Read what some of our visitors had to say about Sign & Digital UK 2025.
Laura Pearson and Poppy Shead, Skechers
“We needed a little bit of inspiration for the year ahead so we’re trying to get new ideas and new distributors to use so we thought we would come and have a look.
It’s been really good and really insightful, and good for us as we do a lot of tradeshow events so it’s been good for us to find inspiration on that side of things. It’s also been good in terms of looking for pieces of POP or different gifts we could use but it’s good all over and all the exhibitors have been really kind.
We just came for inspiration really looking for new ways to do things so the light boxes were really great, different graphics we do a lot of vinyl wraps and all stuff like that so there was nothing specific which I think is best so we can go in with an open mind.
We got a lot of business cards and a lot of freebies which is also good.
We really enjoyed it and we exhibit a lot here ourselves but it’s been good to be on the other side of things and come in as a guest so it’s all been good.”
Ben Hansen, director and James Rees, operations at Hansign
BH: “It’s been great we’ve seen everything we wanted to see. We came mainly for the vehicles or to see some of the new software on the printing side of things and it’s been good.
“We wanted to see the vehicle wrapping films, and some of the printers as well and there was a good selection of Latex and UV but we have seen all the machines we wanted to see.”
JR: “We are looking at getting into the clothing side of things so we’ve seen some of the stuff and seeing how it all works is fab.
“Having the co-location as well and seeing that side of things has been good.”
BH: “We get asked daily about uniforms and everything else and as we design as well, that’s the next question, can you send us the artwork to send to the uniform guys so we’ll end up buying a machine for that.
“It had everything we were hoping for and it has been a good experience.”
Michael Gooch, tutor, Hull College
“I left the students to have a look around but I bumped into them at the Hexis Wrap Battle and they’re all going to have a go.
This is my 10th time coming. I’ve been doing my job for 10 years and every year I bring a group of apprentices down from Hull and they all really enjoy it.
It’s only co-located with Printwear & Promotion LIVE! twice and I encourage them to go and have a look because there are a lot of companies that specialise in that area in Hull as well and it does help so having it next door is really good.
They love the vehicles and always love the vehicles and some of the apprentices do the vehicle wrapping as well so they’re keen to have a go and show off the skills they are currently learning from the sign companies.
The Wrap Battle wasn’t here last year and was really missed because the apprentices really engaged with it so it’s massive that it is back.
We’ll have a good couple of hours walk round to give the apprentices a good chance to have a look. They like the print stuff they like vehicles and they like the clothing section and they like to get a lot of freebies.”
“It’s been interesting to see what state of the art equipment the signage industry has to currently offer. I’d recommend the show to anyone within the industry – it’s quite compact but that’s not necessarily a bad point, it just means that there’s better attention towards the visitors needs from the exhibitors.”
Alfie Pitt, director, Pittstop Graphics, and Mason Greig, owner, Maswrap
AP: “It was a really good event, quite educational. We’re here to do a bit of future shopping, we’ve just gone into business together so just getting on our feet and learning about the new equipment.
“We’ve been working together on and off for a couple of years now but we are finally starting to merge together.
“We came here for an inkjet printer and laminator and just to get the feel of pricing and meet some suppliers. We deal with William Smith and I have had some things with Epson and Hexis so there are a few regular faces.
“It was definitely worth the two-and-a-half hours it took to get here.”
MG: “It was really informative, we got all the answers we needed and it was really good. There are so many roads you can go down in signage and print so depending on what your customers are after then this is the place to go to.”
AP: “We had a quick look at Printwear & Promotion LIVE! and we do get a lot of enquiries but I am trying to master my own trade first and then in a couple of years I might diversify into that bit but it is definitely something to consider.”
Tim Hurst, graphic designer, Route 1
“It’s been interesting we thought we would have a look around to see what’s new in the industry and to see if there is anything else we could offer as a printing brand so it’s been eye-opening.
