Join the UK's Leading Signs & Graphics Franchise
Whether you're an experienced sign maker ready to scale, an independent signage business looking to rebrand and grow, or a business-savvy individual with no industry experience seeking your next opportunity — Signs Express offers the perfect platform to build a successful, sustainable business. Benefit from Monday to Friday working hours, strong earning potential, and full head office support from the Franchise Support Centre.
Why Join Signs Express?
- UK’s #1 signs and graphics franchise
- Earn up to £750,000+ turnover with 20% EBITDA potential
- Monday–Friday working – enjoy work-life balance
- Operate in your own exclusive territory
- Start from scratch, purchase a resale, try our conversion model (by buying an existing signage business and converting to Signs Express), or rebrand your existing signage business under the Signs Express name
- Full training, mentoring and operational support throughout
- Access to national accounts and collective buying power
- Winner of the BFA & HSBC 2024 Business Transformation Award
Choose the Business Model That Suits You
At Signs Express, we now offer four flexible routes to ownership so you can join us in a way that fits your background, goals and investment level:
- Resales: Purchase an established Signs Express centre with an existing customer base, local brand presence, experienced staff and recurring revenue.
- Start-ups: Launch a brand-new Signs Express centre in a prime, available territory. Perfect for ambitious individuals looking to build something from the ground up, with full training and support.
- Rebrands: Already running an independent signage business? Seamlessly rebrand as a Signs Express centre and gain access to our national marketing, operational support, group buying power and scalable growth model.
- Conversions: A hybrid of all three models, a Signs Express conversion sees us work with you to find an independent signage business for sale (in one of our vacant territories) and then help you to purchase it and convert it to a Signs Express in the process.
Creative, Consultative, Commercial
Our franchisees deliver bespoke signage and visual communication solutions to a wide variety of industries, from retail and construction to education, healthcare and manufacturing. Services include:
- Exterior building signage
- Illuminated and digital signs
- Vehicle graphics and wraps
- Exhibitions and displays
- Window graphics and bespoke wallpaper
- Health and safety signage
- Eco-friendly products and more
Setting You Up for Success
From your very first day, you’ll receive extensive training and hands-on support, including:
- Comprehensive onboarding and technical training
- Access to our custom-built Learning Management System (LMS)
- Business coaching, sales mentoring & operational guidance
- Dedicated Franchise Support Centre assistance in marketing, HR, IT, finance and more
- Local marketing campaigns run on your behalf
- Peer-to-peer best practice sharing across the network
- Growth options via our Hub & Spoke model for territory expansion
What Our Franchisees Say
“Nearly 25 years in, and I still love the industry and business. For a creative person who loves building relationships and meeting new people, being able to combine the two is ideal for me. Understanding our customers visions and bringing them to life gives me a huge buzz and seeing the work our team has produced in and around the city, gives me an enormous sense of pride.”
— Richard Howes, Signs Express (Lincoln)
“We’re excited to continue exploring what’s possible with the backing of such a strong and supportive network.”
— Matt Rutlidge, Signs Express (Central Lancashire)
“The business has been heading in a great direction, and joining the Hub & Spoke model was the perfect next step.”
— Kris Bell, Signs Express (Aylesbury)
“Rarely any two days are the same making each day interesting! As cheesy as it sounds, it’s the job satisfaction and being able to make a difference which motivates me still after 20 years ownership.”
— Ian Charles, Signs Express (Grantham)
Who We’re Looking For
You might be:
- A business savvy, hands-on manager with no industry experience but have the desire, drive and ambition to take a business to the next level
- An experienced sign maker or production lead with ambitions to run your own centre
- An independent signage business owner ready to rebrand and grow with the backing of a national network
- Strong relationship-building & sales skills
- Drive, ambition and creativity
- A consultative approach and customer-first mindset
Investment Information
- Franchise Fee: £8,500 (resale or rebrand) or £25,000 (start-up)
- Total Investment: Varies – we work with third-party funders including HSBC
- Liquid Capital Required: Typically, 30% of total investment
Start Your Signs Express Journey Today
Ready to take your business to the next level — or launch something brand new — with the UK’s leading signage franchise?
Click ‘Enquire Now’ to receive our full Franchise Prospectus and learn how we’ll support you every step of the way.
