The company’s ongoing commitment to the professional development and training of its workforce was further underlined this week with the opening of a new, state-of-the art £10,000 training and learning facility at their Tyseley headquarters.

The facility which features a range of learning and development materials including flexible seating, a ceiling mounted interactive LCD projector and wireless networking will be used for to provide staff training across the organisation and also host client meetings and seminars.  Currently the company is undertaking a broad range of training and personal development initiatives for its staff including full NVQ qualification training, health and safety briefings, rollout of the ISO implementation programme and waste management workshops.

The first session held in the new facility was a management training and development workshop attended by departmental heads hosted by a management development specialist.   The event, which lasted half a day focussed on methods and the leadership styles to develop improved customer service and time management throughout the company, two of Hollywood Monster’s key objectives this year.

In commenting on the new facility, Tim Andrews said: “Training and development is a key objective within the business as we recognise the benefit of having a happy, skilled and motivated workforce.   The investment we have made in this new facility is evidence of our strong commitment to continually working to develop the skills and professional approach of all of our staff.   This is reflected in the core values engrained in everything we do : Quality, Integrity, Passion and Creativity.  This is what we have made our name doing and what we firmly intend to stick to going forward”

If you would like to find out more about the approach the company is taking and have an interest in joining our expanding team please forward your CV to:

HR Manager : daren.hollins@hollywoodmonster.co.uk or contact us on 0121 764 3222.

Following the merger and relocation of both Hollywood Signs and Monster Digital, business returned to normal this week after the final machine was commissioned by engineers.

24 hour production resumed in the 30,000sq ft facility to include the latest state of the art UV digital printing equipment.  The impressive plant list includes 5m NUR expedio, 5m HP revolution, Vutek QS3200 Flatbed and many other state of the art graphic production machines.

Some of the first contracts to roll off the production line include the re-branding of Birmingham city Football Club stadium ready for their return to the Premiership, 500 metres of temporary signage to promote the Olympic village site in London, pitch perimeter signage for Stoke City FC, 10,000 sqm PVC trade supply order and a seventy five vehicle re-brand exercise for a major contractor across the UK.

Managing Director Tim Andrews explained that the final commissioning heralded another milestone in the companies 18 year history, signalling an exciting new era for both companies.

The new Hollywood Monster signs are now in place.  Quite a few members of staff were involved with the different stages of the process which took approximately 6 hours from start to finish.  The many stages were well documented by our in house photographer.

The signs were printed on our Mimaki which is a solvent ink based 1440 dpi printer.  The light box consists of an outer fame of built up aluminium letters that are powder coated white, and opal acrylic face for the front and back of the letters.  The logo was set up for print in the studio and was then printed on translucent vinyl.

This was then applied with precision by two men to the opal acrylic face.  Excess material was then trimmed off.  The rear opal face was then mounted with internal LED illumination.

In the mean time our fitters and installation guys were using a printed template to work out the positons for holes, fixing and electrical feed.  The rear opal face was fitted first and the lighting checked.  The light box was then fitted in place to the front, by this time they were being observed by quite a few spectators!

Finally the letters for the website were created with built up aluminium letters and pins to the rear.

These again were positioned using templates and accurate measuring, then fixed into place using a chemfix technique.

Midlands based Hollywood Signs and sister company Monster Digital have merged to form the biggest signage and graphics company in the Midlands, Hollywood Monster.

The newly merged company has moved to a larger 30,000 sq ft unit in Redfern Parkway, Tyseley, bringing the Hollywood Signs team from its former unit at nearby Cole Valley Business Park and Monster Digital from Halesowen under one roof to create the now 70-strong workforce in addition to the London based sales office.

The merger and move will allow Hollywood Monster to offer new and existing clients across the UK a wide range of services across a number of sectors, whilst benefiting from the cost efficiencies and shared experience of the combined team and diversified service now on offer.  The team is also set for expansion, with a recruitment programme already underway.

Tim Andrews, managing director of Hollywood Monster, said: “With both businesses continuing to trade successfully over the last 18 years, it seemed the next logical step to combine the service offering and benefit from the economies of scale and efficiencies of combining the business under one roof that can then be passed onto our clients.

“Both businesses had expanded to a combined turnover of £6m, so by combining the technology and skill sets of both businesses operationally and commercially, our vision is to become the number one graphic business within the UK.”

With an impressive client list including Westfield shoppingtowns, Carillion, Mcdonalds and Virgin Media, the merger and expansion into larger premises will also allow the company to update state of the art machinery and offer storage to clients, as well as the existing consultancy, project management, planning, and installation services previously offered by the sister companies.

One of the team’s most recent high profile projects was its appointment as main contractor for graphics at Land Securities and Hammerson’s new shopping development in Bristol city centre Cabot Circus, which included the print and supply of 2,500 sq m of graphics to launch the centre.

Tim added: “As part of the merger we have launched a new company brand and website, which all the team are very excited about. The coming together of the two brands and companies will bring us the synergy required to grow further in our industry.”

Originally founded in 1991 by John and Tim Andrews, The Hollywood Group grew into its first 3,000 sq ft premises in Acocks Green in 1995 and saw the employment of its first full time employee in 1996.  In 1998 a purpose built 10,000 sq ft facility in Tyseley was commissioned and completed in 2000 to house its then 20 employees. Later in 2002, sister company Monster Digital was created, trading from business premises based in Halesowen until the company merger to form Hollywood Monster earlier this month.