500 Miles for Smiles

As part of the Sussex Sign Companys’ vision tosupport local communities and their activities we are delighted to announce that this year we are supporting 500 miles for Smiles. Through National Smile Month 2014, ‘Dental Hygienist of the Year’, Christina Chatfield will be walking ‘500 Miles 4 Smiles’ from Scotland to Brighton and in doing so raise awareness and funds of mouth cancer.

The walk will begin in Kirriemuir, Scotland, where Christina’s career began, and finish in Brighton. Helping raise awareness, the Sussex Sign Company not only designed and wrapped the Camper van that will be escorting Christina throughout her journey but also made the 10 metre banner that will greet her on her return. We wish her all the best for the walk and look forward to welcoming her home on: June 19 2014 at The Beach Café.

If you would like to donate please visit: www.500miles4smiles.org.
For more information about the Sussex Sign Company go to: www.sussexsigns.co.uk

Press Release

Top purchases for 2014

A survey by online magazine, Signlink.co.uk, has revealed the items at the top of wish lists for sign makers in 2014. One of the most surprising results was that none of the respondents was considering buying a computer this year.

At the top of the list was a digital printer: 42% of those surveyed indicated that they were likely to purchase one this year. This desire to move into digital printing coincides with the fact that more sign makers are now expanding their portfolios, to offer a wider range of services. Advances in technology have made it more cost effective for them to carry out work such as vehicle wrapping, window graphics and point of sale.

Second on the wish list was a router, with 33%. This was followed by 16% who were looking to purchase a new car or van to use for delivering materials or as an additional marketing tool.

The survey was conducted online between Christmas 2013 and January 2014. It asked readers of the magazine what items they were hoping to buy for their business over the course of 2014.

Here at The Sussex Sign Company we are constantly evaluating our business to ensure we have the right tools to carry out our work to the highest quality.

SEAHAVEN BUSINESS AWARDS 2014

The Sussex Sign Company are proud to have been sponsors of the best retailer of the year at this years Seahaven Business Awards.
There was a record turnout this year for the Seahaven Business Awards – now in its 12th year – over 1100 nominations were received from 74 companies across the Seahaven area for the 6 categories and there was a full house of 100 guests for the President’s Grand Gala Awards Dinner held on May 9th at Woody’s at Peacehaven Golf Club. The judging panel included M.P. Norman Baker, the ex-Mayor of Newhaven Julie Carr and the Presidents/Chairmen of the Newhaven, Peacehaven and Seaford Chambers of Commerce. The winners of the six categories were as follows:

Business of the Year – (sponsored by Swindells Chartered Accountants)
Ist place: CWJ Landscapes 2nd: Seaford Chiropody and Podiatry 3rd:Fundraising Auctions tied with Badger Inks

Business Person of the Year – (sponsored by Autowise)
1st: Simon Studd of Cleancut Gardening Services 2nd: Ian Kerr – Complementary Practitioner 3rd: Alison Campbell of The Co-operative Funeralcare Newhaven

Best Customer Service – (sponsored by The Hope Inn)
1st: Dial a Pet Service 2nd: HSBC Bank Newhaven 3rd: The Co-operative Funeralcare Newhaven

Best Retailer of the Year – (sponsored by The Sussex Sign Company)
1st: Badger Inks 2nd: Osborne’s Fish Bar 3rd: Grab N Go

Best Environmental Business – (sponsored by HM Bookkeeping)
1st: Cleankill Environmental Services 2nd: Age UK East Sussex 3rd: Screen Solutions

President’s Award – Lifetime Achievement Award – (sponsored by Badger Inks)
1st: Peter Crowley (formerly of Wave Leisure) 2nd: Bob Welch – Wasp Printers 3rd: Mike Shorer – Mike Shorer Fine Jewellery

Just prior to awarding the Seahaven Business Awards trophies, Phil Merry, Vice Chairman of Peacehaven Chamber presented their annual Chairman’s Award trophy to Helen Macaulay for her achievements throughout the year, and Gerri Ori, Chairman of Seaford Chamber awarded their Chairman’s trophy to Dave Argent.

