Merson Blog

Merson Sponsor FOSD (Future of Sustainable Design) Awards 2012

Tue, 08 May 2012 09:34:00 GMT

For the third consecutive year Merson Signs is delighted to be sponsoring the FOSD (Future of Sustainable Design) Awards to be held at London’s ExCel on the 25th May 2012. The Awards are combined with the annual FOSD conference, which covers a range of topics related to the design of rail stations and this year focuses on interchanges.

How well rail stations are integrated, both within their geographical location and with other transport modes is a key topic on this year’s agenda and the various talks, debates and workshops will focus on how all transport hubs can work together to create a more seamless passenger experience.

The awards will also follow this theme, recognising those organisations and individuals who have excelled in innovating within the rail environment and seamlessly joining up passenger journeys. As well as sponsoring, Merson Signs are designing and manufacturing the awards from their southern base in Chessington, Surrey. This year’s categories are:

· Innovation in Design
· Innovation In Engineering
· Innovation in Hub retail
· Outstanding Achievement in Station Design and Construction
· Best in Conference

The Best in Conference award will be voted for live on the day by the FOSD committee made up of key speakers from the conference, adding additional suspense and excitement to the proceedings!

Merson Signs supply signage to a number of Train Operating Companies, including South West Trains, East Midlands Trains and Southeastern trains, as well as having over 20 years of experience in delivering signage for airports and other transport hubs. Recent works include providing major passenger wayfinding and information signage for Blackfriars Rail and Underground stations, delivering over 33,000 signs for Heathrow’s T5 and managing the South West and East Midlands station signage renewal programmes.

To find out more about this year’s FOSD conference and awards visit fosd.eu

We hope to see you there – look out for the Merson Signs stand!

Merson Deliver the Full Package at Landmark London Station

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 10:46:00 GMT

Merson Signs is currently delivering a major signage package at Blackfriars Station in London – one of the city’s largest infrastructure projects.

Already handling millions of passengers every year, once complete the new station (the first railway station to span the river Thames) will accommodate longer trains as part of a scheme that will deliver 30,000 more seats for passengers. The project also includes the complete rebuilding of Blackfriars Underground station – providing a much-improved interchange between National Rail and London Underground services.

Merson, who previously delivered the station signage for HighSpeed 1, as well as 33,000 signs for Heathrow’s Terminal 5, are working with main contractor Balfour Beatty to deliver all signage for the Main Entrance Concourse, Underground Station, Network Rail North and South Station platforms and bridge areas. This includes the manufacture and installation of various bespoke 3D letters, projecting signs and canopy signs as well as all other wayfinding, emergency exit, supplementary and door signs. The project also includes the manufacture and installation of over 1,500 vitreous enamel signs, complying with the standard specification for the London Underground.

Health & Safety is clearly of paramount importance when working in the rail and underground environment and all of Merson’s installers are Lucas and PTS trained to ensure that they can work safely in these conditions.

With the London Underground Station and South Station now re-opened, Blackfriars has already

been transformed into a genuine London landmark and the overall project on schedule for completion in time for the London 2012 Olympics.

Merson’s Southern Operations Director, Stuart Dodds, has relished being involved in such a high profile project: “Our previous experience in the rail sector as well as our experience working on large-scale transport infrastructure projects such as Heathrow’s T5, has stood us in great stead for delivering the Blackfriars signage package and it’s fantastic to be working with Balfour Beatty and Network Rail on such an impressive landmark station".

Click here to find out more about our extensive work in the rail, aviation and highways sectors >>

Working with Waitrose

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 08:59:00 GMT

We are delighted to be working with John Lewis Partnership to deliver signage packages at Waitrose and John Lewis at Home stores across the UK.

We started working together in early 2011 and have since manufactured and installed the internal and external signage at 13 Waitrose shops and one John Lewis at Home store in Tamworth. We’ll continue to deliver more projects in 2012 to meet the client’s refurbishment and new shop opening programme as they continue to expand and refresh their branch network.

