BD Signs — Your brand, built for business BD Signs — Your brand, built for business
Sign makers serving Lincoln

Signage in Lincoln,
on some of the hardest frontages in England.

Lincoln will not let you put up whatever you like, and that is the making of the place. Steep Hill and Bailgate are as good a run of historic shopfronts as anywhere in the country. Sign them badly and everybody can see it.

Forty miles east on the A46 — Lincoln and the county are a regular run for us.

Book your free survey 0115 979 4330
  • Free survey
  • Made in our own factory
  • Fitted by our own teams
George's Tradition built-up window lettering, installed by BD Signs
Fillets illuminated shopfront fascia lit at night The Hoxton Kitchen circular projecting light box

40 miles

From our factory to Lincoln

4,500+

Shops on our books

25 years

As BD Signs

3,500 sq ft

Showroom you can walk round

Lincoln streets

One city, several different signs.

So the work splits cleanly. Up the hill, in the Cathedral Quarter and along Bailgate, it is hand-painted timber, gilded glass, traditional brackets and hanging signs — properly made, sympathetic, and almost never internally lit. Down at the Cornhill Quarter, the High Street and out through North Hykeham it is ordinary competitive retail, and the illuminated fascia comes back into play.

We still sign-write by hand, which is not nostalgia — on a listed frontage it is frequently the only thing that will get consent, and it is the only thing that looks right. Where a lit sign is allowed we build the tray ourselves in aluminium and light it with LED. Either way we survey the building first and tell you honestly what it will take.

We work across Lincoln and the rest of Lincolnshire. If your site is somewhere else, ask — we manufacture in Nottingham and install UK-wide.

Why businesses here use us

How we help Lincoln businesses

Two things matter when you buy a sign. That it gets you noticed, and that it still looks like that in ten years. Most of what separates a good sign from a cheap one is in the parts you never see — the gauge of the metal, the weld, the fixings and the lamps. Here is how that plays out on a Lincoln frontage.

Hand-made work that ages well

Painted timber, gilded glass and hand-made brackets are not just what Lincoln allows, they are what lasts. A properly primed and painted board can be freshened for a fraction of what a replacement costs, and gilded glass keeps its lustre in a way printed vinyl on a window simply does not.

Standing out by being the good one

On a street of historic frontages you do not stand out by being louder — you stand out by being the shop that has clearly had money and thought spent on it. On Bailgate and Steep Hill a well-made hand-painted sign is the loudest thing there, precisely because so few are.

Materials chosen for the building

Old stone and lime mortar will not forgive the wrong fixing, and a mild steel bracket will stain a limestone frontage permanently. We fix into mortar joints rather than stone, use non-corroding fittings, and specify for the wall we are actually drilling into.

Made to be maintained, not replaced

A sign you can repaint, re-gild or re-lamp is cheaper over twenty years than one you throw away in five. We build so the parts that wear are the parts that can be renewed, and we tell you at handover what will need doing and when.

Exterior signage

Shop front signs that work outside

Exterior signage takes the weather, the light and the traffic. Everything here is built for permanent outdoor use, weather-sealed and LED-lit, and fixed by our own installation teams — illuminated fascias, built-up letters, light box trays, projecting signs and roadside totems.

Interior signage

Interior signs that keep them in

The sign gets them through the door. What happens next decides what they spend. Interior signage, wall graphics and counter branding, specified as one scheme so the finishes match the frontage rather than nearly matching it.

Past the frontage

A customer decides three times.

On the pavement, at the door, and at the counter. Most suppliers only help you with the first one. We design the whole journey, and the signage is where it starts.

  1. 1

    On the pavement

    The fascia, the projecting sign and the window. Two seconds to say who you are and what you sell.

    Built-up letters
  2. 2

    At the door

    Entrance graphics, opening hours, the handrail. Small things that decide whether somebody actually comes in.

    Interior signage
  3. 3

    Inside the room

    Wall graphics and counter branding that hold the scheme together once they are through the door.

    Counter branding
  4. 4

    At the counter

    The menu decides what they spend. Lit boards or digital screens, built around margin rather than price order.

    Menu systems
How a Lincoln sign gets made

Survey, design, manufacture, fit.

Four stages, one company, one price. Nobody is sub-contracted in the middle of it, which is why we can give you a date and keep it — including in Lincoln.