The Awards were followed by a grand raffle and the evening was rounded off with an auction of two discounted return airline tickets to Vietnam which had been donated by Mr Le Thanh Dzung, from Vietnam Airlines. The tickets were presented to the winner, Shem and Liz Gardner of The Hope Inn by His Excellency Ambassador Vu Quang Minh, Vietnamese Ambassador for UK and Ireland, Newhaven Chamber’s special guest for the event. The tickets raised £602.00 and the raffle raised £275.00. All proceeds from the auction and the raffle were donated to the Hillcrest Community Centre in Newhaven, a registered charity.

Other distinguished guests included Norman Baker MP, the Leader of Lewes District Council Rob Blackman and outgoing Newhaven Mayor Julie Carr.

Annie Lorys, President of the Newhaven Chamber of Commerce said: ‘This has been a fantastic event. We had a record number of nominations this year – the standard was exceptionally high and the judges had a very tough job when it came to selecting the finalists and then whittling this down to the winners. Our congratulations to all the finalists and winners, but I would like to say to the businesses that weren’t placed this year – please don’t be disheartened – the standard of all the nominations was very high and we hope that they will consider entering again next year.

And for the second time in the Chamber’s history, we had to turn people away for the Awards Dinner because we couldn’t fit any more people into Woody’s Bar and Grill.

On behalf of Newhaven Chamber I would like to say a really big thank you to all our sponsors- in particular our key sponsor Wave Leisure; Sustrans who sponsored some of our advertising and the 6 sponsors of the Awards, without whom this event would not be possible. We are also delighted that Peacehaven and Seaford Chambers came on board this year and encouraged so many businesses in the Seahaven area to take part. Also, thank you to all the businesses that participated – please take part again next year – a larger venue is planned for an even bigger and better event in 2015!

For more information about Newhaven Chamber of Commerce go to www.newhavenchamber.co.uk or ring 01273 517544.

New environmentally friendly LEDs

LED lights offer huge advantages to the sign industry. They can be attached to signage brackets and projected onto the design, enabling it to be seen at night. One manufacturer has recently launched a new range of LED lights that provides environmental advantages.

The new set of LED trough lights, released by Iron Design, offer significant benefits, both in terms of the quality of the light and their energy consumption. They are designed to be used in place of existing T5 fluorescent lights. They consume much less energy, whilst still providing a high quality and consistent bright light. The bulbs will last for more than 50,000 hours.

The lights are manufactured using a much slimmer profile than previous models. They are available either as 600mm or 850mm long lights and measure only 53x25mm. This means that they have less of a detrimental impact on the sign they are designed to illuminate. The slimmer fitting can be easily hidden and doesn’t take away from the overall sign.

The LED lights can be bought as a pair and come with the cables, transformer and the required fixings.

Here at The Sussex Sign Company we can produce a range of LED illuminated signs based on our customer’s requirements.

New concept in LED Lighting

Wandlite have launched a new LED light model, which has the ability to offer 360 degree tube lighting. The product is waterproof, durable and long lasting.

In the past, there has been a tendency for LED manufacturers to focus on the capabilities of the light, rather than the design elements. However, with the new Wandlite, it remains visually attractive as well as practical. The LED tape has been spiral wound along the tube to better direct the light.

This new LED light is extremely energy efficient. It uses 12v or power, but only takes up 1.2 amps of energy per metre. It can be used where there is no direct electrical supply, including outdoor and temporary settings. In these cases, the light can be used with a rechargeable battery, solar panel, car battery or cigarette lighter.

The Wandlite is available in a range of lengths, from 800mm to 2000mm. They can be used to independently or a number of tubes can be connected together to create a longer length. It can also be produced in a range of colours to meet customer needs.

Here at The Sussex Sign Company we can offer a range of illuminated signs to suit the requirements of our customers.

