Celebrating 20 years in the business, Signs Express awards its top achievers and shows its appreciation for the group’s hard work at this year’s Signs Express Convention.

Taking place every two years, the convention sees a number of members of the group from all over the UK and Ireland visit the outskirts of Norwich at the De Vere Dunston Hall hotel, and this year was no exception. Spread over the course of two days, franchisees were able to hear the latest in developments across the network as well as new business opportunities available to increase turnover and enhance their customer base.

But it wasn’t all just what could be achieved in the future, the weekend also celebrated the past 20 years as well as what individual franchises had accomplished over their own years of trading.

The Signs Express Awards marked the landmark celebration with an elegant awards ceremony where centres put forward their own work to be judged for the top spot. Competition was tough with a number of worthy winners in the mix but the final decision rested with the Signs Express directors and a selection of independent judges. 

This year saw longstanding franchisee Ken Bevis from Signs Express (N. & N.E. Lincs) crowned Franchisee of the Year having continued to perform outstandingly and exceed expectations even during the current recession. A Special Achievement was awarded to Dave and Anne Hitch at Signs Express (Peterborough) for their approach and adjustments made to the current economic downturn – the husband and wife team are also currently in the finals of the BFA Franchisee of the Year Awards taking place early next month.

As well as the award decisions at HQ, franchisees were also given the opportunity to nominate a fellow franchisee for their helpfulness. The results were clear with the award going to Stuart Harrison at Signs Express (Milton Keynes) for his willingness to go the extra mile.

The Best Sign Project Award was scooped by Signs Express (Reading) for halo illuminated stainless steel lettering fitted onto a curved glass face for BDO Stoy Hayward; and Signs Express (Warwick) sped into first place winning the Best Vehicle Graphics Project Award for its work carried out for Dobson & White.

Commenting on the weekend’s events managing director Craig Brown said: “With it being our 20th anniversary we really wanted to celebrate the success of both the network and the individuals who have really made an impact on Signs Express as a whole. The awards are our way of recognising and celebrating these success stories. It’s never easy choosing winners from such a diverse group of franchising talent but this year’s winners have proved very worthy of their titles.”

Since its inception in 1989, Signs Express has developed into the largest sign company in the UK and Ireland providing a complete design, manufacture and fitting service for all forms of signage including interior and exterior signs, vehicle graphics, banners, window graphics and exhibition display products.

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