A sign maker has undergone a major redevelopment.

William Smith, based in Barnard Castle, County Durham, has been established for more than 100 years and has now expanded its base to a second site, so the company can “adapt to the modern demands of a growing sector.”

The company has moved its distribution factory to a new purpose built site on the outskirts of Barnard Castle, to free up space for the redevelopment of its town centre site.

The new 14,000 sq ft warehouse at Stainton Grove has space to store nearly three times as much material as the previous site.

Bosses say a new six meter router and powder coat painting systems will allow the company to be more efficient and speed up production, and the new technologies will also be more environmentally friendly than the ones they replaced.

The router will allow the company to create larger signs and the new powder coat systems will create a better finish to its products than traditional wet paint.

Chris Bradley, marketing manager at William Smith, said: “These are exciting times with the latest technology and materials allowing us to provide our customers with virtually any sign product and design they can imagine.

“Our new distribution warehouse is state of the art boosting efficiency and the working experience for our hard-working and loyal staff.

“Equally important is the fact that it has released much-needed space to completely redevelop our fabrication facility, which will help meet the growing demand for our products and services.”

William Smith was founded in 1832 and made the UK’s very first road sweeping machines.

The family-run company now employs more than 90 staff and supplies a range of firms in the sign and graphic sectors.

“The new warehouse has enabled us to further improve our operational efficiency, so that we can continue to provide our customers with an ever wider range of products whilst maintaining the fast turnaround times for which we are well-respected.”

William Smith has been manufacturing signs since the 1930s and their projects have included creating signs for roads, shop fronts and wooden sign posts.

In 1991, the company created the first full-colour graphic digital printing system in Europe