The Signs Express Peterborough team are all passionate and skilled individuals with a stake in the businesses success
A touch of excellence
The modern sign industry is a multi-cultural, unisex place where people from all walks of life are welcome to help contribute to the market’s evolution. Despite this approach, there still remains an underlying, archaic ‘belief’ in society that men are best suited to dealing with the more technical side of things.
Speaking to Anne Hitch, managing director of Signs Express Peterborough and King’s Lynn, this could not be any further from the truth. As the only female Signs Express UK owner, Hitch has had to overcome plenty of challenges—one of which being the false perception that she is not technically-minded.
Anne Hitch with sales director Tony Marsh receiving an Innovation Award
A deft touch
Although very humble about her success and position at Sign Express, Hitch is very proud to be the UK’s solitary female Signs Express owner—something she believes gives her a competitive edge.
“Being a woman, this gives me the ability to have a less confrontational approach to business management,” she explains, adding: “This allows me to find out what motivates staff, what makes them enthusiastic and what training I can give them to fulfill this.”
Hitch started the business in 2002 with her husband, who has since moved on from the company. As solitary owner, Hitch says she has drawn on both her own knowledge and that of her team—of which she unselfishly states is the main reason behind the firm’s success.
She explains: “What helps me get out of bed in the morning is the desire to put out very good work, and make my team happy and fulfilled in their work.
What helps me get out of bed in the morning is the desire to put out very good work, and make my team happy and fulfilled in their work”
“I’m really proud of our staff and they form a fundamental part of my strategy to grow the businesses. I think that the way our team works together is the main reason behind our success.
“I’m always keen to help my staff improve and will always talk to them about how we an about this as I’m a great believer in training. It is a key part of our strategy here to both better the quality of work and the well-being of our dedicated staff.”
Yes we can
On the subject of her staff, Hitch goes on to say that their knowledge of the industry has been instrumental in bringing work into the company.
The varied team comprises Dave Thomas in sales, Damion Chickio as senior sign-maker, team leader and vision engraver operative, and Elodie LeMineur in a print operator and designer role. In addition, Shane Bycraft and Jonathan Hitch serve as sign-maker installers, Clair Butron helps part-time in accounts, while Paul Errington has recently been brought on board as a vehicle wrapping specialist, and in a sales and fitting capacity.
Being a woman, this gives me the ability to have a less confrontational approach to business management”
Hitch explains that while other companies have had to turn down work, she has drawn on both her own expertise and the experience of her staff to help capture jobs: “It’s great being able to say ‘yes’ to a customer when they come to us with problems on difficult requirements and commissions, or with short time spans to complete the work.
“I’m very passionate about running the business in a consultative manner—both with customers and our own staff. I’m always asking our staff to train each other in order to build up a powerful working knowledge of the industry and the many areas within it.
“For example, I asked our vehicle graphics chap to train a printer operator, and then vice versa. Then, I’d ask the same staff to train the engraving operator, and then vice versa again. This method of training and teaching is great in helping develop a cross-skilled team that is not afraid to take on one of the many varied projects we get passed to us. Everyone is as multi-skilled as possible.”
Map for All is produced exclusively by Signs Express Peterborough through the RNIB and is now a sector-leading product
Such projects include core work including banners, shop fascias, sign lettering and flex face signs, but a lot of it is also done for larger corporate clients. Hitch says the varied customer list help keep a constant feed of work coming through the door throughout the year—something that will stand he company in good stead as it moves into 2014 and beyond.
Cast your net wide
On the subject of the varied projects that Signs Express Peterborough and King’s Lynn sees pass through its workshop on a daily basis, Hitch highlights one type of work in particular that has seen the company come on leaps and bounds in recent times.
Developed by The Royal Institute of Blind People (RNIB), ‘Map for All’ is a patented way-finding system designed to bring Braille and tactile signage up to date and harness the power modern sign-making technology has to offer.
The maps are carefully designed to blend tactile and visual elements in order to allow everyone, including the blind and partially sighted people, access to important information. These types of signs are placed in public places such as museum, gardens, railway stations, and art galleries.
“I now work for the RNIB as a sign consultant and when they came to us they had suffered with a number of companies due to manufacturing issues,” says Hitch, adding: “We looked at a number of different avenues for manufacturing and decided to invest in our own Trotec Vision engraver. This allows us to achieve really high precision for the complicated topography of the maps. We are also able to overcome a key issue to do with the anchoring of the letters.”
Dave Thomas, sales executive, and Shane Bycraft, sign-maker and installer, discuss a complex project challenge
In addition, Hitch goes on to say that the Map for All design also allows the elderly, very young and those with learning difficulties to use it as it feature mnemonics and 3D effects to aid both understanding and interpretation.
Hitch claims it is her company’s own ‘ahead of the curve’ approach to business that helped bring in the project. Due to the firm’s specialism in normal Braille and tactile work, it can also provide a full product and service portfolio in this area, with the Braille checked for accuracy by the RNIB.
This varied approach to work is undoubtedly one of the main reasons behind the company’s success in recent times. With such a ranging service offering, coupled with a knowledgeable team with a host of experience and skills, Sign Express Peterborough and King’s Lynn can surely look forward to yet more innovative and interesting projects in the future.
Hitch concludes: “Innovation is core driver for our business; using the skill base and tools at our disposal, we can come up with solutions to customer problems that are not always obvious.”