Waitrose shops come in two main formats – the core supermarket format and a smaller convenience format known as ‘little Waitrose’. The photos you see here show our latest completed project – the larger supermarket format at Walton le Dale, Preston.

Waitrose Walton le Dale involved a three-month planning, design and approval stage followed by a three-week installation programme, which is fairly typical of larger Waitrose shops. The process starts with our design team working alongside Waitrose’s brand design consultancy, Integrity Design, to ensure that the fully resolved, construction ready designs are achievable and within budget. Once approved by the Waitrose team, our project managers plan the manufacture and installation programme with all signage being manufactured at our Glasgow production facility before being installed by one of our nationwide installation teams. As well as all internal signage, Waitrose Walton le Dale included five sets of lit letters, 15 bespoke car park signs and a bespoke five-metre feature totem sign.

Now Waitrose Walton le Dale is complete and open for business, we’re gearing up for our next Waitrose and John Lewis at Home projects. We’ll keep you posted as our work with this client progresses.

Click here to find out more about our award-winning work in the retail sector for clients such as Tesco, M&S and TK Maxx >>

Low Budget, High Impact. The Importance of Good Wayfinding Signage

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 11:34:00 GMT

Roger Eke on the worst 4-weeks of his working life and the day he discovered the true importance of good wayfinding signage.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the area, the Wirral is a peninsula in North West England. It is bounded by three bodies of water: to the west the River Dee, forming a boundary with Wales, to the east the River Mersey and to the north the Irish Sea. It was here I spent the 4 most miserable weeks of my working life!

I was on site with our installation team to manage the delivery of a wayfinding signage package for a new-build supermarket distribution centre. This was a very impressive construction project. A huge logistical hub with 67 loading bays for articulated lorries and a vast maze of warehouse shelving full of hundreds of thousands of products, all costing around £20million. The centre would be manned by hundreds of staff, many of whom were employed to load cages full of products from the various warehouse zones and then take them to the appropriate loading bay to be delivered to the correct store. I’m sure I’ve simplified the logistical process somewhat but that’s the gist of it!

Our role was to deliver all primary Wayfinding and Health & Safety signs - a project worth around £50,000. We were on site for nearly 4-weeks between mid-January and mid-February and, as I’ve already mentioned, I was having a miserable time! The Wirral is undoubtedly an area of outstanding natural beauty, but even the locals will tell you that the winter months can be bitter. This year it was particularly horrible; the temperature struggled to get above zero and the cold wind from the Irish Sea made it feel much, much colder. Coupled with this I was away from home for nearly 4-weeks, hundreds (it felt like thousands!) of miles away from my friends and family and, to be honest, I was feeling a bit sorry for myself! Quite frankly, I was itching to get home.

As the 4-weeks drew to a close though, I had a wholesale change in feeling. With our part of the project complete a couple of days early we got the chance to see this new distribution centre swing into action. It was incredible how the vast and complex logistical challenge of delivering hundreds of thousands of products a day to stores across the UK could be done so efficiently. It was then that I had my Eureka moment – without our signs, this huge, efficient and well oiled machine would come to a complete standstill. Even something as simple as the numbering of the loading bays meant that HGV drivers could easily find their parking bay from the outside and the staff could easily load the correct cages into the correct lorry on the inside. It sounds insanely simple but without these numbered signs, the place would be chaos – it just wouldn’t work.

In the grand scheme of things our part in this project was fairly small – at a value of £50,000 it was a mere 0.25% of the overall budget for the project. On the other hand, the impact of our product was huge and without it, this £20million construction would have been a complete failure. Realising that our contribution was business critical for the client completely turned my experience in the Wirral around. It gave the whole team a real sense of real purpose, pride and ownership in what we’d helped achieve.

Since then I’ve realised that the same can be said for any project we’re working on whether it be delivering the signage for Blackfriars Station, or installing 33,000 units at Heathrow’s T5. Okay, passenger terminal projects call for a slightly more complex approach than numbered loading bays, but the principle is the same – without our product it would be chaos! Signage might be a small part of the delivery of a new large-scale transport or construction project – but its impact is enormous and far-reaching.

