In a change to the usual voting process, the awards were voted for by the franchisees for the first time ever, making this a true reflection of the centre's talent. Welcoming franchisees from their 70 centres across the UK and Ireland, the convention was a huge success, celebrating past achievements and looking towards the future, a notion supported by their futuristic space themed evening event. The blind vote for the sign awards took place at lunchtime on the day of the convention with the entries displayed on boards lining one of the walls at the conference. The Best Sign Project category received a large amount of high quality entries and so this became a much coveted award! Signs Express (Plymouth), who managed to beat off strong competition, were announced as finalists for their project with interior design company Karris Ltd. The project included exterior and interior signage for three companies based within the same business centre. As there were a number of clients involved, there was a vast range of different designs and types of signage required. All the signs were manufactured in-house by the Plymouth team, incorporating their wide format colour capabilities to create clear identities for all three brands. Internally, Signs Express (Plymouth) created striking glass manifestations, using printed and cut etch vinyl methods, offering cohesive brand awareness. The sign makers created a fantastic visual impact, making the most of the wall space. They generated wall art using cut vinyl text, acrylic reverse decorated panels, which included fixing to curved walls. There were many issues to overcome with the installations as is often the case with a new build. Timings, logistics and set-backs with the build all needed to be taken into consideration and worked around. The biggest challenge however was creating a safe platform to work on a spiral staircase, with a curved wall. The Plymouth team took this in their stride and the end results looked great. Signs Express managing director Craig Brown commented: 'There were numerous challenges involved in this project for Signs Express (Plymouth), however their expertise and professionalism ensured a fantastic result which the client was delighted with. Congratulations, a well-deserved accolade!' Franchisee Chris Reilly opened the doors to Signs Express (Plymouth) in January 1997. Since opening, the business has continued to grow and now has a team of 8. Working with a variety of customers, the team cover areas in and around Plymouth such as Saltash, Tavistock and Kingsbridge.