Panel Tray & Light Box
A panel tray is the workhorse of shop signs and fascia signs: a fabricated aluminium tray, powder-coated to your brand colour, with the graphics applied or push-through fitted, and LED lit from within. BD Signs builds light box signs like this for a permanent life outdoors — they have to face Nottingham weather all year and still look like they went up last month.
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Panel Tray & Light Box, made properly
BD Signs builds the trays itself rather than buying in flat-pack, which means we can match awkward fascia widths, work around existing brickwork and get the depth right for the light spread. LED is standard throughout — brighter, cheaper to run and far longer-lived than the fluorescent tubes these replace.
- Fabricated aluminium trays, not flat-pack
- Energy-efficient LED illumination throughout
- Powder-coated to any RAL or Pantone colour
- Weather-sealed for permanent exterior use
What should you know before ordering panel tray & light box?
Do I need a flat panel tray, a light box or push-through?
It depends on how much you need to be seen after dark. A flat panel tray with applied graphics is the simplest and most cost-effective fascia. A light box adds depth and LEDs, so the whole face glows. Push-through sits between the two: a tray that lights only through the letters. BD Signs fits a lot of light boxes on takeaways, because food businesses trade at night.
Why does BD Signs survey a fascia before quoting?
Because fascias are rarely square, and old ones hide surprises under the existing sign: rotten timber, abandoned fixings, cable that goes nowhere. Measuring on site means BD Signs makes the tray to fit the building, rather than asking the building to fit a standard tray. It also finds the problems before fitting day, not during it.
Is it worth replacing a fluorescent light box with LED?
Usually, yes. LED cuts the running cost and ends the dark patches that appear as fluorescent tubes fail one by one. Sometimes the old box can simply be relit. Often a new tray works out better value once the face needs replacing anyway, — BD Signs will say which applies to your sign once we have seen it.
How does BD Signs make panel tray & light box?
Designed in-house, manufactured in our own factory, fitted by our own teams. 30 years in the industry.
- Step 1
Fascia survey
BD Signs measures the fascia, checks what is behind the existing sign and notes where power can reach the tray. Odd widths, uneven brickwork and old fixings are recorded so the tray is built around them.
- Step 2
Design visual
You see the new fascia on a photo of your shop, in your RAL or Pantone colours, with the graphics laid out at true size. If consent is needed, the application drawings come from this stage.
- Step 3
Fabrication
The aluminium tray is fabricated in our own factory to the measured size, powder-coated, fitted with its graphics or push-through face, then lit with LEDs spaced for an even spread of light.
- Step 4
Fitting
Our own teams take down the old sign, deal with whatever is behind it, fix the new tray and connect it up. Most fascias go up early in the morning or after trading, so the shop stays open.
Flat tray, light box or built-up letters: which fascia fits your shop?
All three can carry the same brand. They differ in how they light, how much of the fascia they cover and what the wall behind has to be like. BD Signs makes all three, so the advice is not tied to one product.
| Compare | Flat panel tray | Light box | Built-up letters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Construction | Aluminium tray with graphics applied | Deeper tray with LEDs inside | Individual letters fixed to the wall |
| After dark | Unlit | The whole face glows | Face-lit, halo-lit or unlit |
| Covers the old fascia | Yes | Yes | No — the wall shows between the letters |
| What the wall needs | A fascia to fix the tray to | A fascia plus a power supply | Sound brick, render or fascia behind every letter |
| Relative cost | The most cost-effective | More than a flat tray | Varies with material and lighting |
What rules apply to an illuminated shop fascia?
Shop signs come under the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) (England) Regulations 2007. Some signs on business premises have deemed consent within limits on size, height and lighting; others need express consent from the local planning authority. Illumination is one of the commonest reasons a fascia needs an application, and conservation areas and listed buildings add further controls — a listed building can also need listed building consent.
Lighting brings electrical work with it. The cable feeding a lit sign belongs to the building's fixed electrical installation, and it should be designed, installed and tested to BS 7671, the IET Wiring Regulations, by a competent person.
BD Signs checks the position at survey and prepares the drawings if an application is needed. The council makes the decision, so allow time for it before a fitting date is booked.
Panel Tray & Light Box we've made
Seven BD Signs shopfronts: illuminated fascias for Fillets (shown at night), Gills Fish & Chips in red, Hikary's Fish Bar and Cash Shop, a corner shopfront for Hallam & Co jewellers, signage for Palmers bathrooms and bedrooms, and Sea & Earth Fish & Chips with its shopfront and window graphics.
From bare shopfront to finished fit-out
A few of our shop refurbs, start to finish.
What do people ask about panel tray & light box?
How long does a new panel tray fascia take?
Three to four weeks from artwork sign-off for most fronts. BD Signs fabricates in its own Nottingham factory, so the job is not queuing behind somebody else's production, and you are given the fitting date when you order.
Will the shop have to close while the new fascia goes up?
Rarely. BD Signs fits most fascias early in the morning or after trading, so customers can still come in. You are given the fitting date when you order, which leaves time to plan staff and deliveries around the work rather than finding out the day before.
Do illuminated fascias need permission?
Often. Lighting is the most common reason a fascia needs advertisement consent, with extra controls in a conservation area or on a listed building. BD Signs checks at survey and draws up the application drawings when they are needed, so the paperwork moves alongside the design rather than trailing after it.
What colour can the tray be?
Any colour. BD Signs powder-coats trays to a RAL or Pantone reference, so the fascia matches the rest of the brand — the menu boards, the vans, the printed menus. Colour is where recognition starts, so it is worth matching exactly rather than picking the nearest stock shade.
Can BD Signs make custom metal signs?
Yes. Panel trays are folded from aluminium and powder-coated, and built-up letters are fabricated in aluminium, stainless steel or brass. Because the metalwork is made in our own Nottingham factory, a metal sign is cut to the size and shape your building needs rather than picked from a list of stock sizes.
Other types of sign we make
“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!”
“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.”
Need panel tray & light box?
Tell us about the site and what you want it to say. We will survey, design and quote the whole job as one price.
Or email info@bdsigns.co.uk — we answer everything the same working day.