Support for Signage
Founded in 1930, the ISA-UK has a long history in signage and graphics. The inception of the Association came about when a group of sign-makers formed the Master Sign Makers Association (MSMA) striving to promote the industry and protect it from adverse legislation through a ‘Signs Defence Fund’.
Fast forward 40 years and the MSMA’s name changed to the British Sign Association (BSA) due to a desire to be more inclusive with membership opening up to the industry. In the year 2000, the Association rebranded again to the British Sign and Graphics Association (BSGA) to reflect the advances in technology and the expansion of products and services within the industry.
Finally, in July 2018, the BSGA formed an affiliate programme with the International Sign Association (ISA) in Alexandria, Virginia, US, which led to its name becoming ISA-UK (powered by BSGA) on January 1st, 2019.
O Factoid: The ISA-UK had two previous names before it partnered with the International Sign Association (ISA) in 2018 where it formed its most recent title ‘ISA-UK (powered by BSGA)’ O
Over the past 70 years, the Association has worked to represent and support its members in the UK and overseas; defend the interests of members by tackling key industry issues such as sector guidelines and legislations; provide access to resources to ensure businesses can operate efficiently; and promote members to prospective sign buyers through networking.
Members of the ISA-UK Council gathered at SDUK to formerly hand over presidency to David Allen
In recent years, the Association has worked to become even more accessible by reducing membership costs and by collaborating and partnering with other key industry organisations and events.
Membership includes all sorts of businesses from signwriters to manufacturers of built-up letters and illuminated signs, to vehicle wrappers and digital signage producers. The ISA-UK also represents other roles such as designers, suppliers, distributors, and specialist consultants.
For many businesses in the industry, being a member of the ISA-UK gives them an extra layer of credibility with all members being vetted and subject to the ISA-UK Code of Practice and Obligations of Membership. Some tenders are even influenced by whether a company is a member of an association or not for this exact reason.
Faces Behind the Association
In terms of who keeps the Association running smoothly, the ISA-UK is run by a council of elected members who all serve in a voluntary capacity. These council members are made up of industry members from all pockets of signage and graphics.
At Sign & Digital UK in April, the presidency of the ISA-UK was handed from Sam Armstrong, owner and founder of signage consultancy Make It Happen, to David Allen, managing director of Allen Signs.
David Allen, managing director of Allen Signs is the current President of the ISA-UK
Armstrong took on the role of president two years ago with the aim of making the association represent standards, education, and support within the signage industry.
When Armstrong took on the role, many big changes were made including restructuring membership fees to make it more affordable and to encourage companies of all types and sizes to become members.
Allen who is currently the managing director of Allen Signs, has a wealth of experience in signage thanks to his family-run business being founded by his parents back in 1965.
Allen Signs is a multi-service business that produces an array of signage applications and itself has a long history with ISA-UK stretching back to the early 1970s.
Allen says: “My father always believed membership of a recognised trade body was vital to show to customers that he was serious about his business and the service he delivered.
“Nearly 50 years later, to take over the presidency of that same association is something I’m very proud to do. To be following in the footsteps of some of the best-known names in our trade is humbling. Like those that have gone before me, I hope I can continue to add value to the association.”
Both Allen and Armstrong were recognised at the 2023 Sign Awards in Birmingham in April with Armstrong winning the award for Industry Champion, and Allen taking home the Highly Commended award.
The ISA-UK sponsored the newly-created Printed Signage category for the UK Graphic Awards 2022
Last year, the ISA-UK sponsored the newly-created Printed Signage Award at the UK Graphic Awards, organised by the same team as the Sign Awards.
Other ISA-UK Council Directors include Gary Bagstaff of Print Sauce; Jeff Bufton of Signs Express; David Derbyshire of Industry Expert; Linda Edwards of Vehicle Wrapping; Shaun Holdom of Fujifilm; and Robert Lambie of uksignboards.com.
The full council meets four times a year and the Association’s activities are organised by committees. Each committee is chaired by a member of the council and includes ISA-UK members and advisors who draw on their own specific knowledge. The Association is also overseen by chief executive officer, Craig Brown.
Guidance and Best Practice
Over the past few months, the ISA-UK has been making industry headlines as it has been working hard behind the scenes on a number of initiatives and events. In February, the Association launched its Best Practice Guides designed to support the sign and graphics industry.
Described as a key document for companies working in the sign and graphics sector, the Best Practice Guides are made up of the ISA-UK Best Practice Guide and the ISA-UK Best Practice Guide – Inspection & Maintenance.
Both guides are said to reflect the ISA-UK’s commitment to developing and promoting clear and implementable best practice and guidance.
Users can access either the full guide for best practice or just the specialist publication for those working within the inspection and maintenance area of the industry. The price for the guides is either £25 for ISA-UK members or £50 for non-members.
Craig Brown, chief executive officer of ISA-UK, says: “Best practices are important to ensure work is done correctly. They are simply the best way to do things and are found to be the most sensible way to proceed to help you avoid falling foul of regulations and legislation.”
“With regards to the Inspection & Maintenance version, for a variety of reasons, maintenance is one of those topics that is often overlooked or not addressed with potential clients at the time of quote or purchase of signage.
“Without trying to state the obvious, external signs in particular are subject and susceptible to the seasonal changes, which put the materials used and the structures they are mounted onto through various states of stress.”
With this in mind, Brown explains that as a minimum, regular inspections should be recommended to the client, especially after extreme weather.