Roger Eke from Merson Signs has worked in the signage industry for 8 years, delivering projects including Underground Stations at Wood Lane, Marble Arch and Notting Hill, in excess of 40 Overground Rail Stations and a number of multi-site signage projects including the Somerfield and Kwik Save DDA implementation across 1,500 stores throughout the UK.

Click here to explore our capability further >>

6 tips for delivering your signage projects sustainably

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 10:53:00 GMT

Operating sustainably is a topic that we take very seriously and is something we have long-term experience of; In the course of our work with Volvo we have been re-using, recycling or responsibly disposing of materials for nearly 20 years. Our ISO14001 accreditation, gained 7 years ago, is something we are proud of but is only a formal recognition of how we have been operating for many years

When undertaking any rebranding project we work with our clients to develop the most sustainable specification and implementation methodology. We are increasingly developing processes that are not only “greener” but are also “leaner”. This means there no longer has to be a cost penalty for choosing to operate sustainably – on the contrary, we are increasingly delivering cost benefits through our focus on sustainable operations.

So what can you do to reduce the environmental impact of your signage and make savings on whole-life costs at the same time? How can you make more effective choices to help your project achieve a higher sustainability rating?

We consulted BRE (Building Research Establishment) when preparing this list, following BREAAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) principles.

1. Use LED lighting for your signs

LEDs have improved markedly over the last few years and now represent the best way to light most sign types. Brightness, life-span and energy consumption are significantly improved, and capital costs have significantly reduced, so much so that they should be the default choice over hot cathode, cold cathode and most other lighting types.

This, combined with today’s higher energy costs, means that LEDs deliver their whole-life cost benefits in a much shorter timescale – often only 1-2 years, meaning every year of operation after that brings very worthwhile savings. Combine this with significantly reduced maintenance costs and the business case is a strong as the sustainability case.

2. Material Selection is Key

Understanding the environmental factors of different materials is absolutely key in making the right selection. For example, did you know that aluminium takes only 5% of the energy used to recycle steel making it a very sustainable material over whole life? Making well-informed material selections, including understanding the importance of country of origin and means of transport, will greatly enhance the sustainability of your signage project.

3. Bigger is not Always Better

Sometimes signs need to be large to be effective but in many cases reducing the size of a sign very slightly can increase sheet yield thereby reducing waste material and reducing production and running costs. Combining 2 signs into one or reducing the overall number of signs in your scheme, which can enhance rather than impair effectiveness especially when it comes to wayfinding signage, can deliver similar benefits.

4. Give your Signs a Rest

Having your signs illuminated 24/7 can be important but this isn’t always the case. Is your signage lit at times it doesn’t need to be? If so, you might want to reconsider and benefit from some impressive cost and efficiency savings. For example, only illuminating your signs from 3pm until midnight would save 5,400 hours of power consumption every year, extending their life and greatly reducing running costs two major wins for sustainability.

5. Install Efficiently

This is particularly important if you’re rebranding a number of sites across a large geographical area. Ensuring the most efficient route programme is laid out from the start will save significantly on fuel – and time, both cost savings that the client can benefit from as well as reducing the carbon emissions associated with the project. We have installation teams located throughout the Uk to reduce unnecessary travel and save our clients money.

6. What Goes Up, Must Come Down

The safe removal and recycling of redundant signage is a key part of operating more sustainably. There is the point in selecting the right materials if you’re not going to recycle or responsibly dispose of them at end of life! Design and specify signage to make it as recyclable as possible at end of life and make sure you carefully consider how you can control recycling at end of life. We recycle in excess of 41Tonnes of waste material every year, which includes, aluminium, steel, acrylic, lamps, electronic controls, wire, paper and much more.

Click here to read more about our environmental operations and request a free enviromerson initial project assessment.

A Festive Message from Merson Group

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 13:38:00 GMT

Managing Director of Merson Group Roddy Angus reflects on 2011, looks ahead to 2012 and shares his festive message:

We thought the recession might bring some companies to their knees… but now countries as well – whatever next! Perhaps we shouldn’t ask… currencies?

