Brothers, Connory and Damian McGill, fulfilled their career ambitions when they launched Sign-It Design in 1998 with the help of Causeway Enterprise Agency.
With Damian working in London and Connory creating CAD (computer-aided design) drawings for a local electrical company, both were keen for a change. Computers were slowly beginning to be used in signage design and with experience in creating logos, signage and fliers, Connory quickly identified a gap in the market for fully fabricated signage.
“We were the first sign company in Northern Ireland to use a digital camera to put images onto signs,” he says. “Then we started doing brand design.”
With Connory kick-starting the business from home, Damian joined as partner and the pair took part in what is now the Regional Start Initiative at Causeway Enterprise Agency. Funded by Invest NI, the programme provided a start-up grant which helped the brothers build their business and they subsequently moved into a CEA workplace unit in Loughanhill.
“We spent three years in the CEA unit – from 2002-2005,” says Damian McGill. “It was a great help and they gave great advice to us.”
Now in their impressive new factory in Wattstown Business Park, Coleraine, Sign-It currently employ a full-time workforce of 11, providing a full range of in-house brand management services.
With five vans on the road, they cover the North Coast, Limavady, Dungiven, Maghera, Kilrea, Ballymena and Ballycastle areas, with McAtamney Butchers, Morelli Ice Cream, Lynas Foodservice, Ground Espresso Bars Ltd and Bob & Bert’s Coffee, amongst their local clients.
Says Damian: “We went from nothing to something!”