Back to work at Gun Control Paint, but not quite business as usual
Matt’s new XCR bike, awarded ‘Best Finish’ at this year’s Bespoked show. New work painted last month for Gun Control and Spoon Customs, by Jack Kingston out of his own paint workshop in Hull.
When you go to a show like Rouleur as I did last week, it seems like there’s plenty of people designing and painting some pretty awesome looking stuff, with varying degrees of technical know how.
Doing it right – on a technical or design level – is much harder however and in our work over the years we have helped brands, manufacturers and individuals better understand the process of designing, preparing and finishing stand-out bikes and cycling related stuff. Done right.
One of Chris Hall’s raffle bikes, which must be one of Gun Control’s most impactful projects. Painted by our guests and finished at Gun Control, at a winter event organised for charity just after lockdown.
I am really proud of the competence we’ve become known for in that space and the work we’ve all put in to get us there. Gun Control has also been a welcome creative indulgence, an outlet for the bike company (Spoon Customs) and in the ‘private work’ allowed us to stretch and flex into exciting bikes, products, and partnerships we couldn’t do as a bike brand alone.
In that sense, it has always been more than a paint shop. Paint is our medium of course but contrary to Marshall McLuhan’s famous quote, the medium is not the message. And we’ve proved that time and time again in the results we’ve shown our customers.
Together, we’ve connected with brands and helped them understand everything from designing and painting bicycle helmets to eyewear. We’ve also put on awesome events raising money for charity, and even on one job we helped a good customer to understand how to prepare and paint a completely novel material for use on the Formula E pace car. We didn’t do the physical work on that project in the end, but it was nice to be asked to help. All that has been really fun and a point of pride for all of us.
Billy’s Spoon Customs XCR frame painted in-house at WM Paintworks, before we changed its name. Prepped by original team members Luke Barkaway and painted by Sam Weeks. This bike was featured on Gee Milner’s ‘Dream Build’ Channel.
We’ve also worked for world class athletes and brands such as Babble, PokerStars, Cuadro, YT Industries and dozens of private customers who demand the highest standards in the design and finishing of world class bicycles and related parts.
it’s not been easy. But it’s all been a privilege.
In most of that work paint finish has been paramount but the work that’s paid the bills best is the collaborative stuff. Working closely with each other and the customer to advise them and help them to deliver an outstanding outcome. Team work, making the dream work.
The logo was created with Luke and Sam’s direction, by James Worton. The name was shortlisted by Luke, Sam and Andy, from a ton of suggestions brainstormed over a few days. The logo development wasn’t plain sailing, but eventually we landed on this version, which has stood the test of time.
And, in the awards we’ve won and the work we’re most proud of everyone’s input has been essential, with no one person able to carry the project on their own. Even when the weight of the project was on one painter’s back, or fell to someone else to fix something or find the resources, the big wins have come through team work.
When we got that right we were unstoppable – creatively, technically and in any measure that really matters; and I’m so proud and grateful to everyone that’s been involved in that effort.
From Luke at the start who selflessly prepped almost every frame we painted for years (and of course props to those people who came before setting up WM Paintworks); to Kayley at the very end of the ride who mucked in to help us all build much of the new workshop; to Ben who knew little of paint but who’s diplomatic, level head and resilience to do the jobs no one else wanted was just as critical; or Sam the guy who delivered so much of the magic in his brilliant paint finishing expertise.
I’m so proud of everything we’ve achieved together, against the odds and often the hard way.
This year however despite our best efforts, commercial realities hit us harder than we really believed possible. Demand had waned in line with the rest of the market, despite us doing some of the right things. I guess I’d also been hanging on to the idea that exceptional paint might always be a cost centre and the bike company sales would perhaps always prop it up, resisting pressure to outsource or reduce quality, since the start. I am sure that in the final analysis responsibility sits wholly with me there and ultimately I failed to inspire or find ways to make it leaner, or more efficient in time and something had to give.
The pressure became greater, and the changes needed just weren’t possible without big shifts in approach, or asking more from the existing stretched team. In the end, with the status quo and prevailing wind, keeping Gun Control as it was might have meant closing Unit 2 altogether so I took the heartbreaking decision to finally throw in the towel on our commercial paint operations and wind up the operations in the paint shop. Lose a leg to save the patient, perhaps.
It was a hammer blow to our dreams, but more critically meant Sam, Kayley and Ben all lost their jobs, through no fault of their own. To the team, and everyone impacted by that decision, I am so sorry.
The timing couldn’t have been worse for the team, as I had just asked everyone to rebuild our workshops in a new space. The hope had been that if we built the space together it would be good for us all. Doing it ourselves would keep all of us busy and in jobs for what to that point had just felt like a very quiet and long, dark winter.
The last ditch effort didn’t pay off quick enough as we rolled in to the new season however. It resulted in a very smart high spec space (which I think we were all proud to be a part of) but the route to get there wasn’t quicker, it wasn’t easier, it certainly wasn’t cheaper and it put an enormous strain on all of us involved. The later than expected opening, in a market that had shifted and slowed didn’t bring enough reward quickly enough to keep us on track.
