ain't broke, why fix it?' question - we're reinventing the wheel.

"It means we have to create our own market and show businesses different ways of using the space on the side of their vehicles.

"Tesco has been very clever. Rather than use Agripa to advertise its products, it has used the side of supply trucks to advertise other firms' products and services."

Agripa has won the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year title and is in the running for an honour at the Glasgow Business Awards.

The business is also preparing to take its product to the US.

Roseanne said: "We've already made moves into Europe so the next step is North America. It's the land of the truck so it's an ideal market.

"Ironically, our biggest expense will be advertising."

Evening Times

26 April 05

Jonathan Rennie