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Fairfield’s shop front design for Wye residential
Feature
he internet may have brought us property portals, with an almost unbelievable selection of properties available at your fingertips to buy or
rent, but the traditional property For Sale or To Let sign remains a key component of the marketing mix for estate agents. Kremer Signs is one of the largest suppliers;
founded 25 years ago by Richard Kremer and Steve Gosney in a single garage unit, Kremer Signs now make signs at three sites in space totalling 40,000sqft, at Newbury, Bristol, and Lincolnshire, offering a nationwide service. Gary says that they may not always the
cheapest but, “We certainly offer the best value for money. 75 per cent of our business is estate agency boards, with office signage being the other 25. Both sides of the business have grown over the last few years, as agents want a trusted supplier and products that last.” Agency Express is another major player,
whose business is purely agency boards, currently working with 34.2 per cent of all UK estate and lettings agency offices. “We have been trading for 15 years and conduct in excess of 4800 individual board movements per day, working out of 101 regional locations,” says Steve Watson. Signboards has also been established for 25
years, whose Director, Andy March, says that by market share, they claim their place in the top three, with 95 per cent of their business being the design and manufacture of boards – they don’t erect the boards, but work with specialist firms that provide that service. And First Signs and Labels are also
longstanding agency suppliers, trading for 30 years, making signs for the last 20, with their business split between signboards (60%) and shop signage and printing.
They go up, they come down...
The battle of the boards
Agents need them, sellers and landlords need them, local councils and some residents strongly object to them. What’s it all about? Signboards.
www.thenegotiator.co.uk All the firms are pretty coy about pricing,
with costs depending on volumes, styles, and number of movements (erecting, changing status and removing the boards) but a ballpark figure is said to be around £10-15 per board and around £4.50 per movement. Taking the Agency Express figure of 4800 movements per working day – 1.25 million a year – at £4.50 a go, that’s £5.6m turnover a year, just on the movements side. Still ‘doing the math’, Kremer Signs report
sales of 500,000 T boards last year, the simplest and most popular design; which at the lower end figure of £10 each, is a cool £5million on manufacture alone, not counting the more expensive styles available.
TheNegotiator l September 2012 l 23
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