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What our resellers say
Links Signs and Graphics
All first class service. Enquiries are answered quickly and clearly, products always delivered on time and if there has ever been a problem, it is always resolved quickly.
Tones Media
I was impressed by the performance. Whoever designed this product is brilliant. Concerning the Canadian market, most people admired the quality of your products. Several sign shops have ordered demo units to place in their stores to show to customers.
3 Tier Print Management Ltd
That is brilliant service. Thank you so much. It's always difficult when something goes wrong but the real measure of a supplier is how they react and I can't praise you high enough. Thanks again.
Nitro Branding
I find the combination of product range, price and convenience unbeatable. Always a great service and high quality products from Signwaves, thank you.
Mirage Signs
Signwaves are a very professional company and have professional staff that sells quality products at excellent prices.
Signs Express
Swift responses, informative and detailed quotes and our Account Manager at Signwaves is very patient, with endless variations to quote for.
Discount Displays
Brilliant service, detailed information and great performance. The quality of products is superb and consistent. If there are ever any
issues, they’re dealt with quickly and professionally.
Recent News
Why More UK Businesses Are Investing in Waterproof Signs
Businesses using outdoor signage in exposed UK environments often face repeated replacement costs once rain and moisture start damaging display visibility. In many cases, outdoor graphics begin deteriorating around edges and print surfaces long before the full display actually needs replacing. Retail sites and customer-facing outdoor spaces rely on signage that stays readable during poor weather. Weather-resistant outdoor displays help businesses keep promotional graphics readable for longer during prolonged wet weather, helping businesses avoid constantly swapping damaged graphics after heavy rain. At Signwaves, weather-resistant display products form part of a wider outdoor signage range used across retail sites, forecourts, hospitality venues, and other exposed customer-facing environments across the UK. Why Some Outdoor Signs Fail Faster Than Waterproof Signs Outdoor display products designed for wet-weather use often use materials and finishes suited to longer-term outdoor exposure. You usually notice the difference after long periods of rain when cheaper outdoor graphics start fading, peeling, or becoming difficult to read far earlier than expected. In practice, waterproof signs and displays often stay readable for longer during poor weather: Better readability during wet weather More consistent colour visibility More reliable outdoor performance Material suitability also matters. Outdoor signage performs very differently in exposed forecourts and roadside locations. Rain and road spray place additional pressure on displays throughout the year. Forecourt signage and pavement displays face far more environmental pressure than sheltered indoor promotional materials. Businesses buying weather-resistant signage for exposed outdoor locations usually benefit from choosing display formats built for year-round outdoor use, particularly where rain exposure and roadside moisture quickly damage lower-grade graphics. Where Do Waterproof Signs Matter Most? If your outdoor signage stays exposed throughout the year, you have probably already seen how quickly cheaper display materials begin deteriorating after prolonged wet weather. Retail shops: Pavement signage and promotional displays stay exposed to changing weather conditions outside storefronts. Forecourts and petrol stations: Outdoor promotions and directional signage frequently sit in exposed roadside environments. Hospitality venues: Restaurants, cafés, and hotels often use outdoor signage across entrances and outdoor seating areas. Visitor attractions: Queue systems and visitor information displays require clear outdoor visibility during peak seasonal traffic. Retail parks: Businesses often use outdoor signage across car parks, pedestrian walkways, and entrance areas where displays remain exposed throughout the day. Schools and public venues: Outdoor information signage often needs to remain visible during changing weather conditions across busy public areas. In many of these environments, waterproof signs help businesses avoid repeatedly replacing damaged