As one of the most highly-anticipated events the UK’s leading sign franchise, Signs Express, has held in its 30-year history, the 2019 Convention at the Home of England Rugby, Twickenham Stadium, was hailed as a huge success.

Kicking off the conference was a memorable speech from Managing Director, Jonathan Bean, highlighting the achievements of the Signs Express network and Franchise Support Centre team, all contributing to the overall network performance growth in 2018.

Mr Bean chose the theme ‘Stronger Together’, stating:

“2018 has been a year of real progress underpinned by our network expansion and sales growth. Our continued success is built around network collaboration, the support we deliver to our franchisees and the relationships we all build with our suppliers and business partners. I absolutely believe that we are Stronger Together and I am certain that today will be a terrific demonstration of that.”

Informative hands-on demonstrations and seminars were held throughout the convention by several key suppliers to the network, Seminars covered many key topics including a ‘digital signage’ workshop and an ‘Innovation and Future Trends’ seminar by Make It Happen Signage Consultancy.

A total of 28 suppliers joined Signs Express franchisees comprising a supplier exhibition which ran throughout the event, with HP and Metamark featured as partner sponsors.

The culmination of the day’s activities was the presentation of the Signs Express Sign Awards 2018, where trophies were awarded to the Newcastle, Falkirk and Birmingham SW centres for Most Striking Design, Best Interior Sign and Best Vehicle Graphics respectively, with Signs Express (Stoke) taking home two trophies for Best Interior Sign and Best Sign Project.

The event continued into the evening with a tour of Twickenham Stadium and an exquisite three-course meal, concluding with entertainment from rugby commentator of 47 years, Ian Robertson, to complement the iconic venue, and the presentation of the coveted Signs Express Franchise Awards.

There were three franchise awards presented on the evening. The Ambassador of the Year was awarded to Thomas Somers, Director of Signs Express (Lancaster) and Newcomer of the Year was presented to Ian and Priya Lawry, Directors of Signs Express (Oxford) for “putting in phenomenal effort, relentlessly and commercially driving their business forward.”

Craig Tiley, Director of Signs Express (Stoke) scored the hat trick, taking home the prestigious Signs Express Franchisee of the Year award for 2018 on top of the centre’s two sign awards. Jonathan Bean celebrated Tiley’s success, saying: “Craig has consistently gone above and beyond, always pushing himself and the business to adapt and grow with creative flair and an open-mind to trying new things. Each month in 2018 his centre surpassed prior year performance, increasing annual sales by 50 percent. With planned investment in the premises and territory expansion we are genuinely excited about where this business can go over the next few years and look forward to working with Signs Express (Stoke) to make it happen.”

Jonathan Bean also took the opportunity to make special recognition presentations of signed rugby memorabilia to Graham Casey of Signs Express (Glasgow), Joe Smith of Signs Express (Birmingham SW), Paul and Lynda Heywood of Signs Express (Harlow), Janiv Patel of Signs Express (Milton Keynes) and David Anthony of Signs Express (Warwick).

After the most exciting Signs Express convention to date, Jonathan and his fellow directors look forward to seeing how the Stronger Together theme will motivate the Signs Express franchise network to achieve their visions in 2019.