-
Trade Signs acquired out of administration? Views please.
Does anyone know anything about this, used in the past but whats your thoughts now, safe to trade with or?
………………………………….The Hertfordshire-based company which manufactured signs for the ITV building and Coronation Street studio buildings in Salford’s MediaCity has been acquired out of administration, Insider can reveal.
Elias Paourou and David Oprey of CVR Global were appointed as joint administrators over Trade Signs Fabrications on 18 July 2016.
The company, which has been trading for more than 20 years and operates from premises in Tring, describes itself as the number one market leader for bespoke signage.
According to its website, it has manufactured and installed signs for the likes of Clarks, Hugo Boss, Debenhams, Starbucks, Mont Blanc and HMV. In 2013, the company was awarded the contract to manufacture and install signs for the Coronation St studio buildings at Media City, Manchester.
Joint administrator Elias Paourou told Insider that the company’s assets have been acquired by Signs & Screens Ltd in a deal likely to save about 40 jobs.
He said: "Trade Signs Fabrications had hit problems through a combination of factors including a degree of over-trading, and we were appointed as administrators last week.
"We have arranged the sale of the company’s assets to Signs & Screens Ltd and we understand that they are planning to re-engage most or all of the 40-plus staff affected."
Found story online here.
http://www.insidermedia.com/insider/cen … nistration
Attachments:
-
16 Replies
-
I have never used them but always knew them to give quality work and have won numerous awards as a result.
-
I had no end of trouble with them, we used them once, and vowed never to return.
I understand that’s not the staff’s fault, and I hope they can keep the staff on, but the service we received was well below the standard you would expect from a company of that standing.
They produced some blank acrylic panels & built up letters for one customer, the acrylic was to be shipped to us, for application of the graphics, they shipped 4 blank bits of acrylic direct to the client, although they did send a courier to collect them and return them to us.
The built up letters were to be delivered to site after they back tracked on their completion date, and was assured they were on a pre 10:30 delivery, they arrived at 1pm, and the customer had sat and watched the fitters sitting in their van for 4 hours.
When the letters arrived there were no screw fixings, not a massive issue, but the meant the letters were fixed to the foamex stencils using silver screws.
Turns out they were still making the letters the morning of the delivery, to be fair the quality was good, but the service and communication was appalling.
-
The most annoying thing, (apart from letting customers down with non delivery of orders) is that (as I understand) they went into administration and were bought by someone for £1.00 and will re-open in about 3 weeks! It’s companies like this that make me fume. It was only a few months ago they were bragging about a new machine on social media that must have cost in excess of £100k when they clearly had no money! (wonder if that was part of the £1 deal!!)
The other point to remember (and may be a part of their downfall) is that they claimed to be Trade Only, however over the last few years they seem have been dealing with end users (i.e. your customers – such as the Coronation Street contract among others) and were even exhibiting at a trade show in the spring for retail buyers specifically to target end users (as indeed were another "trade only" supplier).
We have been a (strictly) trade only supplier of metal products for nearly thirty years and you can’t have a foot in both camps and these guys were clearly walking a dodgy line in so many ways!
Anyway, rant over! I’ll get back in my box now…
-
I knew this was coming a few months back.
A mutual supplier to us both was telling me how bad things were….If you had seen some of the emails our supplier showed us chasing money from this firm it was shocking, more so the replies that came back were even worse.
Run up some serious debts from what I hear and also left one fitting firm having to go bust because of them.
No doubt the person calling the shots will the old Director somewhere in the background.
-
There is one company I know who use the model of bumping the Ltd co, as a business plan.
Not saying Tradesigns have done that, but surely someone knew what was going to happen. 🙁
-
Nothing worse than companies closing doors one day opening the next. We have a sign and print company on our door step thats for ever tweaking their name after going bust and carry on trading.
Fine staff keep their jobs, which is a good thing. But how does this go with their mortgage lenders and the like? Because technically few years employment with the company goes back to zero each time they close their doors.
Same for their work history. They say.. "Been with a company 10 years but its went bust 3 times" How does that look on a CV? Or do you explain to new employer the situation and come clean. Only for the new employer to think well was it the staffs performance that caused repeat closure and are they actually telling the full story? ig question marks hanging over your head all as a result of companies that shut doors and open the next. -
From what I have heard I understand two of the directors will be rejoining the company as "consultants" when it reopens in a couple of weeks or so!
The shameful thing is they are both either on the BSGA Council or Technical Committee. I trust they will both be resigning these posts otherwise what sort of example does this set for the sign trade as a whole?
-
A cowboy without a hat is still a cowboy.
Things like this are very disappointing for real business’s.Name changes, director consultants all this only leads to the little man losing out. I bet some suppliers got shafted for this.
Very disappointing :bangshead:
-
Well seems like they are keen already got their website up & going no mention about the going bust blip
http://www.tradesignsuk.com/about-tradesignsuk.html
Kev
-
I can confirm that on the morning of Tuesday 19th July, i.e. the day after Trade Signs went into administration and on the same day we first heard the news, Trade Signs were removed as a Member of the BSGA (moot point as they no longer existed) and any representatives on Council and/or Committees were informed that they could no longer hold those positions. Subsequently, they too were removed on the 19th July.