As the public struggles of many businesses far bigger than ours will attest, this year has been one of the toughest on record for cycling businesses and against that back drop we just couldn’t balance the books inside the 9 - 5 any longer, whilst maintaining full capacity in the team.
The news hit everyone hard. For my part it was probably the hardest decision I’ve ever had to take at work. For everyone else it meant losing their job.
You grasp for the meaningful in these moments and I remembered Henry Ford famously said, “Coming together is the beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together a success.” In that sense, whilst I’m very proud of what we’ve achieved, it was also incredibly hard to be losing the team we’d all fought so hard for. It felt like failure.
Luke Barkaway who helped set up WM Paintworks pictured in their first workshop at Unit 10. Pic by Simon Eldon.
Despite the news everyone’s response was stoic and calm and we set to work winding down operations together, with everyone doing all they could till the end.
That painful process concluded in mid-summer and we all said goodbye finally, over a makeshift barbecue one summer evening at Unit 2. In that moment - the dream seemingly sunk - alongside the pain of people losing jobs and worrying about their own futures and that of their families, Gun Control Paint seemed like it was no more.
We all felt that.
Fast forward a few long months however and the sacrifices made whilst regretful, unavoidable, horrendous and personally impactful to our staff the most (for which I will always be so sorry) the changes it has brought have allowed us to right the ship to an extent - thanks in no small measure to our customers who have been so supportive - and it seems Gun Control, despite my worst fears at that time seems like it isn’t quite done. Or at least not yet.
We’ve also had some small wins which have put some confidence back. A few weeks after those events, after the dust had settled to an extent for me at least, I realised the date for the Bespoked Show was racing around...
Kayley had painted two frames in her last week at the company. I think they were essentially the last of four or more frames painted in the last two weeks with the full team on site. I decided to take Kayley’s frames and show them off in Dresden.
A bike handpainted for charity by Gun Control’s guests at a party hosted by Chris Hall. Not everything that captured imaginations had to be perfect!
Two frames wouldn’t make a show, but I had one other bike that might go if I could get it done. But with no painter on the team to complete it, this was the first time in years that I’d needed outsourced support to get the final bike done.
Enter Jack Kingston, based out of his own paint shop facility in Hull. Jack is an exceptional independent painter. He’s produced award winning work for many brands over the years including Saffron, Quirk and Ricky Feather. He’s one of just a handful of people outside of our workshops who really understand painting bikes to the highest standards.
I called him and explained what had happened to us and asked him if he’d like to paint a customer’s bike (half expecting we didn’t have time to complete it before the show). He knew he had big shoes to fill and unbelievably Jack not only agreed to take on the job for us, but he also turned the work around in just a few days, in time for the show.
The response for all the bikes we showed this year was incredible. Kayley’s work was mentioned by the judges several times, so much so it must have surely only narrowly missed out on an actual award for her work.
And, the distinction between in-house and out-of-house was seemingly irrelevant to visitors, thanks in part to Jack’s similarly high standards. Designed here, in-house, like almost everything else that rolls out of Gun Control, Unit 2 or Spoon Customs, Jack’s work stood out enough to bring us home the award for Best Finish.
Only perfect was good enough for customer work. The last bike to leave Gun Control under the original team. Designed in house, and painted by Sam in the final week, to his usual outstanding standards.
So what will become of Gun Control next?
Well, we’re clearly not an operational paint shop any longer. But, as long as people want us to keep doing what we can do we’re going to continue the brand, outsourcing finishing, for now. At least as long as people want us to, and who knows, maybe we’ll have in-house capability again in the future.
Way back in January when we started looking for efficiencies with the existing team we invested heavily in Cerakote training. It was expensive, and seemed like part of the solution, but needed further investment to realise benefits. We couldn’t afford at the time and the project stalled, but the potential to streamline our 2k process and deliver a technical finish with less man hours required is still a compelling one, and may be in our future when the time is right. Again, we’ll see.
For now, we’re going to work with Jack and others (helping to guide you when needed) and see how much potential there is still here; see how many customers want us to help out, and take each day as it comes.
For now we’re still able to design, manage and deliver award winning work on a broad range of cycling related substrates on behalf of customers who don’t have the expertise to deliver or manage it themselves. We won’t do all the finishing work ourselves just now, but we know who to bring in to make your project work, and can help you navigate the pit falls, and get the results you need.
I am hopeful that this reduced capability will see us through to better times, and one day at a time help us to secure a long term legacy to be proud of for the people who were there at the start. We’ll see.
Massive thanks to Sam, Kayley and Ben who lost their jobs earlier this year through no fault of their own. I am so grateful for your hard work, creativity and commitment and wish you all every success in whatever you choose to do next.
Thanks also to to everyone else that helped get Gun Control off the ground in it’s first incarnation, creating the conditions and environment where so much wonderful work could be created and delivered together. Thanks to all the customers to date too.
If you’d like to work with us on your next project or think we could help, get in touch with me directly.