Boy are we looking forward to the festive break. As we started into 2011 we were ever hopeful that the green shoots of recovery would begin to show but that has just not been the case. Despite that, the crew here at Merson have sailed the ship through troubled waters and the company is in good health. We do hope your business has done likewise.

Our strong trading has been helped by an increase in our key client base and we are pleased to welcome names like John Lewis Partnership, East Midlands Trains, Gatwick Airport Ltd and Southern Railway to our portfolio. We do try hard to listen and develop our business in line with clients’ needs and hope you have seen benefits from this approach.

At Merson we never stand still and in 2011 we started taking steps to internationalise the business and have now established a base in the Middle East in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. I am pleased that this new export activity has in no way detracted from our service levels in the core UK market – rather it has allowed us to sustain our full compliment of staff and capability.

So, once again we have our staff to thank. Work has not got any easier in the past 12 months and they have continued to step up to the mark when required. A big thank you also to our customers for the business you have placed with us and we look forward to dealing with you again in the New Year.

Wishing you health, wealth and happiness in 2012 and beyond.

Roddy Angus
Managing Director of Merson Group

Delivering Signage Packages for Shopping Centres

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 15:22:00 GMT

Signage packages for shopping centres bring their own unique set of priorities and challenges. The signage is in a high traffic environment so it is vital to ensure that the initial ideas and concepts are robust and fit for purpose. The design process is often quite involved - with drawings, samples and prototypes all being part of the development and sign-off process. The working environment, in particular at new-build shopping centres, is a busy one with many trades operating in the same area at the same time. Detailed forward planning is required to ensure smooth delivery and successful integration without any delays.

We have extensive experience in delivering large-scale signage schemes for some of the UK’s most prominent shopping centre developments. Details follow of two large-scale shopping centre projects we’ve delivered recently:

Silverburn Shopping Centre

Architect: Building Design Partnership (BDP)
Contractor: Bovis Lend Lease
QS: Bovis Lend Lease

MSD, our sign design and wayfinding division, were initially appointed by BDP architects to productionise and value engineer their signage concepts for the branding and wayfinding signage at Silverburn Shopping Centre.

The scope included fingerpost signs, totem signs and LED illuminated architectural letters. The MSD team worked closely with BDP to ensure what we delivered was in keeping with their design vision and the client’s budget.

Following the design phase and tender process, main contractor Bovis Lend Lease awarded the contract to manufacture and install all signage at Silverburn to Merson Signs. This part of the project included the manufacture and installation of 9 and 15 metre high mast signs, all external wayfinding and car park signs, along with the entire multi-storey car park signage scheme.

The end result was a scheme that fulfilled all the client's aspirations for the signage, while delivering it within a previously unachievable contract sum.

We had some extremely positive feedback from many people involved in the project, including Alistair Kell of BDP Architects:

“Merson took a very proactive role in getting the design from concept to being production ready. They managed to do this within budget but without losing the key elements of our design.”

Golden Square Shopping Centre

Architect: Haskoll
Contractor: Bovis Lend Lease
QS: Bovis Lend Lease

Bovis Lend Lease were looking for a company that could take their initial broad-brush concepts for the Golden Square Shopping Centre signage and turn these into fully-resolved, commercially viable designs.

Following an introductory meeting and credentials pitch, our sign design and wayfinding division MSD were appointed to carry out all aspects of the signage design phase, including wayfinding consultancy, scheduling, signage concepts, production engineering, and producing visuals and samples for stakeholder approval.

At the next stage our manufacturing division Merson Signs was contracted to manufacture and install all signage at Golden Square. We began by developing the initial design concepts into fully resolved, production ready signs. There were a number of unique products such as wayfinding totems with incorporated finger-post signs and large illuminated signs, which were developed to look as if they were floating behind the glass at the centre’s main entrance areas.

When it came to the installation, our project teams worked closely with all other trades working on site to ensure there were no hold-ups and each phase was concluded on time. Fortnightly meetings on site in Warrington ensured the project progressed at the required pace and also ensured that all enabling and interface works were carried out at the most cost-effective point in the construction programme.

