Judge Sampson KTP: Digital Transformation

This was a Knowledge Transfer Partnership between University of Brighton and Judge Sampson Limited, who manufacture and sell both stock and bespoke printed products, specialising in the heritage and wider ‘cultured tourist’ market. It aimed to implement cutting edge digital transformation of marketing approaches and associated changes to business processes to increase productivity, brand recognition and market share, and attract new design clients, whilst maintaining flexible product customisation for customers.

It was awarded the highest grade of "Outstanding" by the KTP Grading Panel for its achievement in meeting KTP's Objectives.

The original project aims were
> to implement cutting edge digital transformation of marketing approaches and associated changes to business processes to increase productivity, brand recognition and market share;
>attract new design clients, whilst maintaining flexible product customisation for customers.

In addition, the project aimed to improve overall operations across the company and enable Judge Sampson to reach 95% on time in full (OTIF) orders from a OTIF benchmark of 70%.

The rationale behind this was that by implementing cutting edge digital transformation across Judge Sampson's business operations and marketing approaches - developing strategic marketing and business process optimisation expertise in-house - the company could increase the level of productivity per employee from the level of 30% as identified by the ONS productivity calculator at the time of the application, to above the sector average of 75% for similar sized businesses in this sector during the KTP. A long-term objective of the project, was to maximise profit from growth and achieve a 4% profit margin by the end of the KTP, increasing thereafter by 1% per annum post project. The profit margin increased by 300% in 2021 compared with 2020.

Overall, the project transformed Judge Sampson’s previous business processes and culture and developed an innovative business development and marketing strategy, integrated with information systems and nurtured a culture of innovation and creativity which empowers staff to bring ideas to life and Get Things Done (GTD acronym developed by the team, and the name of their team meetings ‘GTD meetings’).

The culture has been embedded in all business and management processes including internal audit, monitoring and evaluation of clients and products, brand visioning as well as improved commercial awareness and decision making on new product development.

Firstly, it is noted that the initial project workplan was written pre-pandemic and that projections in terms of increased productivity and profit were also calculated pre-pandemic. The project delivery however commenced in January 2021 when the pandemic had made a notable impact on market share and the team had been significantly reduced, leading to a re-thinking of team responsibilities and approach to operations. The KTP was recognised as especially relevant and valuable at this juncture, and despite the reality of the situation of a significant downturn in customers and a surplus of stock, Judge Sampson committed to achieving the project aims – prioritising the KTP during the period and making time to sit down and analyse business, make decisions and make changes.

The team became experts at turning the challenges into opportunities and embracing new approaches, with the KTP bringing about an impactful culture of change. Key was the focus on brand awareness; the necessity to focus on UK based manufacture and UK based heritage customers and a shift from a priority to attract new design clients to building in house design capability. Building expertise in-house with staff having greater ownership of their roles and impact of their work as a team on the company operations as a whole.

The key project aims, in terms of the digital transformation of marketing approaches and associated changes to business processes to increase productivity, brand recognition and market share did not change. They did however meet with greater challenges given the serious impact of the pandemic on the business and needed to be flexible and agile to adapt to significant shifts in specific business approaches (both through the course of the KTP and informed by the input of the KTP) namely:

- A move away from the priority to attract new design clients to creating in house design capability
- A shift in focus from overseas to UK based manufacture with UK heritage – leading to a more sustainable business model
- A reduced reliance on importing and impact on stock/warehouse
- A change of focus from direct selling to building digital assets and digital marketing with a centralising of prospects
- Developing existing customers
- Reduced staff with greater range of responsibilities.

Judge Sampson manufacture and sell both stock and bespoke printed products, specialising in the heritage and wider ‘cultured tourist’ market. Additionally, they offer a design service to assist clients in developing their own designs, products and merchandise. Many items, such as calendars, postcards and greeting cards are printed in the UK however, Judge Sampson work with suppliers all over the world.

Core business has not changed, but the KTP has made a significant impact upon the company’s business. It has given the company the confidence and skills to analyse the business, make decisions and make changes, guided by the Associate’s clear and pragmatic support and digital capability and ability to draw out analysis – validate decisions and encourage staff to feel valued and more confident.

The KTP has contributed to a significant shift in company culture and transformation of the business, contributing to building a strategy focused on its digital transformation and the continued development of this strategy:

-The strategy is now achieving more due to the holistic view it takes across the business
-Management agree that they need to ensure the production system really works so that the data is accurate and all processes tie up - highly complex but being better understood across the company
-Reduced reliance on direct selling and a move away from the traditional sales rep role – this now means there is someone in-house working to develop the digital assets
-The KTP has helped to position the strategy to build focus on digital sales managers targeting specific areas – the CRM has been refined and prospects are centralised
-A reappraisal of how Judges work with clients, focusing on Judges core strengths and capabilities, and where else in the business this can be of benefit.
-Looking ahead, the strategy will be enhanced to include the new digital assets currently being developed. This will result in a stock reduction and less waste.


Graeme Wolford, Managing Director, Judges said:
"It is fantastic to see how much business has evolved and most importantly, people are all informed and enthused with the direction of the KTP. In 2021, we achieved over 300% increase in net profit, which was the biggest financial improvement over the past ten years, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic.

"Apart from that, the KTP helps me turn strategies into real outcomes. The Board has been thinking about rebranding and embracing new CRM and ERP systems for years, but we struggled to make them happen until now.

"Therefore, I have never enjoyed my working life as much as I do right now.”

For the University of Brighton School of Business and Law, the KTP provided detailed examples of the use of process improvement and information systems adoption which we draw on in internal subject group review and alignment of subject group strategy with regional evidence.

Both knowledge base partners gained insight about digital transformation and inclusive project leadership which we use in our work. Both have also refined their knowledge of change and performance management processes and the role played by organisational culture in a company’s strategies.

Asher Rospigliosi and Rodrigo Lucena said:

“Working with Lulu Qu, the Associate and with the Judges team was a delight. We exceeded all our expectations. The range of organisational changes at Judges went far beyond the adoption of digital marketing, CRM and an ERP for manufacture sales and promotion. The company has become a learning organisation and this changehas been reflected in the School of Business and Law. We, as knowledge base partners, learned from the KTP and were positively impressed by the radical transformation the company went through as a result of the partnership.”

The partnership was nominated for the Best Knowledge Transfer Partnership Award 2023