graphics while keeping outdoor displays looking clearer for longer. Why Do Businesses Replace Outdoor Graphics So Often During Winter? Many businesses end up replacing temporary outdoor graphics multiple times during winter periods once prolonged rain starts affecting print quality and readability. Repeated water exposure can shorten the lifespan of temporary displays and reduce readability once materials begin deteriorating. Weather-resistant outdoor graphics can reduce the number of damaged displays that need replacing after prolonged rain and heavy weather exposure, helping businesses avoid repeated print orders and worn shopfront presentation during wetter periods. That usually means fewer interruptions to outdoor promotions during extended wet periods. For businesses managing several outdoor display locations at once, durable waterproof signs can reduce the number of damaged displays that need replacing across different sites. Why Does Outdoor Visibility Matter More During Poor Weather? Outdoor signage only works when customers can read messaging quickly during changing weather conditions. Heavy rainfall and water damage can quickly affect how outdoor displays perform once graphics begin deteriorating. Most businesses notice visibility problems once outdoor graphics start becoming harder to read during heavy rain, darker afternoons, or prolonged winter weather. Waterproof shop signage in the UK can support better outdoor visibility by helping displays maintain: Clearer promotional messaging Stronger colour visibility More readable directional signage This becomes particularly important in roadside environments and forecourts where customers often make decisions quickly. Businesses using weather-resistant outdoor signage across shopfronts, forecourts, and exposed outdoor areas often keep promotions live for longer without replacing damaged graphics after periods of prolonged wet weather. What Do Businesses Often Overlook When Buying Outdoor Signs? Businesses buying waterproof outdoor signs often focus heavily on printed graphics while overlooking how materials and placement affect long-term outdoor performance. Exposed entrances, roadside placements, and open outdoor areas all place different pressure on signage during prolonged wet weather. Businesses sometimes focus heavily on print design while overlooking how outdoor conditions affect long-term performance. Key considerations usually include: Material suitability for outdoor use Stability during poor weather Print durability Visibility during rainfall Ease of maintenance Businesses managing outdoor promotions across several locations often benefit from using one supplier for wider outdoor signage, particularly when weather-damaged graphics need replacing quickly across multiple sites. That can make promotional updates and replacement graphics easier to manage across different display formats. How Do Waterproof Signs Work Alongside Wider Outdoor Signage? Businesses often use multiple signage formats together across the same site. Larger display systems usually attract attention from distance. Smaller promotional displays then reinforce messaging closer to entrances and customer walkways where customers interact with signage more directly. Many businesses combine weather-resistant displays with wider outdoor signage products such as: Pavement signs Forecourt signage Flags and banners Café barrier systems Wall-mounted displays Businesses often use larger outdoor signage formats to attract attention from distance. Waterproof promotional displays then reinforce messaging closer to entrances and collection points where customers interact with signage more directly. This layered approach helps customers continue reading promotions clearly during prolonged poor weather across different parts of the site. Why Are More Businesses Upgrading Outdoor Signage for Wet Weather? Businesses usually notice the value of weather-resistant signage during long wet periods when temporary outdoor graphics start fading, peeling, or becoming difficult to read far sooner than expected. For businesses relying on outdoor promotions throughout the year, waterproof signs often mean fewer damaged displays, less disruption, and more consistent visibility during poor weather. Signwaves supplies weather-resistant outdoor signage, pavement signs, forecourt displays, and wider outdoor signage solutions for retail, hospitality, and multi-site commercial environments across the UK.
Can an Ads Board Close the Last 20 Metres Before a Customer Walks Past?