The completion of the project was the culmination of an 18-month project for Merson Signs. Ian Lynch, Project Manager at Lend Lease Projects commented:

“Your design process has definitely delivered a signage scheme closer to our design aspirations than any other method would have achieved.”
Ian Lynch, Project Manager, Lend Lease Projects

If you’d like to talk to us about your next shopping centre project get in touch today >>

Merson Progress to National Business Finals

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 12:07:00 GMT

Merson Signs has been selected as one of only six companies from Scotland and Northern Ireland who will progress to the Regional Finals of a national business initiative run by HSBC and supported by The Telegraph.

Business Thinking is HSBC's initiative to find and reward the UK's best business thinkers, and to enable businesses to exchange ideas, create new contacts and of course, challenge their thinking.

As regional finalists, representatives from Merson will go to Paris to take part in a “Thought Exchange” to meet other companies and industry contacts and find out about international business development opportunities. As a business that has developed significantly in the international market over the past 18 months, the management jumped at the chance to be involved in a competition with a strong international focus.

Merson’s Sales & Marketing director, Gavin McMurray, said: “A major attraction of entering was to get to talk to other businesses, both in Britain and in France. That opportunity to network will allow us to share and learn business insight and be exposed to different business ideas in the European and wider international market.”

As well as setting up an office in Riyadh in 2010 to manage the growing number of projects won in the Middle East, Merson Signs has also grown domestically, adding new key clients such as John Lewis and Waitrose in 2011.

Merson Signs will be joined on the Paris Thought Exchange trip by the other regional finalists: marmalade and jam manufacturer Mackay’s, independent brewery BrewDog, emergency veterinary clinics Vets Now, lifestyle products company Breo and Advanced Sensors, suppliers to the oil and gas industry.

On return to the UK the Regional Finalists will pitch to a panel of judges, who will select two Regional Winners per region. The Regional Winners will then be invited to attend HSBC’s prestigious International Insights event, where the overall winner of Business Thinking 2011 will be revealed.

As well as the international trips and unrivalled networking opportunities, if Merson Signs are successful in winning the Business Thinking initiative, there are excellent financial rewards through access to preferential lending and borrowing cost rebates.

We’ll keep you posted on our progress as the competition continues.

What is the Future of Station Design?

Tue, 13 Sep 2011 12:14:00 GMT

In an extract from his speech at this years Future of Station Design Awards, Merson Sign’s Sales & Marketing Director Gavin McMurray discusses what the future might look like for rail station design:

“The Future”. A phrase that conjures up visions of hover cars, expressways in the sky and vertical cities. A utopian place where everyone is happy, everything runs like clockwork and all aspects of life are in order.

Alternative visions of the future are available. The acid rain drenched future of Ridley Scott’s Bladerunner - a dying planet run by corporations. Orwell’s 1984 – a world run by a malevolent big brother. And Rollerball, effectively a violent, dysfunctional hybrid of the other two.

So what will be the future of rail and, more specifically, station design? Will we all be standing on acid rain drenched platforms while being watched by big brother? I like to think the future will be a better world so let’s start by thinking of the things that could be improved. In future all stations and platforms will be fully accessible (DDA compliant) and feel safe and reassuring - even those in remote locations that are unmanned. They will cater adequately for all types of connections with safe, secure parking for cars, proper storage for commuters’ bicycles and strategic integration with the wider transport network.

Information, including wayfinding, will be clear and well located and presented (again, DDA compliant). Timetables and next train information will be easily understood and up-to-date. Within the twin constraints of demand and cost of provision, reasonable amenities will be present, from wide-ranging shopping and eating propositions in larger stations to sensibly priced vending in smaller stations.

The most fundamental of needs, shelter, should not be forgotten. Basic protection to shield us from the worst of our British weather including wind and rain and, where possible, dry, draught-free waiting rooms.

My increasing use of our rail network over the last 10 years tells me that much of the wish list above is starting to become more commonplace. Progress is indeed being made. I have, however, one major concern to do with another of our basic needs. We are all human and have a need to be treated as such. We all need a sense of place and a sense of belonging. We all benefit from places which enrich our being rather than just serving our most basic needs. This is where good design makes a real difference.

