BD Signs — Your brand, built for business BD Signs — Your brand, built for business
Sign makers in Nottingham · installing UK-wide

Shop front signage
that gets you recognised.

Anyone can put your name above a door. We design the whole frontage — colour scheme first, letters second — then manufacture it in our own factory in Nottingham and fit it with our own teams. Illuminated fascias, built-up letters, light boxes, projecting signs, totems, and everything on the other side of the door.

Most businesses do not have a branding problem. They have a recognition problem. They are good, and nobody driving past can tell.

Book your survey See our work
  • Survey and design in-house
  • Made in our own factory
  • Fitted by our own teams
The Albert Pub & Grill built-up illuminated letters 'Open Late' LED neon sign Fillets illuminated shopfront fascia at night Circular mermaid projecting sign

4,500+

Shops on our books

25 years

As BD Signs

3,500 sq ft

Showroom you can walk round

UK-wide

Survey, manufacture & fit

Brands we make signs for

Heavenly Desserts FSW Churchill's Fish & Chips Deep Blue Fish & Chips The Chesterford Group fishnchickn Bankers Fish & Chips The Bay Fish & Chips George's Tradition Chesters Fish Bits Lesley Greaves Yiayia G's Greek Grill

Signage for Pret A Manger, Wendy's, Heavenly Desserts, Sushi Mania, FSW and Harry Ramsden's — and for several thousand family businesses, who get the same drawings, the same factory and the same fitters.

Start with the brand

The sign is the easy part.

The strongest brands in the country land with one word, one mark and three colours. That is not a style choice. It is how recognition works at thirty miles an hour, on a phone screen, and from half a mile down the road. We start there. Everything else is downstream of it.

So before anybody talks about acrylic or aluminium, we look at the colour scheme, the name, the fascia you have got and the street it trades on. Then we build a sign that could only be yours. That is the difference between a shop people drive past and one they stop for.

Barry Dickman, founder of BD Signs

Same signs. Same windows. Same menus. Walk any high street and every shop looks like the one before it. Yours is not the same as theirs. It should not look like it is.

Why we started · Barry Dickman, founder

Colour before letters

We set the scheme first, then design a sign that carries it. Two seconds is all you get.

New look, same street

Decades of local goodwill is an asset. We modernise the identity, then stamp the history back into it.

Built to outlast the trend

Loud colour and heavy tiling date fast. We design so you can move with the times without paying for a refit.

One team, one price

Designed here, made here, fitted by us. Nobody to point at when something goes wrong.

Exterior signage

Shop front signs that work outside

Exterior signage takes the weather, the light and the traffic. Everything here is built for permanent outdoor use, weather-sealed and LED-lit, and fixed by our own installation teams — illuminated fascias, built-up letters, light box trays, projecting signs and roadside totems.

Interior signage

Interior signs that keep them in

The sign gets them through the door. What happens next decides what they spend. Interior signage, wall graphics and counter branding, specified as one scheme so the finishes match the frontage rather than nearly matching it.

Past the frontage

A customer decides three times.

On the pavement, at the door, and at the counter. Most suppliers only help you with the first one. We design the whole journey, and the signage is where it starts.

  1. 1

    On the pavement

    The fascia, the projecting sign and the window. Two seconds to say who you are and what you sell.

    Built-up letters
  2. 2

    At the door

    Entrance graphics, opening hours, the handrail. Small things that decide whether somebody actually comes in.

    Interior signage
  3. 3

    Inside the room

    Wall graphics and counter branding that hold the scheme together once they are through the door.

    Counter branding
  4. 4

    At the counter

    The menu decides what they spend. Lit boards or digital screens, built around margin rather than price order.

    Menu systems
How a sign gets made

Survey, design, manufacture, fit.

Four stages, one company, one price. Nobody is sub-contracted in the middle of it, which is why we can give you a date and keep it.

  1. 1

    Survey

    We come to you. Measure the fascia, check the fixings and the power, photograph the site, and look at the street it trades on.

  2. 2

    Design

    Our designers draw it and visualise it on your building. We keep designing until you are happy.

  3. 3

    Manufacture

    Made in our own factory — routing, welding, spraying and LED build. The quality is ours to get right rather than a supplier's.

  4. 4

    Installation

    Our own fitters install it, connect it and clear up. Access equipment included, electrics tested and signed off.

You cannot choose a sign from a PDF.

So we built three and a half thousand square feet where you can see all of it — every type of sign on the wall, lit, and every menu system running. No hard sell, no obligation. Plenty of people just come in for a coffee.