“This isn’t always the easiest subject to broach with clients, so in an effort to address the issue the ISA-UK has put together the ISA-UK Best Practice Guide Inspection and Maintenance, hopefully to help give some pointers,” Brown adds.
Partnerships & Collaborations
This summer, the ISA-UK also announced a new Commercial Partner in ArtSystems with the company announcing a series of events to support and promote the Association. Nottingham-based specialist systems distributor, ArtSystems will offer information and education days to ISA-UK members including practical help on moving businesses forward in the busy modern market.
The first in the new ‘Open Print Forum’ series of events took place on June 28th at ArtSystem’s Demo Centre in Nottingham. The day explored a number of key technologies from manufacturers such as Summa, Onyx, and Vanguard (a Durst company).
ArtSystems has partnered with ISA-UK to host a series of Open Print Forum events for 2023
John Draycott, marketing manager of ArtSystems, comments: “While the idea of new investment in technology to support growth is obviously attractive to print businesses, it is not quite as simple as just buying a machine and installing it.
“There is so much more to consider when committing to investment, and we understand this can be quite tricky for businesses. Our new Open Forum Print series will help to guide print businesses during this process, allowing them to identify the best and most cost-effective solutions to drive success and future growth.”
Planned for September, the ISA-UK has also announced an event held in collaboration with the FESPA UK Association. This event promises to look at ways businesses in the visual communications sector can push the materials, machines, and technologies they use to the limits.
The day will feature examples of designs in print and signage, with the evening providing a chance to discuss the methods used to produce the pieces on display with the people who created them. The evening will include a three-course meal, with a keynote speaker and networking opportunities.
This is the first time the ISA-UK and FESPA UK have worked together on an event like this and as a result they will be bringing the two UK communities together which often overlap in the work they produce.
Suzi Ward, managing director of the FESPA UK Association, comments: “Being able to work with the ISA-UK and bring our two UK communities together, feels like a huge step forward for both print and signage. This is a fantastic opportunity for printers and sign-makers to come together at an event that has been created just for them, something that to my knowledge has never been offered before.
“The event will be informative, it will highlight innovation design and concepts created by both printers and sign-makers, who will be on hand to discuss how they created the pieces on display, what applications they used, what materials, and what technology was at the forefront of the project.”
Ward adds: “What makes this event even better is that as we are both trade associations, all the proceeds will be invested back into the industry through projects like the Next Generation initiative and the Waste Management project.”
With so much going on with the only UK trade association dedicated to the signage industry, we caught up with Craig Brown, chief executive officer of ISA-UK to find out about how he came to be in the signage industry, what the role of ISA-UK CEO entails, and what we can expect to see from the Association in the coming months:
Craig Brown, chief executive officer of ISA-UK started out in the industry as a signwriter
Tell me about how you came to be in the sign industry?
I started in the sign trade in 1984 as a Youth Training Scheme trainee learning to sign write. I was very fortunate as the business had a wide skillset and I worked in a number of departments picking up technical skills that have served me well during my career.
I joined Signs Express as their first employee in 1989 and was heavily involved in the pilot schemes set-up and went on to run and manage the original centre.
As the business evolved and became better known in the UK, I was voted onto the board of the British Franchise Association which exposed me to working with some of the biggest household names in the UK. This was a great learning opportunity that I’m incredibly grateful to have been exposed to.
I went on to be a shareholder and owner of the business, finally stepping away from my role as managing director in 2018 after 29 years in the business.
How did you come to be the CEO of the ISA-UK?
I’d been involved with the BSA/BSGA/ISA-UK since 2000 in a voluntary capacity sitting on the technical committee and later on the board, so I knew the organisation well.
When Covid-19 struck, like many businesses, our income stream diminished and we suspended membership fees for a period to assist our members.
Even as a not-for-profit, this put strains on the Association and it was about this time our director sought to retire. He’d done a cracking job but we needed someone to step in whilst we looked to recruit a replacement and as I had the capacity in my schedule to help I stepped in as an interim measure.
Sadly, the replacement managing director we recruited felt the role wasn’t for him after six months. I was asked to step back into the role, and that’s where we find ourselves today. I think the fact I love this industry probably has played a factor in my still being here too!
What does the role of CEO of the ISA-UK entail?
I jokingly say it’s like being a glorified agony aunt. I act as a councillor, advisor, and sounding board, but fundamentally all I’m interested in is helping to maintain a healthy sector for our members and sign businesses to trade in.
I’m often just a conduit to share information with or pass people on to those most suited to provide a solution.
Why has the ISA-UK chosen to collaborate with other industry members and associations?
I think coming from a franchising background I recognise the importance of strength in numbers and working together. We have recently become part of GPMA which brings a number of trade associations together under one banner to have a louder voice when talking with Government bodies.
As individuals, we probably wouldn’t get across the threshold but as a combined unit our voice can be heard. Again, this is all about supporting the sector, not a single trade association.
How can the Association benefit industry members?
We are here for our members and will continue to do all we can within our budgetary restrictions to keep our sector as healthy as possible. Through companies and individuals being involved we can all take responsibility in making sure our sector continues to thrive…often it’s the little steps that get us where we need to be.
Anything to add?
I’m always available to talk. I’m not going to force anyone’s arm up their back to join but I would encourage people who work in our sector to think about what they can do to improve. We are all great at spotting problems but not many offer solutions….could you be that person?
To find out more about the ISA-UK or becoming a member, visit www.uksigns.org, call 0845 338 3016, or email ask@uksigns.org.
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