CABLE cleat manufacturer Ellis Patents has invested £30,000 in overhauling its brand, including shortening its name to Ellis.

The company, based at Rillington near Malton, started the process when it was invited to participate in the Labour Government’s Designing Demand Immerse project in 2009, which was shelved as part of the coalition Government’s cut-backs in 2010.

The project teamed small and medium-sized businesses with designers in a bid to resolve business challenges through design.

Richard Shaw, managing director, said: “The whole process has been a real eye-opener. The Immersion Day, which kicked it all off, saw us meeting with an industrial product designer, advertising expert, and re-branding and packaging specialist, who came in and challenged everything we thought we knew about the company and how it looked to the outside world.

“The day highlighted some major problems with our branding – most worryingly that our literature was a mish-mash of different styles, some of our packaging dated back 20 years and our website compounded this with its confusing and complicated layout.”