Customers often see a business before they understand why they should enter it. The shopfront may be visible, but the current offer, service, or reason to stop can still be missing from the final approach. An ads board helps close that gap. Positioned at the right point, it gives passing customers one clear message before they walk beyond the entrance, choose a neighbouring business, or continue through the high-street. The "last 20 metres" is not a fixed measurement for every location. It is a useful way to think about the final part of the customer journey, when the business is already in view, but the decision is still open. At Signwaves, our pavement signs and A-Boards help retailers, hospitality venues, forecourts, and service businesses communicate at street level. The right ads board can turn a visible frontage into a clearer reason to act. Why does the final approach matter for an outdoor advertising board? Most sites contain several moments where customers can still change direction. A pedestrian may compare two cafés. A driver may decide whether to enter a forecourt. A visitor may look for the correct entrance or collection point. Permanent signs usually confirm the business name. An ads board can communicate what matters today: a promotion, an appointment service, an available table, a collection point, or a time-sensitive reason to enter. The final approach matters because the message arrives close to the action. Customers do not need to remember it for several minutes. They only need to understand it quickly enough to take the next step. An effective advertising board should therefore support a decision rather than simply repeat the logo already visible above the door. Where should an advertising board appear along the customer route? The best position is not always directly outside the entrance. Businesses should place an ads board where customers first need the information, not where the unit is easiest to store. Three areas are particularly useful: the approach point, where the customer first sees the site and needs a reason to pay attention; the threshold, where the decision to enter is made; and the dwell point, where queues, waiting areas, or collection zones create time for a secondary message. A roadside site may need the first message further away. A high-street shop may need side-angle visibility before pedestrians reach the frontage. A hospitality venue may need a pavement sign where groups pause and compare nearby options. Walking the route from the customer's direction often reveals that a sign visible from the doorway is difficult to see from the actual decision point. What should the board say at each decision point? The message should change according to where the customer sees it. At the approach point, keep the wording short. A product category, opening message, or strong offer is often enough. At the threshold, the board can answer a practical question such as "Walk-ins welcome", "Order here", or "Collection at rear". At a dwell point, customers may have more time to process detail. This can suit menu highlights, service information, or a second promotional message. An ads board becomes less effective when one layout tries to handle every stage at once. Several competing messages reduce clarity and make the customer work harder to understand what the business wants them to do. The strongest boards usually focus on one immediate action and leave supporting information to window displays, printed posters, or staff interaction. Which pavement sign suits different sites? Different environments place different demands on the display. Available pavement space, wind exposure, poster-change frequency, and daily handling should influence the product choice. The compact Eco Swinger® can suit smaller frontages where space is limited but movement can help attract passing attention. The Swinger® 2 offers a larger swing-sign format for retail, hospitality, and service environments that need a dependable street-level message. For businesses that need a straightforward panel sign with tool-free assembly, the Ecoflex 2 provides a practical format for repeat outdoor use. A Waterbase A-Board may suit temporary hardstanding applications where the empty unit needs to remain easy to transport and the filled base provides additional stability. No single ads board is right for every site. Product selection should follow the environment and operating routine rather than appearance alone. How can a site walk improve sign placement? A short site walk can prevent businesses from placing an advertising board too late, at the wrong angle, or behind existing clutter. Start at the main customer approach and check: • When the frontage first becomes visible • Which direction pedestrians or vehicles are facing • Where people slow down or stop • Whether parked vehicles, street furniture, planting, or other signs block the view • How much reading time customers realistically have • Whether the sign creates a safe, clear route around it • Where staff can move or store the unit during closing hours Repeat the walk at the time the promotion matters most. A sign position that works early in the day may become less visible once queues, deliveries, or parked vehicles change the site. This practical check helps the display support real customer movement instead of an assumed route. How should businesses design for quick decisions? The design needs a clear hierarchy. Customers should recognise the business, understand the message, and know the next action without reading a paragraph. Effective layouts usually contain one headline, one supporting detail, strong brand recognition, and a clear directional or commercial action. Contrast matters because the board competes with the surrounding site. The type also needs to be large enough for the expected viewing distance. Detailed terms, several product images, and multiple calls to action can make the design difficult to process. Where campaigns need more visual impact, the POW! pavement board system supports custom shapes and quick graphic changes. That can help brands move beyond a standard rectangular presentation while keeping the message commercially focused. Signwaves' printed poster range can also support outdoor boards that use interchangeable poster graphics for regular campaign updates. Can reusable graphics make the display work harder? Many businesses change offers more often than they need to replace the display hardware. Poster pockets, replacement panels, and removable graphics allow the same board to support several campaigns across the year. This is particularly useful for weekly offers, seasonal activity, menu changes, event promotions, and local service messages. Staff can update the communication without rebuilding the full outdoor setup. Reusable hardware also makes central ordering easier for branch networks. The business can standardise the board and replace only the graphic version required for each campaign. Businesses should plan the changeover method before choosing the product. A permanent printed panel may suit long-term branding, while a poster-change system is more useful when the message changes frequently. What common mistakes reduce outdoor board performance? Some outdoor boards are visible but still fail to help the customer decide. Common problems include placing the sign after the decision point, using copy that is too long, or repeating information already clear from the shopfront. Other issues include positioning the board face-on to the door but side-on to passing footfall, allowing several old promotional messages to compete, using graphics that are difficult to update, choosing a unit that staff find awkward to move each day, leaving damaged or faded artwork in place, and blocking access or creating unnecessary pavement clutter. These problems can make the site look less organised and reduce trust in the promotion. A simpler message on a better-positioned board usually performs a clearer commercial job. Help customers make the next move The last part of the customer approach deserves the same attention as the main frontage. An ads board can give people the missing information that turns recognition into entry, enquiry, or purchase. Start with the route customers follow, identify the point where the decision is still open, and choose a format that staff can use consistently. Then keep the message short enough to work in the time available. Explore Signwaves' outdoor advertising boards and pavement signs or contact our team for product selection advice. We can help you choose an ads board that fits the site, the campaign, and the way customers move.
