Waltham Abbey Opticians

In July 2020 we got a call from Ashley of Waltham Abbey Opticians. Just like many other businesses at the time, they were preparing to reopen and wanted to make sure that not only were they Covid-compliant but that they looked every bit the professional business on the outside that they were on the inside.


Rapid response to achieve Covid-19 compliance and customer confidence:

The first job Ashley asked us to work on was the production of floor stickers to remind customers to keep their distance from one another, and a poster for the shop window to ensure that this point could not be missed.

With government guidelines to conform to and the nervousness of customers to consider we have been producing clear, colourful, friendly and compliant floor stickers for the retail sector since the guidelines were released. Waltham Abbey Opticians supplied us with their designs, which were checked and approved the very same day, and the floor stickers and poster were ready for them to pick up within 24 hours.

We know how important clear messaging and speed of production are to each client. When reopening, every day matters and the faster we can turn around a job the faster our clients can start welcoming back their customers and generating the turnover that has, for many, been missing over the last few months.


Attention-grabbing signage makeover:

The next job Ashley asked us to work on was the signage at the front of her premises.

Waltham Abbey Opticians has been serving the local community for 33 years and while the signage which adorned their premises was not quite that old, it had certainly seen better days. The shabby facia – black writing on what had once been a cream background – blended into the background rather than standing out as it should.

We know that signage is one of your primary marketing tools, there to represent your business, to give people confidence that you’re a company they can trust, to invite customers in, and to say to the world ‘WE ARE HERE’.



Because signage is so important to a shop’s image we:

- Asked Ashley to pop in for a consultation. We discussed options and showed her samples of lettering, graphics and formats. It was a really productive meeting and by the end of it we had a far better idea of her vision for the front of her premises.
- Next we conducted a site survey. We discovered that her signage was in a worse state than she’d imagined, as rotten wood had degraded the structure to the point where we considered it to be potentially dangerous. We spoke to her about this and recommended removing the entire unit there and then in preparation for the new one to be installed and to assess the condition of the wall behind the sign.
- Visual works, precise templating and technical drawings followed. These were approved and we produced the signage you can see in the photographs on this page.
- We chose a day and time for installation that was not only earlier than the requested schedule, but that would also cause least disruption to their business.


In the end, the signage for Waltham Abbey Opticians consisted of two units:

- A small swing sign. This protrudes at a 90-degree angle from the front of the building to capture the attention of passers-by. The original was white with black writing, the new one, to match the main signage, is a chic black with white and gold writing and the company’s logo.
- The main signage. The entire original boxing structure was removed and a new structure precisely constructed to accommodate the existing shutter unit, and to overcome the various levels of the shop front and the shop window. We produced a powder-coated aluminium fascia sign with aluminium powder-coated built-up logo, aluminium flat cut primary text and vinyl secondary text as a cost-effective option to allow for easy amendments in the future. Precision cutting was required for both the base slot – for the shutter to unfurl from – and the manual shutter crank hole, all of which required careful planning as any error would put things out of alignment and could cost a significant sum to put right. Due to the size and unusual depth of the sign, the entire unit required special welded bracing to support the structure and prevent warping over time. However, with the shutter unit involved most of that bracing had to be located at the top of the structure, where a slight gradient was added to ensure more efficient rainwater run-off.

The end result was both stunning and eye-catching – everything that Ashley had been hoping for.

Despite the challenges on this project, the whole job – from instruction to installation – took just 20 days, well within Ashley’s requested schedule.