Signs and Screen are not Members of the BSGA. There is an issue with the Signs and Screen website displaying the BSGA logo and that is being addressed. It seems that the Trade Signs website was changed with a (too) quick fix by simply deleting Trade Signs logo and name and replacing it with Signs and Screens but the site was not thoroughly purged e.g. BSGA logo, ISO 9001 logo, references to Trade Signs dotted through out.
The BSGA sincerely hopes that all ex-employees of Trade Signs find new positions quickly as that is of paramount importance in this sad episode.
-
Trade signs were incorporated in 23 Nov 2011, so not quite sure how that is 20 years.
I echo what Andy has already mentioned. As a trade supplier myself I would never dream of crossing over to take potential work away from my clients. I believe that if you are trade….you are trade only! As for appearing at a retail show, then trade is not what they are.
Interesting to see their website up & running already with the new name, yet have linked the Trade Signs name.
-
quote Vince Francis:I echo what Andy has already mentioned. As a trade supplier myself I would never dream of crossing over to take potential work away from my clients. I believe that if you are trade….you are trade only!
Trade Signs are not alone, many within the trade doing it these days. I guess for some it "maybe" a case of "do whatever keeps your head above water" and to an extent I can sympathise… not because I have been there or condone it in any way, just that I understand and it could be a case of simply desperation. who knows!
However, my Gripe is those that do it time and time again or those that simply run their business and make purchases the cushion, that if sh1t hits the fan they will simply reopen. Sadly there are so many firms out there like this now.The flip side of it, is super wealthy companies doing it simply because they can. I posted here and on Facebook about this because 3M of all companies, they are doing this very thing, at least in my eyes they are. By belittling what it takes to wrap a car properly and selling vehicle wrap kits directly to the public. It is a direct attack on our customers and again in my opinion, stepping over the heads of the likes of Spandex and Wm Smiths as they are the official suppliers to the UK industry.
Anyway, back to Trade Signs… As i mention in my initial reply, Trade Signs, love or loath, they did put out lots of excellent sign work and won multiple awards. I just came across this video which is the reason i made this reply in the first place.
-
That’s a great video and no doubt they produced some seriously high end work!
I was with one the guys that trade signs done for around 40k this guy is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet, will go out of his way to help you and ensure your job is done on time and to the highest finish….his worked with us for around 3 years now and I can’t fault him.
This guy would never say anything bad about any firm but when we got on the topic of trade signs he was so happy that they had gone bust and that this would directly effect the people that made his life hell getting paid….
I’m going to see if I can convince him to log on here and show you guys some of the emails I saw from Director level…will really help you make up your mind about the firm…
-
Rob
I agree that they have won awards, to be fair we have won awards indirectly through my clients, and we have made some seriously good jobs. I am not just saying that as we made them. As a trade client we don’t always get the credit we deserve. My issue is with trade companies competing with their clients. I have heard of one company being taken off Signs Express supplier lists for this very reason. How can anyone in say a Signs Express franchise compete with a supplier they go to…..they can’t, which means they loose out. I guess it’s also about trust. I have emails sent to me that has my clients client information on it. To me, that only ever stays between me and that client. Apart from that, it gives people like me a bad name when I have spent years building up a close relationship with my clients. I would never cross the line. I have been offered the chance, but it would never happen.
-
Had this drop into my mailbox a few moment ago in case anyone missed it.
Looks like the directors been removed from the site in the staffing area and everyone else has been bumped up a place….
Looks like Vince was bang on the money with this one!
Good Morning,
I am writing this open letter to let you personally know some changes that have been made over the last few weeks.
Signs and Screens Ltd have purchased the assets of Trade Signs Fabrications Ltd from the administrator. The new owners have a strong, proven track record in business and are looking forward to investing in the future of this new company.
They have already offered jobs to the old employees and are looking into new machinery to provide better quality and faster delivery to all its customers.
Most importantly, the clients who bought from Trade Signs will be looked after in all aspects and let me assure you that your experience as a client will be extremely positive.
I am personally very pleased that I am now in a role where I can make an impact, and be able to make improvements for our clients and our staff. Our new owners who are part of a large group, have instilled the faith in me to get Signs and Screens up and running, as well as taking the company forward for the future.
I’m also pleased to say that our talented staff are excited for these changes. They are a fantastic team and the culture is one of ambition and determination to produce quality bespoke products. We have a strong senior management team which consists of Daniel Oliver, Operations Manager and Sean Isaacs, Head of Production.
Myself and our staff are more than happy to answer any questions that you may have about this change, and you are welcome to come and visit us at any time. We ask for your patience during this time, as there is quite a lot of transition taking place and we will do our best to minimise any disruptions to service.
We truly feel that we can make Signs & Screens great as a trade supplier and we hope that you can support us on our new journey.
-
I have had this sent to me from quite a few Clients now. I have been told that Mr Driver will also be taken on very soon, as a consultant. Not quite sure of the role of Haylee, was she not a Director before? Was she not able to make these changes before?
Log in to reply.