The Benefits of Durability
One aspect of these more environmentally-conscious times is a growing interest in extending the service life and serviceability of products. This can be seen taking form in many areas; ‘Right to Repair’ legislation guiding electrical goods manufacturers to design-in for a level of user-repairability from the outset. Car manufacturers extending the factory warranty cover on new vehicles; in some cases, as far as 100,000 miles or 10 years. The recent growth of Repair Cafes across the UK (now numbering 800no, a 500% increase over the last 5 years!) All are indicators of a migration away from the ‘casual-disposability’ mindset of the past 50 years, across to a more enlightened approach that fully respects the value of resources. There is a social and ecological responsibility coming forward that should ultimately shape the future. The responsibility doesn’t need spelling-out as that is all too obvious, the objective is ensuring wise and efficient use of key resources (materials & energy) as society moves forward. Planned obsolescence may itself become obsolete! Durability is key to this, it is the best means to steer away from inadvertent waste I.e., the unnecessary use of resources that otherwise go into the early-replacement of ‘short-lived’ products. The role of durability is best summarized by the eco-design pioneer Victor Papanek, who back in 1971 identified that ‘true durability is an ethical necessity rather than just a physical property’. Establishing ‘durability’ by design and through choice of materials is pivotal, however by also observing durability in ongoing ‘real-time use’ the learnings can be channeled into a feedback loop by which the item’s durability can be further refined. Ecoflex pavement signs provide an excellent example as a case-in-point: As pavement or forecourt positions can be a demanding environment, and signs can potentially be in use 24/7, then a low-maintenance lifespan alongside long-life performance is de-rigueur. The Ecoflex design factors-in for such demands by using a resilient aircraft-grade aluminium display panel. The panel’s inherent flexibility yields to wind gusts and impacts which in turn ensures the sign remains foot-sure in it its sited position. In addition, the high-density recycled-polymer sign base provides a low centre-of-gravity contributing to exceptional sign stability. The Ecoflex assembly fastener is provided in polycarbonate and is effectively unbreakable. The sign’s total component count is just three highly-robust parts. Overall durability is the sum of these high-performance materials working in unison. Further-more all materials are selected to be fully recyclable so available for future ‘second-life’ applications. Ecoflex signs can be readily updated at any stage by just changing the panel only across to a new panel design = reduced transport volume and emissions vs. the alternative of replacing a complete sign. Stage-posts in establishing Ecoflex durability; Ongoing 24/7 field testing at the isle of Lewis - the UK's windiest location as listed in The Guinness Book of Records Wind tunnel testing in the UK and Canada In-house QUV accelerated weather testing of inks Real-time observation:With many thousands of examples in-situ an Ecoflex can often be dated by panel artwork and sign-base features... a 12-year+ performance is not uncommon. The principal benefits of durability; Less maintenance Increased life span Effective return on investment (ROI) Less long-term expense Reduces wasteful use of materials and energy Contributes to reduction of C02 emissions Further sources of information & reference Accelerated weather testing movie Victor Papanek - Design for the Real World. ISBN-13: 978-0500295335 Ecoflex signs, plus a large range of equally durable pavement, forecourt and poster sign solutions can be seen at The Sign Show, NEC, Birmingham - 29th Sept to 1st Oct 2026. We will be located on stand no. S240 - Come and say hello!
