Hoole embodies spirit of British innovation
In an age when Britain’s status in the world as the home of manufacturing excellence and technological innovation has been on the wane, a sign-maker in the Yorkshire town of Morley is working hard to keep the tradition alive.
Wednesday, 07 Jan 2015 13:10 GMT
“You just get knack for it,” says The Sign Group’s Graeme Hoole, commenting on how he is able to continuously combine technology to invent new product solutions
"Being able to make connections and see gaps in the market has come with time and hard work. I like being creative and was always very musical at school. But it all came together for me when I started working at a sign company in my early 20s," says Graeme Hoole, production manager and director of The Sign Group.
He continues: "Before I started my own company I did a lot of research, read plenty, spoke to plenty of experts and added all that to my own instinct and training. Our turnover has grown by five times in so many years, and we are just very passionate about what we do."
Indeed, the company has just put the seal on the successful launch of its Neonplus division, which uses LED technology to replicate the effect of traditional neon tubes.
Before I started my own company I did a lot of research, read plenty, spoke to plenty of experts and added all that to my own instinct and training”
Hoole explains: "We work with a lot of neon specialists, and they were getting requests for a solution that could replicate neon. A specific example was a shopping centre that would not allow it to be installed. So we put our thinking caps on and produced a classic cocktail glass and olive image using LED-based systems. You just wouldn’t realise it wasn’t neon and it gave birth to the idea for a separate division and our NP8 product."
Just one of the company’s inventions, they have also managed to soup-up the light output of LEDs they use, with Hoole claiming they are without doubt ‘the brightest in the country’ being used for signage applications. This has given birth to a range of design-led products, including SGLightSheet, which looks more at home in a contemporary art gallery than a sign manufacturer’s workshop.
Hoole continues: "A lot of it can’t be taught, some people can just see the shape that things need to be and are able to produce it. I am very fortunate to have many on my team that have that ability and are committed to hard work and excellence.
I am very fortunate to have many on my team that have that ability and are committed to hard work and excellence”
"We also get a lot of weird and wonderful commissions from very large clients who can pay a premium for bespoke products. We then take the knowledge and equipment used for these jobs and make it possible for even small sign-makers to afford them."
Revealing that most staff work 12 to 14 hours a day, Hoole advises that an investment into two 3 x 2m flatbeds, as well as a completely redesigned workspace and production system, are also factors that enable the company to focus on product innovation while managing a heavy workload.
