Awards for vehicle graphics and sign business
The award-winning Signmaker:
We have been fortunate enough to have collected several business and industry awards over the past seven years including 'UK Sign Business of the Year 2008 / 2009. A lot of our awards have acknowledged our work not only as a sign business but particularly in the field of vehicle wrapping. We are a member of the BSGA (British Sign and Graphics Association) and we are a 3M Qualified Manufacturer and 3M Approved Vehicle Wrapper. We're also Avery's Approved UK Vehicle Wrapper and Trainer. In addition to the awards below we also have several regional awards from the North West and Manchester area for our business achievements which you can read about in our news section.
SIA SIGN BUSINESS OF THE YEAR 2008 / 2009
AstSigns were awarded the prestigious Sign Industry Awards UK Sign Business of the Year on 3rd September 2008. The award was judged by a panel of business experts and was presented by John Sargeant, former Chief Political Correspondent for the BBC at the Ricoh Stadium, Coventry.The judges commented:
“AstSigns is a quite remarkable story. Through its enterprising spirit and sound management, it has achieved great things in five short years.”
FESPA - EUROPEAN VEHICLE GRAPHIC AWARDS
We have been recognised for the quality of our work - this time in a Europe-wide competition for our vehicle wrapping work. We have recently been informed (May 2009) that we have picked up an award for our vehicle wrapping work on the Eddie Stobart fleet.
FESPA, which promotes screen printing and digital imaging throughout Europe, acknowledged our design, project management and overall vehicle wrapping of this vast fleet. In last year’s awards no British firms were recognised by the judges making our achievement this year even more significant. The award represents a huge milestone for us, on the back of winning the title of 2008 Sign Business of the Year in the UK. The FESPA jury recognised our interesting and innovative application of digital printing in awarding us the runner-up spot in the vehicle category for our vehicle wrapping work on the Eddie Stobart National fleet of over 1800 vehicles.
CUMBRIA BUSINESS OF THE YEAR
On Thursday 30th October 2008, AstSigns were also awarded the Cumbria Business of the Year award at a ceremony at Rheged, near Penrith organised by the CN Group.
This award recognised the achievements that AstSigns has made in the sign industry, growing from a small signage company to one that is recognised nationally for its professionalism in supplying vehicle graphics, vehicle wrapping, fleet liveries and a vast range of signs, including internal signs, external signs, shop signs, business signs, printed signs, digital signs and promotional signs.
MACTAC AWARDS 2006 AND 2008
AstSigns has been highly commended in Mactac Worldwide awards in 2006 and again in 2008 for its innovative signs, graphic design and application.
The 6th Mactac Worldwide Awards were organised by one of the world’s largest vinyl maufacturers in the signs industry and were held last year in Lisbon with finalists selected from thousands of entries by leading signs industry magazine editors and a jury of technical, advertising and creative experts form the world of signmaking, application and design.
BUSINESSMAN OF THE YEAR 2007
Managing Director Mark Aston won the Businessman of the Year at the Cumbria Business Awards held at the Hundith Hill Hotel on Thursday 29th November 2007. The judges were impressed by the AstSigns business and its range of signage services and internal systems. Mark originally set the business up in 2002 with just three staff. Since then AstSigns has started to specialise in vehicle graphics for both local and national customers and has opened offices down in Manchester and further North in Carlisle. Due to customer demand the company has continued to expand its services which now include clothing, litho printing and every aspect of signage such as exhibition signs, commercial signs and digitally printed signs.
3M Approved Vehicle Wrapper – we are an approved and trained vehicle wrapper for 3M. The benefit to the customer according to 3M is ‘our approved vehicle wrappers will deliver 3M quality, durability and longevity consistently from vehicle to vehicle.’ In addition we use the latest vehicle graphics technology available which includes the environmentally friendly HP Latex Printer. This printer uses latex inks which are ideal for vehicle graphics. We also use the 3M IJ380 vehicle wrapping material and matching over-laminate, meaning we can offer a 5 year 3M guarantee.
3M Qualified Manufacturer - we have recently been approved as a 3M partner and qualified manaufacturer meaning we can offer the most comprehensive and meaningful warranties in the industry. We work closely with the industry's most respected manaufacturer to ensure we provide our customers with the highest standards of workmanship and, importantly, the back up and peace of mind that they we are using the best products and the best procedures and production facilities.
Avery Approved Vehicle Wrap Trainer – we are one of only two companies in the UK who run approved vehicle wrap training sessions on behalf of Avery Dennison (largest supplier of vehicle graphics materials to the UK market). We have been running these sessions on a monthly basis for over three years. Our fitters have been trained to Avery’s high standards.
Avery Supreme Cover Warranty – we are able to offer an Avery Supreme Cover Warranty on vehicle graphics projects. We used this on the Shell vehicle wrapping contract earlier in the year. This is the highest warranty offered by Avery and is offered to us due to the fact that we meet their criteria regarding printers, inks, materials and the skill levels of the applicators.
BSGA member – we are a member of the British Sign and Graphics Association