Contrast Leeds Station with somewhere like Westminster Underground. Both are relatively new and modern in their construction and architecture. There the similarity ends. Leeds station isclean, bright, modern and efficient but something is missing. It is cold and impersonal. It feels like a big, soul-less people processing machine.

Westminster underground station is also a big people processing machine – it has to be and even more so than Leeds but it has character, style and a sense of place in abundance. The large dramatic spaces, the on-display structural elements, the cathedral like space and the use of lighting to add depth, warmth and interest. It could have been a large bland space but intelligent design has made it soar and express itself and make the experience of using it rewarding rather than dreary. The difference is good design that remembers that people are human.

Moving to the external architecture, arriving at a station prior to a journey should have a sense of occasion and the station itself should connect to its surroundings. Equally importantly at journey’s end, arrival at your destination station should immediately give you a hint of what to expect from the place at which you now find yourself. Subtle design cues and hints are enough to give sense of your new location and what to expect. No town, city or village could wish visitors first impression to be a negative one, yet that is what many inadvertently give you through their rail stations.

Whether you are travelling for business or leisure, become newly conscious of the sub -conscious feelings that station environments create and you will soon feel as strongly as I do about this. Too often we feel there is too little joy in our lives. Great design can add joy to almost everything we do, feel and experience. Great station design is the future of station design and something that can bring the joy back into rail travel.

Click here to find out more about our extensive work in the rail, aviation and highways sectors.

We're off to Paris!

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 08:05:00 GMT

Today a group of 6 of the Merson team are setting off on a nearly 200-mile cycle from London to Paris. Cycling over 3 days, this challenge covers exactly 184 miles travelling from London, through the English countryside over to rural France and on to the heart of Paris, finishing under the Arc de Triomphe. At one stage in the event a rather badly timed ferry between Newhaven and Dieppe will mean the team will be disembarking at 2.00am on Saturday morning to begin the gruelling 40mile cycle to Gournay En Bray!

The team have been training hard since May to get ready for the event and excitement is brewing as they get ready to set off from Trafalgar Square at 12noon this afternoon.

These are the dedicated cyclists taking part:

Gavin McMurray
Stuart Dodds

Stuart Gilliland

Andy Long

Jeff Hillier

Steve Burrows

Also providing support from one of our vans is Tomek Gulinski.

Bike 2 Work Scheme

This trip has been in part made possible because of the Government’s Bike 2 Work scheme, which we have been a part of for over a year now. The scheme is a part of the governments Green Transport Plan, which aims to promote the use of environmentally friendly modes of transport such as cycling. It allows our team to save up to 50% off buying a brand new bike and equipment.

It works essentially by Merson Signs purchasing a bike and spreading interest free monthly payments for an employee over a 12-month period. The reduction in cost is possible through savings on VAT, Income Tax and National Insurance Contributions meaning the Merson employee ends up paying up to 52% less for their brand new bike!

At Merson, we’re always looking for ways to reduce our carbon footprint but the Bike 2 Work scheme holds many more great benefits for our staff:

- They can adopt an even healthier lifestyle
- Save money on travelling costs
- Reduce the stress associated with the daily commute
- Save over £500 on a brand new bike and equipment!

The London to Paris cycle highlights just how successful the Bike2Work scheme has been in encouraging the uptake of cycling amongst our staff and now they’re not just cycling to work but all the way to Paris!

Best of luck to the team on their cycle and we’ll keep you posted on how they get on.

A New Name, Look and Website for Merson Sign Design

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 09:36:00 GMT

Today we're excited to announce a completely new name, look and website for our Sign Design & Wayfinding division, formerly known as Merson Sign Design.

Now known simply as MSD, this new look, which is now differentiated from other Merson Group divisions, reflects the growth and increasingly specialised services now provided by our design division. It coincides with the launch of the new MSD website, which, as well as looking great, also acts as a much more accurate and up-to-date showcase for our recent international sign design and wayfinding projects.

