Alpha Engraving Ltd - Sign manufacturer - Morecambe - Lancaster

General information

Just over thirty years ago a young electrician went to do some work for a Lancaster signs company. He liked it so much that he went on to buy the business. Now the Masheder family’s Morecambe based Alpha Engraving is one of the area’s foremost signs companies serving major clients throughout the UK.

This year has also seen a major landmark in the development of the business with a major investment in a new digital, ultraviolet large format printer that will further enhance the company’s range of services.

Whether they realise it or not, the population of Lancaster, Morecambe and the surrounding area will be familiar with the firm’s products ranging from a sign on a Scout trailer to car parks, hospitals, heavy goods vehicles to the workplace of many major employers. A major client is the British Energy, one of the UK’s major electricity generating companies.

More visibly a recent project has been the provision of high quality, freestanding signs which are part of a major development project at Kendal College.

Like so many businesses, it all started by chance. The electrician, Roger Masheder, was called in to carry out some electrical work at a company, Sign Services, in Moor Lane, Lancaster. He became interested in the signs business and went on to buy it.

The business went through various stages and premises, adopting the name Alpha Engraving in 1990 and taking over its present base on Morecambe’s White Lund Industrial Estate in 1994.

"Throughout the life of the business we have invested in more and more technology, though have also retained more traditional systems where these continue to meet our needs or have advantages in terms of quality. There are now nine of us working in the business, including my wife, Maureen, who takes care of administration, and myself. We have always been and remain very much as a family business.

“Wherever possible it will be Maureen, or myself, who will answer the telephone or greet visitors and I, personally, follow and check every job, large or small, before it is delivered to the customer. This includes site visits where these are needed, said Roger.