November marked the 20th anniversary of the annual  FA STSIGNS UK  convention, where franchisees from across the UK were recognised for their contributions to the signage sector in a glittering awards ceremony.

The event, hosted at St George's Park in Burton-Upon-Trent, also saw FASTSIGNS Franchisees and Sales Professionals take part in peer-to-peer learning sessions and workshops, before the awards ceremony commenced in the evening.  

FASTSIGNS UK managing director, John Davies, commemorated the start of the evening’s celebrations  with a speech before honouring award winners from across the network.

In total, there were 29 awards, split into categories including, Franchisee of the Year, Project of the Year, Supplier of the Year, Rising Star of the Year, The Sales Achievement Award and the Comprehensive Solutions Award and much more.

By unanimous decision, Lee Simpson, managing director of  FAST SIGNS St Albans , was crowned Franchisee of the Year. Upon receiving the award, Lee was honoured for his commitment to the centre, with special acknowledgements towards his customer service efforts, a significant increase in sales and charitable activities in his community.

FASTSIGNS B olton  was awarded the Project of the Year for its work with  Car rs Pasties , which saw the team help the brand expand beyond the North West.  

The prestigious Employee of the Year award went to Tim Hayes of  FASTSIGN S Northampton  - the company’s most recently launched centre.

Tim was credited with becoming an integral part of the franchise, helping new team members get to grips with life at FASTSIGNS Northampton through positive, upbeat and professional support.

The Rising Star of the Year award, which commemorates new-starters in their drive to achieve excellent signage sales, went to Daniella Marcos-Pringle of  F ASTSIGNS Hammersmith . Since joining the company, she has demonstrated ‘out of the box’ thinking in regard to obtaining conversions, which, however small, could grow into significant accounts. With such driven employees in the business, it was no surprise that this centre also won the Comprehensive Customer Solutions Award for their work with the  Univers ity of West London .

It was Mark Phelps, managing director of  F A STSIGNS Kingston , who took home the Sales Achievement Award, with an outstanding 2023 sales record.

Commenting on the annual convention, John Davies, managing director at FASTSIGNS UK, said:

“I can’t believe we’ve wrapped up yet another FASTSIGNS UK Convention. It’s been a real pleasure to see so many of our hard-working franchisees come together in one place to celebrate all the fantastic things they have achieved, across the network, in 2023.

“It’s been another challenging year of business, particularly with the cost-of-living-crisis as a backdrop to our daily lives, adding extra importance to not only our customer service but those of our customers, who have been more reliant than ever on us to deliver design expertise, support and value to their businesses.

“There have been a few standout moments from this year’s event. Huge shout-outs should go to Lee Simpson, who has gone above and beyond supporting his customers and his wider community of St Albans. Employee of the Year also went to Tim Hayes of FASTSIGNS Northampton - one of our newest centres - so it’s great to see them already off to a flying start, and FASTSIGNS Bolton’s work with Carrs Pasties, to support their bid to establish themselves as a nationwide brand, gets a notable win as Project of the Year.”

Other winners included:

• FASTSIGNS St Albans - Sales Improvement of the Year.
• Metamark - Supplier of the Year.

The FASTSIGNS UK network currently comprises 25 franchises across the country and offers a range of ways to join the franchise, including new centre launches, co-brand and conversion opportunities.