Business profile
As a £9.4 billion railway investment programme for England and Wales gets under way, Nic Jeal, managing director at signage manufacturers Wood&Wood, sees signage playing a major part in the new system’s efficiency
W
ith all the planned upgrades and new stations, new signage will be needed to ensure the
smooth flow of people through stations. This will be a major challenge, with the government anticipating an extra 140,000 daily commutes around cities, not to mention a vast increase in passengers throughout the whole system. Station signage will need to be reviewed or created so it works harder and smarter. Integrated systems will be needed, providing branding, wayfinding, travel details and statutory signage, accommodating the latest technology, where appropriate, to communicate up- to-the-minute information. There are also serious health and safety issues to be considered when developing signage to direct large numbers of people to the right areas.
More than 30 years’ experience Jeal said: ‘The team at Wood&Wood understand every aspect of rail station signage. Each team member is aware that station signage is about ensuring the smooth, efficient, safe movement of people - creating an easy-to-understand, orderly, stress-free environment for the travelling public.
‘Our expertise has already proved its worth on major rail projects such as Paddington, St Pancras, Ebbsfleet, Newcastle Metro and Glasgow Hillhead,
and at prestigious airports, such as Heathrow Terminals 1, 2 and 5, Gatwick and Birmingham. Our design teams work closely with external designers to ensure all signage reflects the identity of a station or airport, and that all corporate design guidelines are met in full. ‘We provide a complete, professional service. Our 4,000m2
manufacturing
facility features a wide range of specialist equipment, and our skilled workforce is capable of handling large and small- scale projects of varying complexity. We have long-established relationships with specialist suppliers and, together, we are continually researching and testing new technologies to inspire innovative and cost-effective signage solutions,’ Jeal added.
Relevant members of the
Wood&Wood team visit the site to ensure full understanding of their clients’ objectives. Alternatively, station teams are invited to inspect the company’s production facilities at any time.
A comprehensive service Wood&Wood facilitates the planning process, designs signs from scratch, provides prototypes and project manages the signage programme, including providing onsite personnel from start to finish. Jeal said: ‘Our expert installation teams operate throughout the UK. Whether installing an individual sign or a
large-scale rollout programme, we operate to the same, exacting standards.’
Quality and safety
‘Quality is at the centre of everything we do. We regularly review our manufacturing, project management and installation processes to ensure clients receive products and services of the highest quality, delivered with outstanding customer service. We also invest significantly in safety practices, as these are important for the well-being of our clients and our staff,’ said Jeal.
Standard and bespoke rail signage ranges available Wood&Wood understands that not all rail projects have large budgets, which is why its technical department has developed a complete, cost-effective range of robust standard rail signage - from passenger information points, monoliths and totems, through to poster frames and literature racks. For larger projects, where the client
has developed a unique signage system, we can work to full technical specifications for design, materials, colours and finishes. Often, with these bespoke products, we produce prototyping to ensure the design is fit for purpose and works effectively in its surroundings.
Project: Paddington
After four months of tendering and a series of overnight trial installations, Wood&Wood was awarded a major contract to manufacture and install hundreds of bespoke wayfinding signs to improve passenger flow at London’s Paddington station.
Its Exeter facility fabricated 275 wall- fixed and suspended, powder-coated, screen-printed aluminium signs for the overground concourse. The work included 25 suspended signs measuring between one to seven metres in length and weighing up to 250 kg. Wood&Wood also renovated and re-vinyled a further 85 signs to provide directions to the station’s new taxi deck. The firm undertook the manufacture and refurbishment of the underground taxi
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