One of the leading forces in franchising, Signs Express has over 80 centres across the UK & Ireland. Signs Express’ award presentation, held during the company’s annual convention, recognized some of the key achievers in the network including Signs Express (Leeds) owners Dave & Kim Nurse who were recently crowned Signs Express Newcomer of the Year Award winners.

Dave & Kim were presented the award following outstanding success after opening less than two years ago. The couple have consistently exceeded turnover projections, providing superior customer service levels and extending their customer base far beyond their expectations.

Commenting Dave Nurse said, “We pride ourselves on being customer focused, reliable and willing to go the extra mile to ensure the complete satisfaction of our customers and as a result, the majority of our work comes from repeat business and recommendations. We were delighted to win such a prestigious award and hope that through continued hard work, we can experience further successes in next year’s awards.”

He continued, “We have been able to work with some of the leading companies in the UK including Mercedes-Benz, The National Blood Service, McDonalds and The Post Office through the National Accounts function operated at Head Office. We have also built up our own substantial customer base in the Leeds area including some of the most prominent companies in the area.”

After a career with a signmaking materials supplier, Dave sought to start his own business and looked at franchising as a way of achieving this. He contacted Signs Express after having dealt with some of its centres through his previous employment and was impressed with the running of the operation. After visiting the Franchise

Headquarters and meeting with Franchise Recruitment Manager Jan Corbett and Managing Director David Corbett, Dave was awarded a management franchise for the Leeds area.

Commenting Managing Director David Corbett said, “Dave and Kim are great examples to the network. They show how determination and dedication can create fantastic results and how good attention to detail and superior customer service is paramount to a healthy level of repeat business and referrals.”

After attending the 5 week training course, Dave received help with finding premises and staff, sales and marketing, IT and technical support – everything needed to start his business in full swing from day one.

David continued, “Although Dave had knowledge of the sign industry prior to joining Signs Express, he is not typical of the other franchisees in the network. As a management franchise, franchisees do not need any industry experience, experienced signmakers are recruited from the outset and our comprehensive training programme gives detailed knowledge of all aspects of signmaking as well as other areas involved in running your own business. We have over 25 industry professionals based at our head office which provide training expertise as well as ongoing support and advice to all centres.”

Signs Express (Leeds) is a family run operation with Kim and Dave’s son, Richard also joining the business last year. The centre is a fully equipped production unit with custom designed vehicle graphics application bay. Dave has been able to capitalise on the digital revolution, making considerable investment in a full colour wide format digital print and cut machine, helping extend their in-house capabilities and providing a competitive advantage to customers.

"Dave and Kim are great examples to the network. They show how determination and dedication can create fantastic results and how good attention to detail and superior customer service is paramount to a healthy level of repeat business and referrals."