It’s been positive; people have been reaching out to us and doesn’t matter where we’re from. We come from a print company that is a small department mainly but we want to expand our offering so we came to find out about large-format and see if it would be useful to us.
We’re particularly looking at competitors, especially now as we’re trying to enter into the large-format space even more so how they offer things, market things and showcase their products and services so how we can potentially utilise that in the future.”
Robert Blackman, managing director, and Ed Arnold, production manager, Bobcat Digital
EA: “It’s been enjoyable, really good. We came here for a bit of knowledge, machines, personally I haven’t got that much experience in the industry so I’ve come here to learn as much as possible while my boss has come to look at machines.”
RB: “We’re just looking at the Epson SureColor S9100, we’ve got the 8600 at the minute so we are just looking at changing that up because it’s on its last legs.
“We’re quite keen on following the Epson because the 8600 was a good machine so it makes sense to go for the one replacing it rather than going for a new brand.
“We had a walk round, had a look at the Mimaki and stuff like that, I tend to stick to the known brands for their service and things.
“We had a look around the Printwear & Promotion LIVE! side but we tend to outsource that kind of work but we had a quick look at some of the machines.
“It’s not a market that’s in high demand from our customers but maybe as the business grows, we might get more and more enquiries about that to make the business grow.
“We enjoyed the show and would come back again.”
Tim Schoonheijm, international sales, Interflag.com
“So far it is good for us, we trying to figure out if it is an interesting market for us and to be in the exhibition next year. It’s familiar to the ones we know in the Netherlands and Germany for example where we’re attending every time. Different types of companies with lots of interesting products.
It’s been a good experience so far, we love the people and all have been very helpful. We can ask lots of questions and we’re getting a lot of answers which we appreciate.”
Justyna Cieslinska, managing director, GSF Designs
“We’re a wide-format printing company and we knew that we would be visiting this show but we wanted to expand as we have printers and cutters but now we want engravers as we wanted the opportunity for the customers.
I just came here looking for a module system as we look at printing mostly on fabric and textiles like frame boxes and this is what I found here and more so really happy to be here.
It was a perfect adventure as it was an eye-opener for me because I didn’t know there were so many more opportunities I could give to my clients like customised things for them and stands.
The conversations I’ve been having are good because now I can see and they tell me trends, what people like, what they supply and what their customers want and I know now what I can give to my customers.
Definitely, in the distant future, there could be room to expand into the garment side more but for now, we are looking for a CNC cutter and wide-format printing.
But today has been very good and educational, and everyone has been very polite and easy to talk to; if I had a question, they had the answers and I’m definitely looking forward to coming back next year.”
Russell Bond, sign-maker, Bethany Bond, company partner, and Roger Bond, partner, AxiomB2
Russell: “It’s been interesting and found a lot of information. We’re actually a maintenance company but we do a lot of printing for a local council so we have a few printers and that’s why we’re here to see what’s new and how we can improve.
“We have two Roland printers already so we spoke to Roland and Grafityp.”
Roger: “We’ve learnt about materials, different materials, what can and can’t be used together and stuff like that and what new equipment is coming out we do a lot of media for bus shelters and that’s constantly changing from timetables to full-blown pictures.”
Bethany: “The exhibitors have been fantastic. We were struggling a little bit with software and didn’t know how to use it as well as we should be so we wanted to go to Grafityp and sort it.
“The same with Roland one of our machines we weren’t sure about how to use efficiently and effectively and they have been really brilliant and helpful.”
Russell: “We went to the Printwear & Promotion LIVE! side too. We don’t do that at the moment but we thought as we have the printers, we thought we’d have a look around and see what different things are available and what we could do with the printer we’ve got.”
Bethany: “We have a heat press too so we have just been looking at the T shirts and hats and possibly anything that’s just doing our own workwear so it’s been handy.
“We’ve really enjoyed it.”
