ITV News reports on protection of neon signage

A national campaign to legally protect traditional neon signage has been featured on ITV News.

Founders of neon sign-making company Neon Creations, Catherine and Tony Spink, launched an advocacy campaign in 2023 to put an end to what they say is the false advertising of LED signs listed as ‘neon’.

The campaign calls upon the government to protect the definition of neon, in order to prevent the heritage craft from being overtaken by cheaper, mass-produced alternatives which they say are often incorrectly or deliberately labelled as neon signs.

The campaign led to the protection of neon signage being debated in the UK House of Commons, with politicians calling on the craft to be legally protected. The debate was launched by Yasmin Qureshi, MP for the Spink’s local constituency of Bolton South and Walkden.

During the debate, Sir Chris Bryant, minister of state for Culture, Media, and Sport, insisted that the government would help to protect the craft, saying that “clearer definitions and protections” should be defined.

Following the House of Commons debate, ITV News Granada, which provides news and sport from across the North West of the UK, spoke to Catherine and Tony Spink in an in-depth video report.

The report details findings that show that the craft is in danger of disappearing in the UK, declaring that there are now less than 30 people employed in neon sign-making in the country.

Speaking to political correspondent, Líse McNally, during the video report, Catherine Spink says: "There are currently no trainees learning the craft because that relies on businesses being able to take people on to train them up.

“If the demand isn't there for neon, business aren't able to afford the costs of a trainee. So eventually what could happen is that the glass benders that we've got now, as they get older and retire from the industry, there will be nobody there to replace them."

Tony Spink adds: "I've got nothing against LED lights, but they're a very different product, but the labelling of these kind of signs as neon is having a real effect on our business.

"If it's not made with glass and filled with gas, it's not neon. The LED versions are cheap to manufacture and easier to get hold of – and it's a mass-produced product. We just can't compete with those prices."

McNally also speaks to MP Yasmin Qureshi, who calls for a certification mark that can only be applied to genuine neon products, or a defined British standard which gives the term legal protection.

Qureshi says: "It should not be acceptable for retailers, large or small, to market a product as neon when it contains no glass, no gas, and no craftsmanship.

"We have rightly challenged fake olive oils and falsely labelled meat; we must apply the same standard in this case. Let us not forget the cultural value of neon. It is signage, but it is also art; it evokes memories of cinemas, diners, music venues, and city skylines. It is a symbol of expression and identity, and to lose it would be to dim the vibrant glow of Britain’s creative past."