After reinvesting in the business, 99% of Specialized Signs' work is now produced in-house
Taking the industry by storm
Founded in 2009 by managing director Graham Sim, Specialized Signs has taken the sign industry by storm at an impressive speed.
Shortly after starting the business, Sim quickly realised he would need to diversify and offer far more products. “I used to be a sign installer and decided to give it a go myself thinking there was a huge market for illuminated signs and quickly realised I had to diversify!” Sim explains.
Adapting quickly, the company began offering other signage solutions including vehicle wraps, window graphics, digitally printed wallpaper, and more.
Window graphics are just one of the many wide-format print services Specialized Signs offers
Today, Specialized Signs offers an extensive list of services from illuminated signs, fascia signs, wayfinding signs, site hoardings, and LED signage, to vehicle graphics and wrapping, digitally printed wallpapers, and large-format printing, to name just a few.
Over the past 13 months the company has been developing a brand-new website full of information and images to showcase this vast range and to demonstrate its past work. The easy-to-navigate site also features a nice overview of the company history and values and a clever infographic outlining a typical year in business.
“We’ve had some really good feedback from people in the trade including one company owner saying it has the most comprehensive product guide he’s seen on any company website,” Sim says.
As well as growing its product offering, the company grew in size quickly and by 2013 it had taken on a second premises in 2011 and purchased Direct Neon in 2012 which came with a third premises. Four years after it was founded, Specialized Signs had outgrown its current three small business units and moved into a 10,000sq ft state-of-the-art headquarters on Edinburgh’s St John's Road.
A key requirement for this new building was that it could accommodate a custom-built vehicle wrapping and graphics bay as well as manufacturing and print facilities.
When the company moved into new premises in 2013, a key requirement was a custom-built vehicle wrapping and graphics bay
Fast forward to 2022, and the company is preparing for its biggest move yet into a site four times the size of its current one. A 40,000sq ft custom-built site is being prepared which comprises of 18,000sq ft of premises and 22,000sq ft of parking and yard. Located next to Edinburgh Airport on one of Scotland’s busiest intersections, the site will be hard to miss.
Offering such a broad range of services means you get to get stuck into some exciting projects and campaigns and Specialized Signs has a long list of clients from its work over the years. A notable job was the manufacture and installation of 1000 metres of neon lighting around the perimeter of the brand new £500m SSE Hydro Arena development in 2013.
Seven years after the business was founded Specialized Signs took on its first job for a major movie when it produced two bespoke neon signs and multiple printed graphics for some of the sets of Trainspotting 2 in 2016. The company went on to produce work for Avengers Infinity War in 2017 and Fast and Furious 9 in 2019.
Continuous investment
Right from the off, Specialized Signs has ensured to reinvest in the business over the years, starting in 2010 with the purchase of its first roll-to-roll large-format digital printer and large-format laminator. This investment allowed the company to produce work at a high production speed in-house which in turn gave full control over quality, timescales, and pricing.
Today, the company produces work using a HP R1000 direct-to-substrate flatbed printer which Sim describes as “the game changing printer”. This is joined by a HP 800 roll-to-roll large-format printer. The printers use HP Latex Inks which are UL ECOLOGO and UL GREENGUARD GOLD Certified water-based inks.
Also in the company’s fleet is an AXYZ Trident CNC router and knife cutting multi machine, a Summa S Class 2 T1600 OPOS-CAM cutter, and a Bubble free pro applicator 6.1m x 1.8m flatbed laminator. The company also uses two large-format 1650mm hot and cold laminators which are ideal for laminating large-format outdoor signage, posters, pop-up graphics, etc.
With this constant reinvestment, over 99% of production at Specialized Signs is now completed in house.
The heart of the business
A glance at the company’s mission statement and core values and it is clear to see that the 20-strong team that keeps operations moving are the lifeblood of the business.
“Our amazing team is without doubt our strongest asset and our current team blow me away with the volume and quality of work they produce,” Sim explains, adding: “The fact that so many of our team really do love their job and working at Specialized Signs is my greatest achievement to date.
Our amazing team is without doubt our strongest asset and our current team blow me away with the volume and quality of work they produce”
“The most important part of my job is to make sure that our team remain as happy, hardworking and eager to be involved with the continued growth and improvements of Specialized Signs.”
Quality, honesty and integrity, teamwork, accountability, communication, and equality make up the company’s values. Honesty in that it upholds the highest standards of integrity in all its actions; teamwork because the staff are regarded as the company’s biggest asset; accountability in that the company is personally accountable for delivering on its commitments; communication as this is key to building strong relationships with customers; and quality because the company believes in moral responsibility, ethical principles, and having a well-rounded workplace.
Having started out as a one-man band, something Sim finds particularly rewarding is to see the team in action as they deal with a huge volume of work day in, day out. “They really work so well together as a team to make sure we always get projects completed before the deadline,” he says.
“Doing staff appraisal and hearing how many of our team really do love their job and enjoy coming to work everyday is one of my favourite things about the company. It’s not always been like that, and it’s taken a long time and a lot of hard work to get the business where it is but making Specialized Signs the best place to work is my main priority.”
The notion of creating a welcoming and enjoyable place to come to work can be seen in the design of the new site. Sim explains: “The new building will give us the most efficient set up and it will give our team the very best working environment, complete with pool table, gym, and lots of other amazing features.”
When asked what the plan is for the future and with the mindset that a challenge is just an opportunity to make something better, Sim’s mission is simple: “Continuous improvement to stay at the forefront of the signage and wrapping industry.”
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