Advertising on the roadside
Discussion
Hi.
We run a small retail business that is tucked away down the back of an business estate. We are more suited to a high street location, but current funds restrict us from moving.
In order to drive some traffic we are considering some sandwich board type signs on the main road advertising that we are down here.
My question is, Are there any restriction in advertising this way? we can either make a sign up and secure it to existing street furniture or erect a sandwich board that gets put up/taken down each day. obviously a permanent option would be preferable.
I would assume we should approach our local council, but I wanted to ask others first, has anyone else done this/had experience of doing this?
Many thanks
We run a small retail business that is tucked away down the back of an business estate. We are more suited to a high street location, but current funds restrict us from moving.
In order to drive some traffic we are considering some sandwich board type signs on the main road advertising that we are down here.
My question is, Are there any restriction in advertising this way? we can either make a sign up and secure it to existing street furniture or erect a sandwich board that gets put up/taken down each day. obviously a permanent option would be preferable.
I would assume we should approach our local council, but I wanted to ask others first, has anyone else done this/had experience of doing this?
Many thanks
When we briefly ran a retail shop out of our offices, we put a sandwich board on the pavement opposite during the day, but it didn't take many days for the council to tell us to remove it as the pavement wasn't wide enough. It wasn't a massive board by any means, but I was surprised how quickly they noticed.
droopsnoot said:
When we briefly ran a retail shop out of our offices, we put a sandwich board on the pavement opposite during the day, but it didn't take many days for the council to tell us to remove it as the pavement wasn't wide enough. It wasn't a massive board by any means, but I was surprised how quickly they noticed.
There is a grass verge each side of the roadway here, plenty of space for pedestrians, vehicles turning etc.Did they say you require a permit or similar?
You are proposing to place something on land that isn't your property.
Firstly, the owners can have that enforced, if it's the council you may get a visit and then a letter pending litigation.
You are also placing an obstruction in a public place (doesn't matter that there is plenty of room to get by) you can't just go putting things there.
So in summary, whilst thousands of businesses do this, the vast majority aren't allowed to.
Usually nothing will happen if you do it, if you contact the council in advance you will never hear the last of it.
Firstly, the owners can have that enforced, if it's the council you may get a visit and then a letter pending litigation.
You are also placing an obstruction in a public place (doesn't matter that there is plenty of room to get by) you can't just go putting things there.
So in summary, whilst thousands of businesses do this, the vast majority aren't allowed to.
Usually nothing will happen if you do it, if you contact the council in advance you will never hear the last of it.
As per previous really, sandwich type boards or the freestanding ones with the water butt in the base are generally frowned upon because they block the pavement for the blind, disabled and buggies etc. The council will have their say, as might other businesses who have previously been pulled up for it.
The correx type signs you see zip tied to railings and traffic lights are slightly different in that iirc they are deemed temporary (as long as they are easily removed) and are treated the same as election signage. In fact scrub that, election signage was banned so that'll likely no longer apply, and strictly speaking they'll be off limits too. Plus they always look s
t and desperate.
Probably the best option is to find a premises with a back or end wall and ask/pay them to put a sign on that. Although again strictly speaking you're looking at Control of Advertisements legislation and applying for consent. No business is permitted to advertise a third party on their premises without it.
I should say I'm in Scotland but I'd imagine English rules are much the same. I've asked all of these questions to councils and government depts in the fairly recent past.
In short most businesses do what they like and wait for someone to dig them on it, it's just a question of resources on how quickly they enforce. Which is why most of our towns are covered in wall to wall st for car washes and plasterers etc
Because we charge people to advertise we try to do it by the book.
The correx type signs you see zip tied to railings and traffic lights are slightly different in that iirc they are deemed temporary (as long as they are easily removed) and are treated the same as election signage. In fact scrub that, election signage was banned so that'll likely no longer apply, and strictly speaking they'll be off limits too. Plus they always look s
t and desperate. Probably the best option is to find a premises with a back or end wall and ask/pay them to put a sign on that. Although again strictly speaking you're looking at Control of Advertisements legislation and applying for consent. No business is permitted to advertise a third party on their premises without it.
I should say I'm in Scotland but I'd imagine English rules are much the same. I've asked all of these questions to councils and government depts in the fairly recent past.
In short most businesses do what they like and wait for someone to dig them on it, it's just a question of resources on how quickly they enforce. Which is why most of our towns are covered in wall to wall s
t for car washes and plasterers etcBecause we charge people to advertise we try to do it by the book.
callmedave said:
There is a grass verge each side of the roadway here, plenty of space for pedestrians, vehicles turning etc.
Did they say you require a permit or similar?
There just wasn't enough space for it, so the issue of a permit never came up. I think whoever decided to put it there didn't think it through, perhaps angled it to take up less width, but any reasonable person wouldn't argue with the idea it took too much space up.Did they say you require a permit or similar?
Another option is to park a vehicle with removable advertising sign showing business name and arrow to where you are sited. No requirement for planning permission, but obviously there needs to be a suitable area to park without any cost and it has to be available to sit there all day.
Seen it done a few times and could be a way around planning etc.
Seen it done a few times and could be a way around planning etc.
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