Sign businesses hit the skids

The ongoing Covid restrictions are having an impact on the sign and display industry, with the continued cruelling of events, conferences, concerts and exhibitions across the country leaving several businesses handing in the towel this week.

Sunshine Coast based TPQ, Unico Creative in Sydney, and Vogue Signs in Melbourne have all hit the skids, no doubt with several contributing factors, but not withstanding the surge in Covid floor graphics printing, the sign and display industry has had the toughest 18 months in its history, as large sectors of work have ground to a complete halt.

Outdoor media is bouncing back from last year's disaster, but is still way off the 2019 levels. The first six months of this year saw $375m spent on outdoor media, up from $307m the year prior, but still 20 per cent off the 2019 figure.  The industry is banking on the imminent end of lockdowns to retrun it to sustainable levels.

TPQ in fact has gone into liquidation. The 20-year-old business had a large format flatbed and offered a full gamut of print services.

Unico Creative which is sign printing business of Artarmon-based installer Signs Unique is also in liquidation. At one time the business, under managing director Andrew Brown, had a blue-chip client list, and operated in both Sydney and Melbourne.

And in Melbourne, Vogue Signs is being wound up. The business provided a full range of services to the corporate, retail, transport with speciality, iluminated and fabricated signage in addition to printed products.