As I sit staring out the window at grey winter skies it is with a real sense of optimism that I look forward to the blossoming of spring just around the corner. This is my 18th issue at the helm of SignLink, something of a milestone for me as I find myself once again preparing for our biggest edition of the year in April.

My strongest impression from the last year-and-a-half is that our industry really is buoyant and seems to have weathered well the economic storms and squalls that have continued to blow around the globe since 2008.
The some 10,000 plus visitors at this year’s FESPA Barcelona exhibition and the buzz of excitement rippling out across the UK industry about the upcoming Sign and Digital UK show at the end of this month is testament to that.

I have simply never experienced the level of emails that have come into my inbox over the last few weeks, well surpassing the same period last year. There has literally been hundreds of new kit releases in the run up to both shows from new adhesive tapes, up to the launch of new wide-format print technology. A very notable recent release in this latter area has been Mimaki’s JV400 latex printer, with a world first white ink option for the technology. This announcement somewhat stunned industry commentators as it came out of the blue, with the effect that HP no longer hold the monopoly in this area.

What this boom in investment and technology production from manufacturers and suppliers indicate is that there is a strong pattern of expansion and increased buying from sign-makers across the spectrum.

Why are we special?

From speaking to many of our smallest industry colleagues this month, they have expressed that banks are simply not being as helpful with credit and loans as they were before the recession. But  this has been counteracted by the fact that technology from CAD/CAM software, through CNC routers and cutters, to entry-level wide-format printers have come down in price and increased in quality over the last two years.

It is also a fact that the continued growth in sectors such as LED lighting and vehicle livery/wrapping—as well as demand for vibrant wall graphics, posters and banners from retailers trying to capture consumers—has allowed smaller companies to diversify and create solid new revenue streams.

Indeed, the retail sector seems set to sustain many sign-makers, as excluding fuel, retail figures were up 1.2 percent against expectations of a 0.3 percent decline. Figures compiled by the Local Data Company also showed however that over the whole year 5,268 shops were closed, while the number of openings only reached 5,094 in the UK.

The figures also showed that while convenience stores, supermarkets and charity shops showed a growth in net openings, the most closures were amongst bookshops, electrical and home furnishing stores. This has been caused by the ongoing trend of high street closures in these areas in favour of major out-of-town sites—town centre shopping only accounts for 42.5 percent of total spend, compared to 49.4 percent in 2000.

The conclusion of these findings is that consumers are buying more, that major sign-buying sectors are healthy, and those that are not are being replaced by even bigger spenders in the form of chain conglomerates who populate the out-of-town sites.

See for yourself

These major trends have meant that not only are manufacturers and suppliers in general seeing good sales, but sign-makers who were at the bottom of the industry two years ago, have now grown. This allowed them to in turn take on more staff, reinvest, expand production and move into the middle ground—all despite a lack of widely available credit.

If you are sceptical of this viewpoint, then all I would say is watch the intense business activity at FESPA Barcelona on our video diaries at www.SignLinkTV.com or come a long to Sign and Digital UK, running from March 27th to 29th  Birmingham’s NEC, and witness the pace of technology growth and buying levels for yourself.