Current Resale Opportunities include:
- Signs Express (Oxford)
- Signs Express (Dartford)
Current Locations Available for Start-Ups, Rebrands and Conversions include
- Ashford
- Bournemouth
- Brighton
- Canterbury
- Chester
- Crawley
- Croydon
- Dorking
- Eastbourne
- Edinburgh
- Harrogate
- Stoke
- Tunbridge
- Warrington
- Watford
- Worthing
- Franchise Fee: £8,500
- Minimum Investment: £215,000
- Minimum Liquid Capital: £65,000
- Potential Turnover: £750,000+
- Projected EBITDA: 20%
Signs Express 2026 Convention Showcases Network Strength and Signals Franchise Growth Ambitions
Signs Express brought its nationwide network together at the magical Alton Towers Resort on Friday 16 January for its 2026 Convention, celebrating a strong year of performance, recognising outstanding achievement, and setting a clear, ambitious direction for the future of the brand.
With 42 centres represented on the day, 25 exhibitors supporting the event and more than 150 attendees, the convention demonstrated the scale, passion for the industry and collective commitment of the Signs Express network. The day provided an opportunity to reflect on the successes of 2025 while reinforcing the brand’s confidence and long-term growth ambitions.
Celebrating performance and resilience
The morning plenary focused on celebrating success across the network, recognising strong sales growth across multiple centres, promotions within franchise groups, notable sales office performances, and welcoming new franchisees into the Signs Express family. Despite a challenging economic backdrop, the network demonstrated resilience throughout 2025, with positive momentum building in the second half of the year.
A key update focused on Signs Express’ evolving brand marketing strategy, with a shift towards a more content-led, brand-driven approach centred on storytelling and video. This delivered strong results in 2025, including increased visibility and engagement and a year-on-year uplift of enquiries. The results reinforced confidence in the marketing direction and highlighted the important role local centres play in amplifying the national brand.
A franchise model built for the future
Franchise recruitment and long-term sustainability were key themes of the day. Despite being an established brand with over 60 locations across the UK and Ireland, the convention highlighted that Signs Express businesses remain highly attractive and saleable, with multiple new franchisees welcomed during 2025. This was supported by strong demand for resales, their first successful rebrand, franchise renewals, and continued new franchisee onboarding.
The introduction of new rebrand and conversion models further demonstrated how the franchise is futureproofing network growth, while collaboration across the network was emphasised as a critical factor in maintaining momentum and protecting long-term value.
Looking ahead, four strategic priorities for 2026 were outlined: expansion through new franchise models, enquiry growth driven by targeted growth campaigns, continued systemisation through the rollout of leading system CoreBridge, and the use of data-driven insight to support better business decisions.
The continued rollout of CoreBridge was positioned as the network’s single largest investment for the year, with a further twelve centres scheduled to onboard by the end of 2026. More than a system replacement, CoreBridge underpins future initiatives across automation, training, digital tools, and data insights. Alongside the newly developed Insight Portal, it will provide a significant competitive advantage through improved benchmarking and performance analysis.
Insight-led discussion and supplier collaboration
The convention featured three expert-led panel sessions covering laser cutting, sustainability, and outsourcing versus in-house production. Each session focused on practical, commercial decision-making and featured a mix of industry experts and experienced Signs Express franchisees, reinforcing the strength of knowledge and collaboration within the network.
Enhanced exhibitor engagement ran throughout the day, including quick-fire introductions, meaningful networking opportunities, and expert discussion, before concluding with the Signs Express Gala Dinner and Awards.
Recognising excellence and giving back
The evening celebrated outstanding achievement across the network, with awards recognising excellence in sustainability, design, signage projects, vehicle graphics, supplier partnerships, and individual and team performance. The event also raised £1,630 for Annabelle’s Challenge, supporting vital research and awareness for Vascular Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome.
Looking ahead
As the convention closed, Signs Express reaffirmed its commitment to continued growth, improved profitability, and long-term success across the network. With a proven business model, strong marketing support, ongoing investment in systems and data, and a collaborative culture, Signs Express is actively looking for talented, driven individuals to join the franchise network throughout the year.
For those seeking to build a scalable, supported business within a well-established brand, the Signs Express 2026 Convention demonstrated why the network continues to go from strength to strength, and why now is an exciting time to become part of it.
For more information, please get in touch with Head of Franchise Recruitment, Emma Wakefield – we’d love to hear from you.
I would definitely recommend franchising to those who wish to own a business with large potential. It’s been a fantastic way to grow my opportunities whilst knowing I have all the support, guidance and reassurance just a phone call away.
Signs Express’ dedicated support team ensure I look at the facts and figures giving me advice on the next steps to take. It’s important to keep looking at the bigger picture in order to keep on track with the growth I want for the business. I have a very exciting future ahead of me.
