Signs Express Central Lancashire

12/10/2026

New kit day… well, week 😁

A few weeks ago we went to The Print Show at the NEC and Matt Rutlidge put his hand in his pocket 😱

After months comparing printers, prices and running costs, we decided to stick with what we know. Our trusty Mimaki JFX was getting a little tired, and once we’d priced up new printheads and a service... a brand new JFX with three years’ gold warranty made more sense!

We’ve also changed the ink set, which will save us a small fortune each year. That bit helped Matt cope with spending the money 😂

Today’s been out with the old and in with the new. A few minor bumps along the way, as always, but we’re still here finishing the final tests, ready for action tomorrow. Paul Morris is ecstatic!

This was supposed to happen next year, but we’ve pulled it forward ahead of the Christmas rush.

And yes, we said new kit week. Something else arrives on Wednesday… then that’s it. Matt’s wallet is going in a safe and he’s banned from any more shows. 🔒

01/10/2026

Well, we rang a bell and a bush gave us prosecco 🤷‍♂️

Matt and Amber had a brilliant time at The Print Show and Print Industry Awards, catching up with familiar faces from other Signs Express centres and the Franchise Support Centre team.

Somewhere between walking the floor, a mist cocktail, a singing waitress and a brilliant set from Hal Cruttenden, Matt may also have said yes to a new machine for the unit 👀

The real highlight was Amber being highly commended for Best Industry Newcomer. We’re all incredibly proud of her. It’s a brilliant reflection of how hard she’s worked, as well as the support, development and training we’re proud to give our team at Signs Express Central Lancashire & Southport.

It made the evening bittersweet, as it was also Amber’s last day with us before moving on to focus on marketing, full time.

A brilliant night, a proud moment for our team and a pretty fitting send off for Amber. See you next year! 👊

18/09/2026

We always love celebrating the talent that comes out of Preston, and this project gave us the perfect opportunity to mix the old with the new.

Local artist Shaun Sharpe doesn’t even know his head is up there at 1.5 metres tall... and in vinyl, no less!

Consider it payback for all those murals he’s sprayed around Preston that could’ve been done in vinyl… 😉

01/09/2026

Ask us about our modular wraps! 😲

A fraction of the price of a conventional full wrap, with much faster installation meaning less downtime for your business.

And if the worst happens? Accident repairs are much easier too. Instead of replacing an entire wrap, we can simply replace the affected modular sections.

Less cost. Less downtime. Much easier to repair. 👌

Drop us a call to find out more - 01772 797800

24/08/2026

11/08/2026

Well this is a nice bit of news 😁

We’ve been shortlisted FOUR times at the The Print Industry Awards 2026!

Signs Express Central Lancashire & Signs Express Southport are finalists for:
🏆 Team of the Year
🏆 Best Customer Service Team

And Amber Hardman has only gone and picked up TWO finalist spots of her own:
🏆 Best Industry Newcomer
🏆 Young Person of the Year

We work incredibly hard as a team and put a huge amount into looking after our customers, so it’s brilliant to get some recognition for it.

And a massive well done to Amber too. Two individual nominations is some achievement 👏

Now we just need to go and win one! 😬 Can't always be a bridesmaid!

04/08/2026

New printer day 😁👌

04/08/2026

👀

31/07/2026

We’re happy to introduce our new Lead Installer, Jeff 💪

As most of you know, we’ve been absolutely non stop for the past five months, and July has officially been our busiest month to date, so Jeff has properly been thrown in at the deep end!

Thankfully, he’s no novice when it comes to signs and graphics. Jeff has owned his own sign company for the past ten years, designing, manufacturing and installing all types of signage.

He came to Signs Express looking for a new challenge and to experience the camaraderie of working within a bigger team, with everyone pulling in the same direction 😁

This week has been an absolute plate spinner, filled with a whole host of challenges, but Jeff has stayed level headed throughout and the quality of the work installed has been exactly what we expected from someone with his background.

Here’s to next week, when we can spend some time going through the master plan, and to many more weeks, months and years at Signs Express Central Lancashire & Signs Express Southport! 👏