Come and see us 0115 979 4330
Where we work

Signage across Nottingham, and the rest of the UK

The factory and the showroom are both in Nottingham, so a fair share of what we make ends up within a few miles of them — in Nottingham, Beeston, Hucknall, Southwell, West Bridgford, Carlton, Mapperley, Arnold and Eastwood. The rest goes out on a van to wherever the shop is. Multi-site groups get the same drawings and the same fitters in every town.

Where we work

Signage city by city

We manufacture in Nottingham and install UK-wide. These are the cities we are in most weeks — each one with its own trading streets, its own planning rules, and its own answer to what your frontage should be.

Signage Nottingham Our factory and showroom Signage Derby 16 miles away Signage Leicester 27 miles away Signage Sheffield 40 miles away Signage Lincoln 40 miles away Signage Birmingham 50 miles away Signage Leeds 72 miles away
Signage FAQ

Questions we get asked

How much does shop front signage cost?

It depends on size, materials and whether it lights up. A panel tray fascia and a set of halo-lit stainless letters are different jobs at different money. We survey the site, then price the design, manufacture, installation and electrics as one figure. What we will not do is quote a number down the phone and revise it once we have seen the building.

What is the difference between built-up letters and a light box?

Built-up letters are individual three-dimensional characters fixed straight to the fascia. They cost more, and they read as a brand rather than as a sign. A light box is one illuminated panel with your artwork on the face — cheaper per square metre and easier to change later. Plenty of shopfronts use both: a tray for the trading name, letters for the brand mark.

Do I need planning permission for a shop sign?

Often, yes. Advertisement consent in particular, and almost always for anything illuminated, anything projecting, and anything on a listed building or in a conservation area. We deal with it every week. We will tell you at survey what your site needs and prepare the drawings for the application.

How long does a shop sign take to make?

Three to four weeks from artwork sign-off for most shopfronts, and you get the date at the point of order rather than after it. We fabricate in our own factory, so we are not queuing behind somebody else's production. Urgent jobs can usually be pulled forward.

Can you match my existing branding?

Yes, and we start there rather than finish there. Send your logo files and brand guidelines and we match to RAL or Pantone exactly. If the artwork is old or thin, say so — our designers will rebuild it properly, and we keep designing until you are happy with it.

Do you install signage outside Nottingham?

Yes. We are in Nottingham and a good share of the work is local, but we manufacture here and install UK-wide — single shopfronts through to multi-site rollouts, with our own fitters and our own access equipment.

Can I see the signs before I commit to anything?

Come and see us. We have three and a half thousand square feet of showroom with every type of sign on the wall, lit, and every type of menu system running. You cannot choose a sign from a PDF. There is no obligation, and plenty of people just come in for a coffee.

Do you repair or replace existing signs?

We do. Retrofitting old fluorescent light boxes with LED is one of our most common jobs — it cuts the running cost sharply and usually pays for itself. We also handle re-brands, panel swaps and storm damage.

Client testimonials

What our customers say

Reviews on Google
“We recently used BD Signs for digital signage in our fish and chip takeaway and couldn't be happier with the result. From the first conversation, when they squeezed us in when we drove down without an appointment, through to installation.”
N Nicola Atkinson Google review
“A big thank you to the team at BD Signs for all your hard work with our new Digital Menu System. We have 6 screens in total, and a bespoke display box with our branding. I'm quite fussy and particular, and these guys were very helpful from start to finish! Very passionate and customer focused company. Highly recommend!!!”
P Phil Mellon Google review
“Just want to rate George from tech support's service as a 5. Whenever I get through to him he goes above and beyond to support and get the problem sorted quickly and efficiently, he keeps us informed throughout of the problem and where we are with the fix. Great customer service.”
L Lauren Bannister Google review
“Used BD Signs Design and Print services to design a new logo for my company and to design and print some large labels to use on my jobs. Professional service from start to finish. Highly recommended.”
R Richard Ashwell Google review
“Excellent service as always. Friendly staff. Highly recommend.”
G Gracey Google review
“Excellent service as normal — have used BD Signs for the last 20 years and they have always been very helpful and delivered on time and on price!”
A Anton Google review
Book your survey

Come and see us.

Bring your menu, bring a photo of your frontage, or bring a problem you have been putting off for three years. We will survey the site, design it properly, and quote the whole job as one price.

Book your survey 0115 979 4330
Reviews on Google

Or email info@bdsigns.co.uk — we answer everything the same working day.