Thursday, 22 Sep 2016 13:37 GMT

Signs Express Sheffield

Franchising has been a wise choice for many. Rob Fletcher talks to Steve Morris, owner of Signs Express Sheffield, about the branch’s impressive growth and plans for future success

Signs of success in the Steel City 

The decision of whether to join a franchise network in the sign industry is not an easy choice. On the one hand, you will be giving away a percentage of profits and always be under the watchful eye of a parent company, but on the other, you will be joining an established company and have access to some of the best resources in the industry.

These are just some of the points that Steve and Carol Morris had to consider before they took charge of the Signs Express Sheffield branch back in 2004. The husband and wife team had been working in the corporate manufacturing environment for most of their lives, holding a number of senior roles during that time.

However, having become somewhat disillusioned with this work, Steve and Carol wanted a fresh challenge and a visit to a franchise show threw up the chance to take on a sign franchise—namely the new Signs Express site in Sheffield. Looking back, Steve says he has no regrets about making a move into the franchise world rather than starting up an independent business, explaining that the support of Signs Express along the way has helped the branch be a success.


The company recently won a BSGA award for its work with Sheffield Children’s Hospital



“We decided to take on a franchise as there was a proven business model to follow and it allows you to hit the ground running,” Steve Morris says, adding: “We were very impressed with Signs Express’ structure, the people who work for them, technical back-up—the whole thing was a very professional image.
 
“Franchises can be at all levels; however, if you take some of them, franchisees can have very little freedom, but at Signs Express, we have a lot of freedom and are encouraged to be successful. We were able to start with a good website and benefited from established relationships with suppliers, as well as technical backup and advice, and you wouldn’t have this by starting your own business.”

Building on success

Having been at the helm of Signs Express Sheffield for around twelve years, Morris readily admits that he has seen a lot of change in the industry in that time, and it has been crucial for the branch to adapt in order to remain competitive. Such has been the success of this approach that the operation has established itself as one of the leading signage and related services companies in the city.

“Over the years, the company has gotten bigger; we now have more customers and equipment, and all this has changed along with the market, which is a lot different now to when we first started,” Morris explains, adding: “At the start, there was very little to do with digital print, but now a lot more companies are doing it.


The company worked with Sheffield Museum’s Millennium Gallery to produce an installation using textiles artist Harriet Popham’s designs



“Any sort of technical developments follow the same sort of path. When you first start and nobody has the technology, you have a premium as you invested early, but as it becomes mainstream, you have to change what you do and react to changes in the market. You have to supply people with what they want; you can’t just pick something and stay there forever, as you will get left behind. You have to see what you can do at any one time to supply the market needs.

You have to supply people with what they want; you can’t just pick something and stay there forever, as you will get left behind”


“Prior to the recession, we were growing quite considerably and had a plan in place for investment to bring more manufacturing in house, with plans to buy technology such as laser cutting kit, although this was put on hold. We have actually just had a large investment in print and laminating technology, but that is just to replace existing kit, and we are hoping to look at laser cutting in-house.”

Team effort

As well as paying tribute to wife and business partner Carol, Morris is also keen to highlight the input of the staff at Signs Express Sheffield over the years, saying that they are always willing to “go the extra mile” for the customer—something that clients often comment on.

“We’ve tried hard to create a team of people, as we can’t do it alone,” Morris says, adding: “Our success today is a joint achievement between ourselves and our employees. We are in a very dynamic industry and the demand from customers can be very dynamic at times, and you have to react quickly. You have to allocate your resources to where they will be most effective. Our staff always go the extra mile to help our customers, and they give us a lot of positive feedback.”

Our success today is a joint achievement between ourselves and our employees”


Morris also highlights the company’s ability to tackle any job—a promise that he says the firm is able to uphold, due to his, and Carol’s, backgrounds.

“Our outlook has always been ‘yes we can’, because of our high-end technical background and training, we can back up our claims by actually doing it,” Morris says, adding: “There’s very few sign companies of our size that have our sort of background, as well as the sort of support we get from Signs Express. You rely on the company less and less as you succeed, but they are still there when you need them—it’s a working partnership. They do help with the marketing and a PR on a national basis, but it is up to us to apply it locally.”

This approach is perfectly demonstrated, as Signs Express Sheffield has built up a reputation for taking on
and completing jobs that are slightly unusual in their nature.


Signs Express Sheffield has taken on a number of unusual projects for high-profile clients, including this installation for Basketball England



Morris explains: “We do work directly for artists and act as part of their studio, and, for us, that is fabulous. We seem to have developed a reputation for being the people to go to for something a bit more unusual. One guy told us that you never get a blank expression with us, and we try to work with people to achieve their objectives.”

Although the debate over franchising and its benefits will almost certainly rage on for many years—and rightly so as there are many pros and cons to such a move—Signs Express Sheffield serves as a shining example of how successful taking over a franchise can be.

Steve and Carol have not only established the branch as one of the leading signage companies in the area, but also a firm that is able to take on more unusual work, thus expanding its customer base further. And with even more weird and wonderful work on the horizon, it seems that the future is bright for the Steel City company.

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