  1. 1

    Survey

    We come to you in Lincoln. Measure the fascia, check the fixings and the power, photograph the site, and look at the street it trades on. It costs you nothing.

  2. 2

    Design

    Our designers draw it and visualise it on your building, so you see the sign on your frontage before it is made. We keep designing until you are happy.

  3. 3

    Manufacture

    Made in our own factory — routing, welding, spraying and LED build. The quality is ours to get right rather than a supplier's.

  4. 4

    Installation

    Our own fitters install it, connect it and clear up. Access equipment included, electrics tested and signed off.

Got a frontage in Lincoln?

Send us a photo of it and the name above the door. We will tell you what the building will take and what it costs.

Book your free survey 0115 979 4330

Brands we make signs for

Heavenly Desserts FSW Churchill's Fish & Chips Deep Blue Fish & Chips The Chesterford Group fishnchickn Bankers Fish & Chips The Bay Fish & Chips George's Tradition Chesters Fish Bits Lesley Greaves Yiayia G's Greek Grill

Signage for Pret A Manger, Wendy's, Heavenly Desserts, Sushi Mania, FSW and Harry Ramsden's — and for several thousand family businesses, who get the same drawings, the same factory and the same fitters.

Lincoln signage FAQ

Questions we get asked in Lincoln

Can you sign a listed building in Lincoln?

Yes, and it is work we take seriously. It usually points towards hand-painted or hand-made rather than illuminated, and fixings into mortar joints rather than into stone. A listed building can need listed building consent on top of advertisement consent, and we prepare the drawings for both.

Do you still do traditional sign writing?

We do — brush in hand, not vinyl pretending. It is one of the few trades where the old method is genuinely the better one, and on a frontage like Bailgate or Steep Hill it is what suits the building. Gold leaf and painted timber panels too.

Is a hanging sign worth it in Lincoln?

On those narrow streets, more than anywhere. A flat fascia is invisible to somebody walking up the hill; a projecting sign is readable from fifty yards in both directions. Both faces get branded, so it works whichever way people are coming.

How far into Lincolnshire do you come?

All of it, and beyond — Newark, Sleaford, Gainsborough, Boston, Grantham and the coast. We manufacture in Nottingham and install UK-wide, so the county is well inside normal range.

Elsewhere

Other cities we make signs for

Signage Nottingham Our home city Signage Derby 16 miles — about 30 minutes Signage Leicester 27 miles — about 40 minutes Signage Sheffield 40 miles — about 50 minutes Signage Birmingham 50 miles — about an hour Signage Leeds 72 miles — about an hour and twenty

We manufacture in Nottingham and install UK-wide, so this list is where we work most, not the limit of it. If your site is somewhere else, ask.

Client testimonials

What our customers say

Reviews on Google
“We recently used BD Signs for digital signage in our fish and chip takeaway and couldn't be happier with the result. From the first conversation, when they squeezed us in when we drove down without an appointment, through to installation.”
N Nicola Atkinson Google review
“A big thank you to the team at BD Signs for all your hard work with our new Digital Menu System. We have 6 screens in total, and a bespoke display box with our branding. I'm quite fussy and particular, and these guys were very helpful from start to finish! Very passionate and customer focused company. Highly recommend!!!”
P Phil Mellon Google review
“Just want to rate George from tech support's service as a 5. Whenever I get through to him he goes above and beyond to support and get the problem sorted quickly and efficiently, he keeps us informed throughout of the problem and where we are with the fix. Great customer service.”
L Lauren Bannister Google review
“Used BD Signs Design and Print services to design a new logo for my company and to design and print some large labels to use on my jobs. Professional service from start to finish. Highly recommended.”
R Richard Ashwell Google review
“Excellent service as always. Friendly staff. Highly recommend.”
G Gracey Google review
“Excellent service as normal — have used BD Signs for the last 20 years and they have always been very helpful and delivered on time and on price!”
A Anton Google review
Book your survey

Come and see us.

Bring a photo of your frontage, or a problem you have been putting off for three years. We will survey the site, design it properly, and quote the whole job as one price.

Book your free survey 0115 979 4330
Reviews on Google

Or email info@bdsigns.co.uk — we answer everything the same working day.