Widd’s new rebrand
As one of the oldest sign making companies in the country, Widd is heralding a new future by focusing on an expansion in its services, while keeping its clients close to its ethos. Assistant editor, Ana Lambert, sat down with partnership and marketing director, Sarah Beaumont, to discuss the recent rebrand and company aspirations.
Widd Signs was founded in 1888 by 15-year-old Arthur Widd, in the Castle Works workshop in Bradford with help from his brothers, Harry, a joiner,
Tom, a sign writer, and Ernest, an expert in showcards.
Around six decades later, in 1945, Arthur Widd retired and Howard Cook took over as business owner and managing director and kept the Widd name. The new ownership saw a modernisation of the Bradford workshop and an evolution of the companies capabilities.
More than 50 years later, in 1998, the company changed hands yet again to the Williams family, who still form part of the leadership team. Now the company sees Leeds as its head office, with another manufacturing site workshop in St Helens.
To recognise the business’ evolution, the company was formally rebranded to Widd, on September 29, 2025, with its three pillars being signage, strategy, and sustainability.
Signage
Sarah Beaumont, partnership and marketing director at Widd
The signage part of the business, allows for today’s company to provide its customers with dedicated craftsmen – who create its quality products. Learning about its history and the products, Sarah Beaumont, partnership and marketing director explained that they can be found in the most common of places, one example being a surprising connection to bus signage.
She said: “We found that we made the signs that went onto the front of buses. Apparently, those were known as Widd plates, owing to the fact that Widd designed a specific system used to fixed them on.”
While keeping traditions and heritage alive is important to Widd, it has recently focussed on the brand and service propositions. Sarah, along with her team and local partners wanted to get clear on how the business was seen.
She explained: “We set out to consider how we show up in the marketplace, how we communicate what we do and how we tell people about our USPs and what we’re really good at.”
The team initially planned on just updating the website, but when looking at what people knew Widd for versus what Widd actually did, Sarah and her
team found a huge disparity.
“While Widd has a very long-standing history in signage manufacturing, we do a lot more than that, and that was the key driver for the rebrand.
“We’re known for built up signage and we do a huge amount of that; it’s our bread and butter. We make signage for lots of big retailers, and brands,
but we also work with independent shops, anyone that has a bricks and mortar location that wants to be able to communicate who they are and how
customers navigate their locations.”
Strategy
Widd is shifting focus, from its only 137-year practice of traditional sign making to other services it provides including consultancy and signage strategies for clients – which is a way of helping them to create a playbook for how their brand shows up in different locations.
Sarah continued: “Quite often our teams operate as an extension of clients’ teams who are managing store roll outs or expansion plans. We will come in and work with their retail and their store design team, and we will help advise them how to think about signage in more than one location.
“Some of our best work comes from working with clients who really value quality and service and want us to be on the brand journey with them. They’re the ones that value the extra mile, in terms of the intricacy of the application, the manufacturer quality and the service that we give as well.
“At the end of the day, it all comes down to the client, if there’s something really important to them, then it’s really important to Widd and we will find a way.”
Sustainability
Sustainability is a hot topic within the sign industry and Widd has its own strategies towards doing better for the environment and industry.
Sarah explained that sustainability is a large part of the company and something it has been quietly improving for quite a while, with both of Widd’s
locations being solar powered; since 2014 in Leeds and 2020 in St Helens.
Sarah explained this was something that everyone agreed felt right for the business and the environment, and while Widd looks at sustainability internally, it also helps clients to reach their own sustainability commitments too.
She said: “Widd advises its clients on how to be more aware of the materials and signage processes they are using, not just for their own projects but for themselves and their clients, so that in the future their signage can be reused or recycled within the proper channels.”
Growth
Growth can mean a lot of things to a company, whether that’s revenue, projects, or employees; but for Widd it mostly means community.
Sarah explained: “We’ve grown a lot over the years and it’s important for us to focus on our local community. Both regions surrounding our factories are key manufacturing locations; any business growth we achieve allows to create more opportunity for employability. We already support apprenticeships and training and will continue to do so.
“When we have needed external services, with the rebrand for example – we chose to work with local partners and experts. The majority of our material and consumable spend is also with suppliers close to our factories which benefits not only our local area but of course has a positive impact on our own sustainability footprint too.”
The fun in making new signage
Sarah went on to mention that they are a founding supporter of ‘HighStreetPositives’, an initiative designed to shift the narrative surrounding our UK high streets.
“Considering so many of our clients are continuing to open locations on Britain’s high streets, it made sense for us to be involved with a cause that elevates those good news stories and also builds relationships and provides insights which might benefit existing and new clients.”
However, to be able to have the spend to put back into the local economy, one must look outwardly. With its manufacturing capability and in house
project and install expertise, Widd has been able to help produce projects in Europe and the UAE, which Sarah attributed to Widd’s close relations with its clients.
She said: “When brand clients are embarking on expansions into new markets, making an impact and delivering with confidence is incredibly important.
“It’s natural for them to bring us along on that journey, whether it’s manufacturing and installing the products ourselves – or acting as brand guardians and being a central point of governance for materials and brand playbooks alongside local supply chains.”
Sarah continued that the company has learnt a lot along the way, in terms of how it handles imports and exports and differences in regulations.
So wherever you are in the world, look up. Search for the signs and if you happen to walk into a high street shop, just think that Widd could have made
the signage you see before you.
