An outdoor sign board is a flat, weatherproof panel carrying your business name. It fixes to a wall, a fence, a post or a frame.
It’s the sign people read from their car. For a lot of businesses, outdoor sign boards bring in more work than anything else on the building.
Britannia Design & Print makes and fits outdoor sign boards across Birmingham and the West Midlands from our workshop in Bordesley Green. Over 20 years serving the UK market.
Send us the size, or just a photo of where the sign is going. Not sure what size you need? Send the photo anyway and we’ll help you work it out.
Your company name on the front of your unit or building. Usually aluminium composite, cut to fit the space, fixed flat to the wall. The most common of all our building signs in Birmingham.
For industrial estates and trade parks, where every unit looks the same until somebody signs it. Larger format, sized to be read from the access road.
Opening hours, product lists, promotional panels alongside a main fascia. These change often, so we build retail sign boards so the graphics can be swapped without replacing the whole panel.
Directional boards, parking rules, customer-only notices, EV bay markings. Not exciting, but they stop arguments.
Contractor boards for live sites, health and safety notices, hoarding panels, to-let boards. Usually large, and usually needed fast.
For sites set back from the road, or where there’s no wall in a useful position. One or two posts with the board fixed between them.
This is the main decision you’ll make, and it sets most of your price.
| Material | How long it lasts outdoors | Cost | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solid aluminium | 15+ years | Highest | Exposed spots, anywhere damage is a risk |
| Stainless steel | 15+ years | Highest | Premium entrance and building signs |
| Aluminium composite (Dibond) | 10+ years | Middle | Most business signs — the usual answer |
| Timber | 10+ years with upkeep | Middle | Pubs, farm shops, traditional looks |
| Foamex (rigid PVC) | 2 to 4 years | Low | Indoor signs, short-term outdoor use |
| Correx (fluted plastic) | Months | Lowest | Site boards, to-let boards, events |
Aluminium composite is right for most people. Two thin sheets of aluminium bonded to a plastic core. Light, stays flat, doesn’t rust, handles Birmingham weather for years.
Step up to solid aluminium if the sign is somewhere exposed or somewhere it might get knocked.
Only use Correx for short-term jobs. It’s cheap because it’s meant to be temporary.
Solid aluminium and stainless steel last longest — 15 years and up, with almost no upkeep.
Aluminium composite sign boards are close behind at around 10 years, and for most businesses they’re the better buy, because you get most of the lifespan at a much lower cost.
But there’s a catch worth knowing before you compare quotes. The board almost never fails first. The printed graphics do. So the lifespan of your sign is really the lifespan of the vinyl on it, which is the next section.
Aluminium doesn’t rust. Both solid aluminium sign boards and aluminium composite are made for outdoor use, so weather itself isn’t the problem.
Two things still matter:
Mild steel and brass are different. Both need finishing or they’ll patina over time.
Printed vinyl on an outdoor board starts losing colour after about three to five years in the UK. Sooner on a south-facing wall. Reds and bright blues go first.
Two things make a real difference:
So if you’re comparing two quotes and one is much cheaper, ask what vinyl and what lamination. That’s usually where the difference sits, and it’s a difference you won’t notice for three years.
We’ll tell you what we’re using. If you only need the sign for two years, we’ll quote for that rather than sell you ten-year materials.
You can light an outdoor sign board three ways: trough lighting above it, spotlights aimed at it, or building it as a lit box instead of a flat panel.
One thing to know first. An illuminated sign needs council consent at any size, while an unlit board usually only needs it above 0.3 square metres.
Our LED and illuminated signs page covers the options in full.
Outdoor advertising in England is controlled by the Town and Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) (England) Regulations 2007. Some signs are allowed automatically. Others need advertisement consent from Birmingham City Council.
You’ll usually need consent if:
Your sign also can’t block a driver’s view or an official road sign. And you need the landowner’s permission, which is separate from the council’s.
Putting up a sign without the right consent is an offence, so it’s worth getting right. Applications go to Birmingham City Council through the Planning Portal.
Anyone whose customers arrive by car, and anyone whose building doesn’t obviously look like theirs from the road.
Industrial and trade units, warehouses, garages and MOT centres, builders’ merchants, car washes, self-storage, gyms, nurseries, places of worship, business park offices, schools, farm shops and pubs.
Also any business set back behind a car park, where a sign on the wall simply can’t be read in time.
For most businesses: an aluminium composite board with laminated cast vinyl graphics, sized so it reads from wherever your customers first see it.
Then adjust:
Size and material set most of the price. After that it’s whether the board fixes to a wall or needs posts and groundwork.
One option worth asking about before you replace anything: re-skinning. If the board itself is sound and only the artwork is dated, new graphics on the existing panel cost a fraction of a new sign.
Send us the size or a photo of the position and we’ll quote the same day. Installation and fixings are included.
Send us a photo of the wall or the position with rough dimensions, and we’ll quote the same day.
Solid aluminium and stainless steel last longest, usually 15 years or more. Aluminium composite is close behind at around 10 years and gives the best balance of cost and lifespan for most businesses.
Aluminium composite for most jobs. Solid aluminium for exposed or high-risk positions. Correx for short-term site boards. Timber where you want a traditional look.
The printed graphics do, usually after three to five years in the UK. Reds and bright blues fade first. Laminated cast vinyl lasts much longer than unlaminated calendered vinyl.
Size and material set most of the price, then whether the board is wall-fixed or needs posts and groundwork. Re-skinning an existing board costs a fraction of replacing it. Send us a photo and we’ll quote the same day.
Yes. Aluminium doesn’t rust, and both solid and composite board are made for outdoor use. Use stainless fixings so the screws don’t stain the wall.
Yes, using trough lighting above the board, spotlights, or by building it as a lit box. Illuminated signs need council consent at any size.
You usually need advertisement consent from Birmingham City Council for signs over 0.3 square metres, for any illuminated sign, and for anything on a listed building or in a conservation area.
Industrial units, warehouses, garages, builders’ merchants, gyms, nurseries, schools, places of worship, business park offices, and anyone set back from the road.
An aluminium composite board with laminated cast vinyl graphics, sized for the distance it’s read from, suits most businesses.
The board lasts 10 years or more in aluminium composite. The printed graphics need refreshing after about three to five years.
