In May, Juan Gearing was appointed as a new production assistant on the physical signage production team and Emma Bumpstead was brought on as customer service representative.

Roselyn Itopa, managing director of the Chelmsford franchise, said: “Both apprentices have slotted into our team fantastically well; they are both eager to learn. We actively ensure quality control with an assessor, who regularly joins us to monitor their progress, and we work with them daily to develop them in their roles.

“It feels great to be giving back to the local community by helping two young people gain qualifications in such a dynamic industry.”

The new arrivals follow the installation of a Zünd router, the branch’s first. It arrived in March for an investment of £115,000 and will increase the site’s efficiency due to its cutting speed and versatility.

“Fastsigns recommended the Zünd router as the best piece of kit for our requirements as it ably serves our overall product mix, with the main focus of improving efficiency and in-house capability,” Itopa said. “It allows us to cut through substrates in seconds.

“We use the machine to help with a variety of products ranging from flat-cut letters and shapes, to making sign trays in-house. It has the capability to cut through vinyls and magnets as well as other materials.”

Zünd’s G3 L2500 cutter has a table size of 1.8x2.5m and can cut at a maximum speed of 1.4m/sec along its X and Y axes, and 500mm/sec on its Z axis.

With a team of eight staff, Chelmsford is one of 19 UK Fastsigns franchises. It has also recently upgraded its customer POS system to a cloud-based one that allows the sales team to access customer records while away from the office on site visits.

The Chelmsford branch has been running for 21 years and covers a floorspace of approximately 150sqm.