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BSGA Director Peter Tipton - In Conversation
BIOGRAPHY
Peter Tipton is the present Director of the British Sign & Graphics Association and is responsible for managing the day to day activities of the Association. Working very closely with the Association’s governing Council and Committees he ensures the policy and management of the Association is carried out to the benefit of its members.
Peter is also Secretary of the European Federation of Illuminated Signmakers, an organisation of which the BSGA is a major partner.
Since joining the BSGA he has seen the Association grow into a nationally recognised Body which caters for the needs of all sign makers and suppliers to the industry and describes his role in the Association as “probably the best job in the world”.
How does the BSGA structure its fees and membership?
Within the British Sign & Graphics Association there are 7 categories of membership covering Full, Associate, Educational, Installation/Maintenance, Consultant/Designer, Overseas and Affiliate. To gain approval as either Full or Affiliate member the applicant company must be a sign manufacturer. Associates are suppliers to the industry and Educational members are centres, approved by the BSGA, to deliver sign making qualifications including Scottish and National Vocational Qualifications, Foundation and Modern Apprenticeships. The Installation/Maintenance category covers businesses who are solely engaged in these fields as is the category for Consultant/Designer.
Membership of all categories is available to sign related businesses who operate within Great Britain, The Channel Islands and Northern Ireland; businesses who are based outside these locations are eligible for Overseas membership.
Subscription fees for Full and Associate members are based on individual annual sales turnover (full details are available from BSGA). All other categories of membership have a fixed annual membership fee, the Association will be happy to provide full details on request.
The sign industry is populated with small sign making companies, many of which are run by individuals working from home. What is the BSGA’s membership policy for this type of business?
The Association’s policy relating to all members is that providing they are a bone fide business within the sign industry and are willing to be bound by the Association’s Obligations of Membership then they are able to submit an application for approval. Each applicant is visited by a member of the Association’s staff prior to their application being submitted for formal approval.
The Association recognises that an increasing part of its role is to encourage the development of small and ‘start up’ signmaking operations. 4 years ago the Association introduced a new category of membership ‘Affiliate’ for sign making operations which have been in business for less than 3 years. Businesses which fall into the Affiliate category are entitled to all membership benefits and once they have achieved 3 years in business will be automatically upgraded to Full membership.
With increasing emphasis on health and safety, how can the BSGA help SME companies to remain compliant?
The BSGA Technical Committee takes a very close interest in health and safety and technical matters affecting the sign making industry. Over many years the Technical Committee have compiled a wide range of detailed Technical Guidelines which are only available to members. When the Association’s website was re-launched 4 years ago a dedicated member’s area was introduced which is only accessible via a specific username and password. Within the member’s area every Technical Guideline produced by the BSGA has been individually uploaded and these are accessible by members 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. From feedback received from members it is apparent that these guidelines are seen as the industry’s technical ‘bible’ by the provision of wide ranging advice on health, safety and technical matters.
The Association also work extremely closely with Opus Insurance Services, the BSGA insurance brokers, who provide very regular updates on a wide range of health and safety matters such as working at heights, asbestos regulations, vehicle security, public and product liability, etc. Virtually every issue of the BSGA Newsletter, which is distributed to 7,000 businesses within the UK sign industry, carries an article relating to specific health and safety matters.
Can you update us on the situation with the construction certification scheme?
The Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS Card) for the sign industry was negotiated and implemented by the BSGA, with the Construction Industry Training Board, over 2 years ago. The card for sign makers was launched in April 2003 and is divided into 2 sectors being the CSCS card for sign installers (illuminated) and sign installers (non-illuminated). It must be understood by the industry that these are the only cards which will allow sign installation engineers to gain access to construction sites which are operated by the Major Contractors Group. Until 15th April 2005 sign installation engineers have the opportunity to gain a CSCS card in the relevant discipline via the industry accreditation route. From 15th April 2005 onwards the only way in which a card can be granted will be by the applicant undertaking a Scottish or National Vocational Qualification in Sign Installation and achieving a Level 2 qualification. The Level 2 qualification will enable the applicant to obtain a blue card (team member); the gold card which is applicable to team leaders will be achieved once the applicant has attained a Level 3 in the Signmaking NVQ qualification
How are the Sign Awards shaping up and what can we expect that is new and exciting?
The BSGA Sign Industry Awards ‘2005’, organised by Bower Parnham Stewart of Nottingham, will take place on the Wednesday evening of the Sign UK 2005 exhibition and will be the industry’s ‘party of the year’. The event will take place at The Centennial Centre which is located just 1 mile from the city centre. The Centennial Centre provides luxurious capacity for 400 people and to date 250 tickets are already allocated.
The award ceremony, which is being carefully timed to last for 60 minutes, will be preceded by a 4 course dinner and will then be followed by music and entertainment. Our host for the evening will once again be Sue Beardsmore from the BBC who has looked after the presentations since 2002 and has always done a fabulous job for us.
In addition to the awards which have been presented in previous years there will be the following new categories for 2005:
Architectural Sign of the Year
Sign Business of the Year
Innovation Award
Sign Student of the Year
Special Achievement Award
And the ultimate award, hosted by Perspex, will be Sign of the Year.
The BSGA are delighted with the way in which the industry have supported the Sign Industry Awards in recent years and strongly believe that recognition for the outstanding work carried out by sign companies in the United Kingdom is long overdue.
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