Why the change?
Basically, Merson Sign Design has grown up! Since first offering signage masterplanning, design and wayfinding as a unique, all-encompassing suite of services over 5 years ago, we have delivered many stand-alone projects across the globe including several large-scale international projects such as Abu Dhabi Midfield Airport Terminal Complex, Heathrow’s T5 and Qatar’s Aerospace City.

MSD is now ready to stand on its on two feet in brand terms and, whilst a strong connection with the manufacturing and implementation capability that comes with Merson Group is still a key part of the MSD offer, this new brand really showcases MSD as specialists in the field of Sign Design & Wayfinding.

The MSD team, which now comprises more than a dozen Wayfinding & Sign Design specialists, has relished working on some very challenging international projects over the past 5 years and are excited to continue to do so under the new banner of MSD. The new website will keep you up to date with all the latest projects the team is working on so all that’s left to do now is:

Check out the MSD site >>

Rebranding Over 300 Branches for Bank of Scotland

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 14:45:00 GMT

Merson Signs recently completed the signage rebrand of over 300 branches for Bank of Scotland, part of the Lloyds Banking Group. The implementation of this branch rebranding program followed an extensive design and development phase, which began in January of 2010.

Having delivered previous rebranding rollouts for the Bank, in 2000 and 2003, and having also worked recently with RBS, Santander and Standard Life, Merson were very well qualified to deliver this large-scale signage project.

MSD, our sign design division, took Allen International’s fascia design concept and, working closely with them and the bank’s own brand managers and designers, developed a range of sign types which displayed the Bank of Scotland brand in an appropriate manner whilst balancing all the other design criteria in line with their stated objectives, including cost and sustainability.

One factor that had to be carefully considered during the design-phase was gaining advertisement consent from local authorities throughout Scotland. With Bank of Scotland’s branch network including many historical and listed buildings, creating and refining a design concept that fitted in with a range of surroundings was a key design requirement.

Our project management team took full control of the planning application process – spending over 2 months liaising with local authorities around the country to ensure consent was gained for all 300 branches.

Manufacture and installation of the signage then got underway, with a phased installation program implemented, structured to complete major cities first before progressively moving to less populous areas in a geographically efficient sequence. With manufacturing facilities in both Glasgow and London and a national network of installation teams, Merson were able to complete such a large-scale project ahead of time, on budget and to the client’s complete satisfaction.

Find out more about our financial and retail signage expertise >>

Introducing Same-Day Signs at Heathrow

Thu, 07 Jul 2011 09:55:00 GMT

We’re excited to announce the introduction of Merson’s Same-Day Signs service for Heathrow where we’re now providing a same-day turnaround for many of your reactive, high-priority and small-scale signage requirements.

This service includes the following sign types:

- Urgent Operational Wayfinding
- Airline Signage
- Lightbox Panel Changes
- Emergency Exit Signage
- Clip Frames & Tensator Frames
- Statutory and Supplementary Signage
- Temporary monoliths
- and much more....

This new service has been introduced as a result of increased demand from both Airlines and Airport Operators and we’ve now put the team and processes in place to be able to provide you with same great quality of product and service at a speed that better suits your timescales. Signs will be manufactured and installed within 24 hours of receiving your purchase order.

As well as this we are also offering a faster turnaround period on more bespoke items such as illuminated signs, monoliths and lettering.

Start the Clock… Now!
To place your same-day signs order today either call 07921 067 186 or click here to send your requirements to our same-day signs team.

Enquire Now >>

Delivering Efficiency Savings on the M74

Tue, 05 Jul 2011 13:05:00 GMT

The M74 completion scheme, which opened to traffic last week (28/06/11), has been delivered nearly 8-months ahead of schedule and between £15-20 million under budget.

We have been working on the project since 2009 and have delivered a sustainability driven innovation that results in an overall saving of over 54 tons of carbon emissions per year against traditional products utilised on Glasgow’s motorways.

The project has been delivered by contractor consortium Interlink M74 JV, who contracted Merson to design, manufacture and install 21 motorway gantries utilising steel structures provided by Interlink M74 JV.

