Product Expertise

Product Expertise

We work with plastics, textiles, fibreglass, ceramics, wood, stainless steel, glass and even precious metals. We understand how different substrates work – how they are made and how they can be printed or branded, or combined together. Our product engineering knowledge covers a multitude of product categories and we can advise the best materials to work with and how your brand logo can look its best.

Creative Design

Creative Design

We are very proud of our design team who without doubt gives us a massive competitive advantage. Starting with simple hand drawn sketches, through to renders and 3D visualisations – and now 3D CAD modelling and 3D printing. We work closely with our product engineer and our suppliers to ensure that our ideas can actually be manufactured.

Technical Creativity

Technical Creativity

Our designers work with sophisticated software able to produce full technical drawings, 3D rendering and imagery which can then be used to make prototype samples. The quality of our 3D rendering is superb and really helps clients to visualise concepts. We go one step further by offering 3D printed samples – which proves invaluable when clients can see and feel within hours samples of items we have designed.

Value Engineering

Value Engineering

Very often we are asked to cost engineer a product to make it fit a particular budget without losing the general look and feel of the original.

Combining the benefit of our trained product engineer and our close working relationship with suppliers allows us to take any product or design and engineer it in such a way as to provide cost savings without losing the aesthetics of the desired finished item.

Global Sourcing

Global Sourcing

HMA sources from all over the world and we have the experience to know which factories to use for particular types of products. We employ Chinese speakers in the UK who are in constant contact with our supplier base in China, as well as HMA people on the ground in China, continually visiting factories. Although we have many hundreds of suppliers globally, our key preferred suppliers are all fully audited and ethically regulated.

Manufacturing

Manufacturing

We have a dedicated production team, who after having spent endless hours visiting factories in the Far East and Europe, have a valuable working knowledge of how most items are manufactured and we work very closely with our factory base and our team in China to ensure orders go through the production process as efficiently as possible, carefully controlling quality at all stages. We are used to working to critical paths and deadlines and we manage our client expectations through transparent communication.

Safety Testing

Safety Testing

We have always taken product safety very seriously because many of our products appeal to children. We know that everything we produce will require rigorous testing and safety certificates before they are put out onto market. We understand safety testing requirements on a global level as each country has its own testing requirements, depending on the product. We work closely with internationally recognised testing laboratories to ensure compliance with safety and environmental requirements. Product risk assessments and function tests are carried out at an early stage to establish whether a hazard may exist, then we work to correct it – before bulk production takes place. Our products are compliant with safety legislation.

Quality Control

Quality Control

We have a dedicated team in china for quality control AQL inspections and audits and we also use other 3rd party companies such as HK QC Centre, Intertek, TUV and UL.

We offer inspections at all levels of production – from initial factory inspections through to DUPRO and FRI inspections. We typically work to AQL BS6001 Level II standards and can include any client specific requirements within our procedures.

Ethical Compliance

Ethical Compliance

HMA is committed to ensuring a high standard of ethical and environmental trade practises, including the provision of safe working conditions and the protection of workers’ rights across our business and supply chain.

We are members of SEDEX and work to a Code of Ethics modelled on the Ethical Trade Initiative Base Code.

We work very closely with Impactt Limited who is a leading consultancy specialising in ethical trade, human rights and labour standards across our core supplier base.

We have an ETI trained auditor as part of our team in China responsible for the ongoing monitoring and auditing of core factories.

We have been awarded Silver Recognition Level on EcoVadis for our CSR Performance in 2016.

Supply Chain Management

Supply Chain Management

HMA is experienced in every aspect of supply from the moment of order to the moment of delivery. We ensure we purchase competitively and ethically, maintain quality and safety standards, manufacture on time and in full and ship using globally recognised shipping lines and reputable couriers.

Global Logistics and Warehousing

Global Logistics and Warehousing

There aren’t many parts of the world that HMA hasn’t shipped to over the years so when we say we can ship to global markets, we mean it. We work with a handpicked selection of logistics companies offering global air, sea and road delivery methods.

We have a large on-site warehouse at our head office in Aylesbury for clients who require storage. Our storage rates are very reasonable and very often we will offer storage free of charge if part of a larger project. In addition we use hubs in China and USA depending on final destinations of the product.

Brand Catalogue Management

Brand Catalogue Management

We offer a variety of web shops and online order windows, each one being fully customized to our clients exact requirements. We offer a full service of website set up and hosting, data collection and collation, order processing and management, shipment, storage and distribution, stock management and detailed reporting.

Heritage

Heritage

HMA’s origins date back to 1972, when the company was called Hurst Son & Partners Ltd, specialising in publishing diaries and calendars for Harrods. Alan Morris, successful in his own right as ex-Marketing Director of Bostik and a leading force behind the launch of Blu Tack, joined Peter Hurst in 1992 when the company was re-named Hurst Morris Associates Ltd. Peter’s printing and management background combined with Alan’s marketing experience, created a potent concoction of creativity, technical expertise and the company’s expansion snowballed.

The company became known for offering a wide range of exclusively designed branded promotional merchandise. In 1998 our Far East sourcing grew dramatically as we became involved in the covermount industry. And very soon we moved into a purpose built site in Aylesbury offering spacious office space and a large warehouse. The company re-branded it’s trading name as HMA Creative in 2002.

The drinks side of our business started in 2006 and from that our thirst for innovation has grown.

Today we continue to expand our range of services into new sectors of the promotional market and our passion for innovative design across global brand names will always differentiate us from our competition.

Our Vision

Our Vision

To remain unrivalled in our innovative and design led approach to our work

To provide an all-encompassing service from conception of idea to final delivery

To remain flexible and adaptive to our clients’ needs

To remain passionate about the brand

To continue excellence in our ethical compliance programme

To expand into new areas but retain our identity

Our China Presence

Our China Presence

Our close working relationship with China has spanned many years and as such we have placed our own team there, covering factories from South China up to and beyond Shanghai. Our team not only assist with quality control and facilitate our extensive ethical work, they also provide a safety net for communication between our head office and our suppliers. We are also fortunate enough to have Chinese Speaking Account Directors and Department Heads based in our head office so we are able to maximise on a speedy and effective communication flow.