Lewis Howes Signs & Engraving Ltd have been providing a quality service to the people of Liverpool since 1988 and it’s safe to say that the business has come a long way in that time. Run by husband and wife duo, David and Fran Lewis, with a little help from daughter Becky Sheen and her husband, Graham, Lewis Howes Signs & Engraving is well and truly a storybook family-run business. With Becky and Graham preparing to take over the family business, the team needed a stellar transition strategy to help pave the way for a new era of growth and success.
The team approached The Women’s Organisation for business development support under our growth programme; New Markets 2. We sat down with Becky to find out how our business advisor, John Jones, helped the family to prepare a business valuation and transition strategy…
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Lewis Howes Signs & Engraving as its known today |
The team approached The Women’s Organisation for business development support under our growth programme; New Markets 2. We sat down with Becky to find out how our business advisor, John Jones, helped the family to prepare a business valuation and transition strategy.
So, what’s Lewis Howes Signs & Engraving all about? Sign manufacturing is the bread and butter of the business, which specialises in high quality engraving on a range of materials. From nameplates and badges, to memorial plaques and switch plates, the team have seen it all. Over time a complete sign service has been developed, now offering a full service from design through to manufacture, installation and maintenance.
Perhaps the biggest change came in 2006 as Lewis Howes diversified in to digital printing, a change which managing director, David, dubs as ‘the best move we ever made’. Proof that businesses need to keep up the times and embrace new technologies. The firm has also recently invested in a state of the art new Rowland printer, as well as a laser cutting machine, allowing them to offer much quicker delivery times.
With a strong service offering that has proved the test of time, we asked what makes Lewis Howes unique? Becky says: “Reliability, speedy service and quality, bespoke products. Everything that we do is bespoke – there’s very little we can’t turn our hand to.”
Formerly David Lewis Signs, the past 28 years have seen a lot of change within the business. Originally based in Wallasey on the Wirral, David Lewis Signs was born in 1988, before merging with J & J Howes just two years later to becomes Lewis Howes Signs & Engraving. More change was still to come and in 2001 Dave and Fran Lewis bought out John and Jackie Howes to take sole ownership of the business.
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David Lewis’ first shop in 1988 |
Over this time, the firm has built a stellar, dedicated team of 15 staff – 8 of which were there on the very first day of trading in 1988 – enabling them to grow and develop the business into the respected name it is today.
By the mid-noughties the business was thriving and trade was strong. When the recession hit in 2008, the management team went to great lengths to keep the business going and admit that they still feel the effects of it 10 years later. Becky says that “this time has been the most difficult for the business, but also a great achievement” to weather the crash. After a number of hard and turbulent years, the company is now starting to slowly progress and grow.
After approaching The Women’s Organisation for support in taking the business to the next phase, the team was set up with business advisor, John Jones, under the New Markets 2 dedicated growth programme. Becky commented: “John has been excellent for us, offering advice and in constant contact.”
What would Becky say to those looking to grow their business in the North West? “The region is fairly robust at the moment. For those looking to grow I would say: provide high quality products, on time and at competitive prices.” Great advice!
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Becky Sheen will be taking the reins of the family business |
Becky and her family received growth advice through our New Markets 2 Programme, which is aimed at women who are running a business focussing on business to business activity in the Liverpool City Region (Liverpool, Sefton, Wirral, St Helens, Knowsley and Halton) are who are ready to take their business to the next level, either by expanding their team or significantly increasing turnover. For more information, contact us on
hello@thewo.org.uk or ring us on 0151 706 8111