As an important and operation-critical part of the new motorway stretch, the highly specialised gantries have been developed to include internal illumination. This makes the information easier to read and from greater distances than traditional externally-lit or non-lit gantry signs.

A focus on the energy consumption of the Advanced Directional Sign (ADS) during the design phase has resulted in a solution that delivers an overall saving of over 54 tons of carbon emissions per year (2.6tons per gantry). It is LED technology that has helped deliver this carbon emission saving, which was selected in preference to the traditional illumination system utilised on previous gantries in the Glasgow area.

Our Contracts Director, Bill Taggart, stated: “This project is a great example of how focusing on the environmental aspects of a product can deliver increased efficiency and make real savings for large infrastructure projects such as the completion of the M74. We have received a structural design certificate from Glasgow City Council’s Land & Environmental Services Design Section for the new Advanced Directional Sign unit and are hopeful that the clear environmental benefits and improved performance that it delivers will lead to it being the preferred solution on future motorway gantry projects.”

Click here to find out more about our highway signs expertise

"…so, sign making is a full time job?"

Thu, 16 Jun 2011 10:52:00 GMT

Stuart Dodds is the Southern Operations Director for Merson signs and has been heavily involved in Transportation signage for 16 years. Today he discusses wayfinding in the rail environment and looks back at a conversation he had with a new flat mate over sixteen years ago.

"…so, sign making is a full time job?"

Was the question posed to me sixteen years ago by Sheila - one of my then new flat mates. Until that point, Sheila had not really put much thought into how and why signs are where they are. Maybe they were just knocked up in somebody’s garden hut before being thrown up on the wall by an odd-job-man?

I’ve never forgotten being asked this because very often within our business I still experience similar questions. In the vast majority of situations, Wayfinding signs are bespoke - there are rarely two the same. So when asked, “Can you not just give me the sign I need off your shelf?’’ the answer is that unfortunately we don’t have a shelf large enough to stock all the options!

Both of these questions demonstrate that there can be a significant lack of signage understanding; not only by those not connected to the industry (which is fine) but also those who are charged with the movement of people around some of the UK’s largest wayfinding environments. Making clients understand the benefits of good wayfinding planning and well-made products can be a bit of a challenge at times.

In rail, the passenger charter does not have specific questions that relate to wayfinding or signage. Maybe it should; the Airports equivalent does, however that’s a debate for another time. Never the less there are a couple of categories which signage must influence, these being ‘Overall environment’ and ‘Upkeep / Repair of stations buildings’. How well will a customer rate the scores in these areas if they can’t locate the station toilets?

Not only is sign making a full time job but wayfinding planning and sign construction design are too. I wonder what Sheila would have thought of that?

We all understand that you need good signing to get around Bluewater Shopping Center or Heathrow Airport so, considering that they handle the same number of customers, why would a rail station be any different? In many ways rail station wayfinding can be very complicated with Retail, Toilets, Platforms, Excess Tickets, alternative wheelchair access requirements, onward travel and much more all needing to be considered. This information cannot be assembled on a whim and all needs to be part of a cohesive wayfinding strategy followed by planning and scheduling.

At the moment a number of the Network Rail Stations are having significant alterations carried out to their retailing to make positive benefits on the concourses. When these new concourse spaces are realised it’s going to be very important that the wayfinding planning has been implemented correctly to ensure that the passenger experience is maximised.

What use is it installing new signs into a building if they are poorly specified? This is where the Sign Construction Design Team comes into play. Quite often a bit of knowledge and experience detailing the materials and construction of the signage will save a TOC or NR significant sums in maintenance and add years of life to the product. Rail Franchises last significant periods of time so it’s important to ensure that the signage being installed is efficient to maintain and the best that it can be for the budget available.

We do our best to educate clients and help them understand what good passenger wayfinding is, how the product can best be fabricated and how that pays back ten fold with positive passenger experiences and reduced maintenance bills. We believe that those who take on board our comments are better off than those who maybe choose not to, but I guess you’d expect me to say that…

Yes Sheila, sign making IS a full time job.