Signage

A recent church sign project for Great Baddow United Reform Church, Essex. From January 2011 all non-VAT registered customers will inevitably be paying more to get their message across.

If the two great certainties of life are death and taxes, 2011 will start with a third, yet more tax! In order to begin plugging the huge hole in its finances, the UK government recently announced that from 04/01/2011 the standard rate of VAT will rise by 2.5% to 20%.

This may not sound like a lot but if you are currently considering spending money on signage, notice boards or street furniture and, if like many of our customers, you are on a tight budget and unable to reclaim VAT, (churches and village halls in particular come to mind here), in effect this represents 2.5% more that you will have to spend to achieve the same result. The only alternative will be to pare down your wish list to match the funds available.

Given that, by their very nature, these projects tend to take a while in the planning, our advice to anyone in this position would be to get the ball rolling sooner rather than later. Time spent now on working out what you need and gathering the necessary information will ensure that, not only do you have the time to make informed choices but also that you will be in a position to place an order in good time ahead of the crowd.

From January 2011 all non-VAT registered customers will inevitably be paying more to get their message across.

So, having convinced you that now is the time to act, the next question is where to start. Perhaps you won’t be surprised to learn that, in our opinion, you could do worse than ringing our sales team on 01280 701093 or email our Sales Department for sound advice and no-obligation quotations.

Solar-powered notice board recently installed at Welcombe Hills School, Stratford upon Avon.

Welcombe Hills School, a specialist college for the visual and performing arts in Stratford upon Avon, is one of the latest Greenbarnes clients to be enjoying the benefits of installing a solar-illuminated notice board.

When the need for a new board arose recently, the school chose an A0 landscape format board with white powder-coated finish and polycarbonate glazing from our growing range of solar-powered notice boards.

Solar illumination allowed the board to be installed in the chosen location on the far side of the car park from the school building without the need to run mains cables and the associated costs. A passive motion sensor detects movement after dusk and thus the board is only lit when passers-by are in the vicinity. This drastically reducies the power consumption of the unit.

For this installation a board with a contemporary appearance was appropriate, however for locations suited to something of more traditional nature, the “Ornate” range offers the same technology built into boards with decorative posts and finials.

Site supervisor Jason Yapp commented that since installation of the board he had been impressed by both the level of illumination of the board and the effectiveness of the motion sensors.

For further details and to receive a no-obligation quotation, please contact our Sales Department

At last - a good-looking recycled plastic bench

Recent years have seen the introduction of a plethora of seating manufactured from recycled plastic but to date, the end result has nearly always looked just that, an assembly of stock profiles. Even those benches with purpose-moulded end frames have tended to look heavy and over-engineered. At last however, Greenbarnes are about to offer a recycled plastic bench which addresses these shortcomings.

Manufactured in a UV-stable mix of LDPE & HDPE the benches have a projected life span of 25 + years and will be graffiti resistant, (paints tend not to “take” to recycled plastic). The material used is extremely tough and therefore capable of taking a fair amount of abuse, however In the event of serious damage such as vehicle impact, affected components are designed to be replaced individually, thus minimising “whole life” costs.

The first benches are expected to be available in the summer. To receive further information as it becomes available click here to register your interest now.

Top: Burgess Square signage in stainless steel. Bottom: Bespoke oak-framed chalk board for The Old Hall Bookshop

A quick glance at our “Recent Projects Map” immediately reveals the nationwide coverage achieved by Greenbarnes products. However, three very different signage jobs, coincidentally all undertaken within the last 3 months in our home town of Brackley, Northants, have combined to provide a useful showcase of the company’s diversity.

First to be completed was a project for developer Swan Hill Homes Ltd in connection with the town’s new Burgess Square development. The signs, in brushed stainless steel with chemically etched graphics, are mounted between bollards at the front edge of the site to identify the newly created space and to delineate it from the existing Market Place.

Immediately opposite the Burgess Square project, but a world away in style, a bespoke oak-framed chalk board for our local independent book shop demonstrates the company’s skills in more traditional areas of sign-making. The Old Hall Bookshop occupies elegant Georgian premises set back from the High Street behind a garden area and was looking for a way to raise its profile by means of getting a variable message to passers-by. The railing-mounted board can be removed for safe storage at night.

Last but not least was a brace of powder-coated aluminium “tray” type signs with computer-cut vinyl graphics for life insurance specialists Pulse Insurance Ltd who have recently opened new premises in the town.

If you are considering any signage projects, why not contact our Sales Department for a no-obligation quotation.

A-Max cases used in Ely Cathedral wayfinding project

We are delighted to be able to report that our A-Max aluminium display cases were recently specified as part of a signage project for Ely Cathedral.

Designers Maddison Graphic were commissioned by the cathedral Architects, Purcell Miller Tritton, and the Dean & Chapter at Ely Cathedral to design replacement wayfinding and information panels. The signs are positioned at seven entrances to the cathedral precinct, the idea being that any visitor to the cathedral would pass one of them. Three of the information panels are abutted by a second poster case containing notices.

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT ELY CATHEDRAL WAYFINDING PROJECT

Cows on the mooove!

Created in 1978, the Concrete Cows of Milton Keynes have become the city’s best-loved and most widely known piece of public artwork. To date the cows have lead an adventurous lifestyle which has included being kidnapped and held to ransom, decapitated Damien Hurst style and headlining at the Cambridge Folk Festival.

Now, in order that they may be enjoyed by a wider audience, five of the herd have been loaned to Midsummer Place Shopping Centre by their owners, The Parks Trust. Greenbarnes Ltd are delighted to have been chosen to supply the three bespoke interpretation panels, framed in oak with graphics printed onto Dibond panels, which accompany the three cows and two calves currently corralled under the oak tree in the centre.