If you build it, they will come

We often talk about signage companies that cover a vast array of applications, however, there are a collection of companies doing just as well by focusing on one particular niche area of the industry. One such company is Sign Build and its director, Mark Cowin, explains how the company makes its mark: “We deal primarily within the construction industry and, in particular, the house building sector.



“Our clients are the likes of Redrow, Taylor Wimpey, and Story Homes. We have about six to seven prime customers and they tend to be PLC based. Our signage is geared around presenting their housing developments externally and internally, and also looking at their health and safety signage.”



Cowin bought Sign Build in 2007 and is the sole owner to this day. He explains his role in the company: “I effectively manage the management team and oversee their remit. I also look after the future path I want the business to take, so how we look at commercial opportunities, how we present ourselves on the web, and PR, as well as the investment opportunities in technology.

“I trained and qualified as a cost accountant, working with the Mitsubishi Group and a European engineering steel company, so I have quite a varied background. I’ve always wanted to work for myself so when the opportunity came up, I jumped in.”


Cowin says over the last two to three years, the company has been developing the customers’ image on site, using a lot of monolith and light box signage to differentiate its clients from other developments. “No other signage company presents their clients in the same way that we do,” adds Cowin.

UK trailblazer

Sign Build has a number of ways of printing, with Cowin noting that there is always a requirement for solvent-based printing, where they print direct to vinyl and then that goes onto a substrate.

“Most of our investment recently has been into direct substrate printing,” says Cowin, adding: “We recently invested in a Canon Océ Arizona 1280XT printer, which was the first UK installation of that machine, which we paired with a cutting system from Zund. That was quite a significant investment and that’s where we’ve seen changes in how we can differentiate our customers on site.”

The Zund cutter can easily cut materials such as acrylic, Foamex, wood, and aluminium composite. Sign Build has a range of other high quality technology at its factory in Preston, including a Roland XF printer, laminator, Henrob self-piercing riveting machine, and Rolls Roller flatbed applicator.

In terms of how the sign industry has evolved, Cowin believes they have forced change through innovative thinking that will meet the specific needs of their clients.

He explains: “In terms of investing in signage, our clients have to be able to do that in a cost-effective manner. Not only does that signage need to change message when they’re at various parts of the build, its location may change from time to time as well.


“What we’ve done is invested in the capital equipment here, which has allowed us to get a price point where we can still remain within an acceptable boundary, but deliver a much more visually impactful development using lights and electricity, and be able to move that as the development moves.

“It is much closer to the panel and post prices that there used to be. The Canon investment has allowed us to go to our customer and say you can stand out from the competition. It’s been a hugely successful investment.”

Maintain focus

Last year, Sign Build unveiled a new website and Cowin is pleased with the impact: “We’re quite niche in terms of the kind of customers we want to attract, but we have received much more traffic from the new website. What we’ve tried to do is send out the message that our business deals in a specific industry and we try to appeal to that rather than saying we are a signage company and receiving requests for things we don’t do.”

What keeps Sign Build on the straight and narrow, Cowin says, is keeping their skills focused on the industry and clients they service. He adds: “We don’t diversify ourselves but we do try to diversify the extent of pro-ducts we can give our clients in this industry.”

Although not expanding into other areas of the market, Sign Build’s niche takes it geographically to many places all over the UK.

Cowin explains: “When I first started the business, we concentrated mainly in the north-west of England but over the past ten years we have developed as a business. We are partnered with our clients instead of being a peripheral supplier. We specialise in northern and central England, but it doesn’t stop us doing work in places like Somerset, South Wales, and Cambridgeshire.



“Expansion wise, we’d like to concentrate on building more clients within the house building industry and to do more work with existing clients. We’re also re-doing the website again for it to be more interactive with clients and get our message across quicker.”

It takes a certain type of confidence to carve out a niche and stick to it, not being tempted by other areas of the market but instead channelling that diversification into the products it offers. This is what is sure to see Sign Build continue to build a name for itself in the house building sector and see future growth.


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