New Award Categories for 2008

Plans for the Awards, which will take place at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry on Wednesday, September 3, are advancing well, according the Ray Stewart, organiser of the event.

“We now have eight major sponsors for the awards in place, including Perspex Distribution, who have stepped forward to take over the principal Sign of the Year category, and we hope to have finalised the sponsors for the six remaining categories by early October. We will be calling for entries in January and the closing date for entries will be July 31,” he said.

“One of the innovations for the next awards is a Sign Supplier of the Year and we’re delighted that Ashleigh Signs has agreed to sponsor this category.

“The winner of the award will be decided by signmakers themselves. Initially we will be calling for nominations from signmakers for the supplier they feel has provided them with the best products and/or services over the course of the year. All the nominated companies, together with the reasons for their nomination, will be listed on the awards website and signmakers will have the opportunity to vote for their favourite on-line.

“The winner will be the one that receives most votes. It’s a bit like our version of the X-factor,” said Stewart.

Other new categories for the next Awards include “Best Roll Out Programme” for projects covering multiple sites and “International Project of the Year” – an award for an overseas project completed by a UK-based sign business.

“One other big change we’ve made is in the category ‘Best Sign by a Small Signmaker’, which is being sponsored by Signscape,” added Stewart. “We’ve changed the entry criteria for this award and now it’s open only to businesses with an annual turnover of less than £1 million.

“Our aim is to encourage as many as possible of the genuinely small signmaking businesses that make up the largest part of the UK sign industry to showcase their work.”

Other categories for the 2008 Awards include: Best Vehicle Graphics; Best Architectural Sign; Best Retail Signage Scheme; Best Wayfinding Scheme; Best Interior Signage; Best Illuminated Sign; and The Craftsman Award. The BSGA will also present its Special Achievement Award.

“We will also have the Sign Business of the Year Award and we’re delighted that two-times winner of the Award, Active Signs will sponsor it in 2008.”

Venue Plans

Although it’s still 12 months away, planning for the Awards event itself is already well under way.

The cocktail reception preceding the awards will be held in The Yorkshire Bank Lounge on the first floor of the Ricoh Arena and guests will then make their way, via lift or escalator, to the giant E-on Lounge on the second floor for dinner and the awards ceremony.

The great thing about the E-on Lounge is that it is a huge space and is completely pillar-less which means that well over 500 people can be seated for dinner and every one of them will have a clear view of the stage.

It is also equipped with two giant ceiling mounted screens and these will be used for the close-ups for the shortlisted entries and for video feeds of all the live action on stage.

More information about the sponsoring an award category or entering for one of the prizes can be obtained by calling James Hirst on 0115 963 7367.