Loughborough-based point-of-sale (POS) and visual merchandising display specialist SDI, which employs 100 people and is on course for £13 million sales this year, has signed a strategic collaboration deal with advertising agency M3 to develop an “end-to-end solution” that will give its customers a single point of contact for all of their POS systems and display work — from the initial design and marketing planning to the manufacture and installation that will drive traffic and improve sales.

This new approach is expected to generate £2.5 million of new sales, with the possibility of creating up to 10 jobs at the two businesses.

SDI’s retail sales director, Matt Evans (www.sdidisplays.co.uk), said: “It’s a partnership that makes perfect sense; we’re pretty much fusing together the best of our POS and retail displays with experts in advertising, marketing and digital.

“What would normally happen is that the retailer or brand would use one, two or even three agencies to come up with the plan and the idea, then attempt to bring in a display specialist like ourselves to try to make it happen.

"As many people in the sector will tell you, this can lead to a lot of failed dreams and expensive mistakes. What we are doing with this collaboration is offering a single solution, where both parties are involved from the outset.

"This will help us deliver our value-added expertise earlier on in the process and should speed up lead times, be more cost-effective for the customer and — importantly — unlock customer engagement.

"Between the two companies, we have a client book that features fantastic brands, including Dior, F1 Autocentres, Harley Davidson, Harrods, Marks & Spencer, Marston’s and Tesco.”