Important workshops to be held at SDUK 2014

The British Sign and Graphics Association (BSGA) has announced that it will hold two workshops a day at this year’s Sign and Digital UK event. These will focus on key areas for the industry, to keep companies up to date on legal issues

Signage businesses are often busy with the day to day running of their company. This means that legislation and planning amendments can get overlooked. However, they can have a significant effect on a business and ignoring them could be costly. The industry needs to ensure they’re aware of the implications of any changes and the impact they have on their business. These workshops will provide companies with a concise forum to bring themselves up to date.

One of the workshops will examine signage design and construction standards. It will pay particular attention to the new European standards and the implications of these for the UK industry. The second workshop will focus on planning regulations, especially in light of the changes regarding signage maintenance and warranties.

Here at The Sussex Sign Company we keep ourselves a-breadth of any developments within the industry, ensuring we understand the implications for our customers of any legal changes.

Be aware of HSE intervention fees

Many companies are still failing to comply with Health and Safety regulations, putting them at risk of having to pay fees to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). The Fee for Intervention (FFI) initiative was brought in over a year ago. However, some companies are still falling foul of the rules.

The FFI scheme is a way of the body recovering their costs in association with the health and safety investigations they have to carry out. If a sign maker is found to be breaching regulations, through an issue on one of their sites, then the HSE has to carry out an in depth investigation. This incurs both considerable time and costs and it was felt that those breaching the laws should be made to pay. The fees are designed to cover the costs of the time spent on site, writing reports and dealing with the matter.

You will only have to pay anything if you fail to comply with the health and safety legislation. Therefore, if you’re a fully compliant company, you will have no issues to worry about.

Here at The Sussex Sign Company we work closely with our customers to ensure all our sites comply with the relevant HSE regulations

Investment key to future proofing a business

The economic downturn has led many businesses to reduce the amount of money they invest in their company. However, with glimmers of hope starting to appear, investment could be a way of ensuring a business is set for the future. Technology vital for the future One of the best investments a signage company can make is in the technology they use. This is developing all the time, with machines producing higher quality prints at a faster pace than before. With financial constraints still affecting companies, it’s important to look at exactly where investment would be best directed. Companies should take a wider approach and look at specific parts of the business that could benefit from investment and where the greatest rewards would be felt. By targeting funds in the right areas, businesses will be best placed to grow in the future. Bringing in new machines, such as the latest printers, will allow businesses to increase their capacity and attract new customers with a wider range of services. Here at The Sussex Sign Company we’re constantly evaluating the market to ensure we invest in the machines that will service our existing and new customers in the right way.

Signs for 2014 looking healthy

With the wider economy showing more signs of recovery, there is a growing feeling of optimism within the signage industry about the future. The outlook for 2014 is looking considerably healthier than it has in the past, with increased orders and new technology coming to the market.

Developments within the industry have enabled companies to have a greater appeal to customers and to widen their target market. More are investing in wide format printers, which can increase their portfolio. They allow shorter print runs to be completed at cost effective prices, as well as the ability to personalise individual items.

Even with this renewed confidence in the industry, some experts still feel that the market will have more tough times over the coming year. The increase in electronic media, the squeezing of retail spaces and sustainability requirements, will all have an impact on the performance of signage companies. However, those companies that take advantage of new techniques and think further afield, will be better placed to move forward.

Here at The Sussex Sign Company we can help our customers with a wide range of signage requirements, from shop signage and vehicle wrapping to illuminated signage and pop up displays.

Create a greater impact with built-up signage

The creation of 3D signage, where the words and images are raised up, is becoming more popular. This allows sign makers to make a greater impact and produce a clean appearance. The advances in materials and technology mean that they can design something that goes further than an average 2D sign. There are some additional considerations to be taken into account when designing this type of sign. They will need to think about the overall design, the budget, durability, how long the sign will be up for and any installation issues. Location is also crucial to the finished look of the sign: the style of a sign that’s positioned high up won’t be the same as one that is at eye level. Built-up signage can be used in a number of different circumstances, where a customer wants to really make people take notice. The words or graphics can even appear to just float against the wall, without any obvious signs of fixings. Specialist lighting techniques are also making more daring styles achievable. Here at The Sussex Sign Company we use a range of materials and techniques, in order to achieve the desired look for all our customers.