Signs Express Central Lancashire put the finishing touches to the Life Sciences Accelerator building, the stunning £25 million scientific research centre in Daulby Street. The after midnight operation - necessary as the work was taking place above the main entrance to the building – saw the installation of five sets of built up letters, eight direction signs and seven door signs.

The week-long installation is the fifth large contract for Preston’s Signs Express with the School of Tropical Medicine and was a joint contract from the school and Vinci Construction. Richard Burslem, facilities supervisor at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, said: “The service from Signs Express Central Lancashire was superb providing both guidance and a high level of expertise that was a great asset from the artwork stage through to installation. “This project has been a great success and users of the building are very impressed with the finished work.”

Matt Rutlidge from Signs Express said: “This was a difficult night-time installation of built up letters as much as 18 metres high and because the location was above a main entrance. We brought in specialist 18m scissor lift access equipment, along with a cherry picker for the above entrance installation."

“Working on such distinctive signage on such a high profile building in Liverpool and seeing the successful implementation from artwork to installation has been very rewarding.” Signs Express carries out repeat work for hospital trusts, schools and colleges across Lancashire, local authorities, universities and manufacturers. Signs Express and its 15-strong workforce based in Rough Hey Road, Preston, designs, produces and installs a full range of signage for its growing client base and is owned and run by father and son team Stephen and Ben Hall. As well as external and internal signs, the company also creates vehicle and window graphics and has seen a growing demand for its bespoke digital wallpaper. All its work, from design to manufacture, is carried out ‘in house’. Signs Express’ growing client list has seen annual turnover grow above £800,000. Ben Hall said: “Our design department is using the latest software to create powerful messages. We pride ourselves that we are more than just a sign company." “We’ve got graphics and fabrication workshops that are also equipped with the latest technology. It means we can produce all aspects of sign work, including illuminated, tactile and braille signs. It’s a very competitive market out there, but the advantage we have is being able to take on work of all sizes and to successfully project manage them.”