PORT ELIZABETH-based Bill-M signs is going national through the formation of a new company in partnership with Johannesburg-based Claude Neon. The new company, Claude Neon Bill-M Signs (Pty) Ltd, is targeting both the national and the Southern African markets. “The partnership opens up big opportunities for us here in the Eastern Cape,” says Bill-M Signs founder, Bill Meyer. “With the national muscle of Claude Neon now supporting us, we will see more people being trained in the Eastern Cape, and more jobs being created here.” Claude Neon Financial Director Benjy Porter describes the formation of the new company as a “good fit. There is no other signage company with the infrastructure of Claude Neon and the empowerment component of Bill-M. “What is important is that the two companies have worked together for more than two years, and we’ve been through both great times and hard times. We understand each other. This is not a case of just adding a bit of colour. Claude Neon’s commitment to empowerment dates back more than 60 years,” he says. Bill-M Signs was established in 1987. A second company, Bill-M Neon, was formed in 1997. In 1989, Bill-M Signs pioneered artisan training in sign-writing and sign manufacturing in Port Elizabeth, and was the first company in South Africa to train a black glass blower. Claude Neon Bill-M Signs will make use of the existing Bill-M Signs premises in Neave Township, as well as the nation-wide Claude Neon network, which includes offices in Johannesburg, Durban, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town. Claude Neon customers include Engen, B.P., Caltex, DaimlerChrysler, Supa Quick, Joshua Doore, McDonald's, ABSA, Southern Sun, Honda, ATM Solutions and Sun International. Bill-M does the signage for SAB Breweries, Volkswagen, Standard Bank, Sappi and Lafarge in the Eastern Cape. “Our two companies first started working together in a joint venture to make signs for The Boardwalk Casino and Entertainment World in Port Elizabeth. We also made the signs for the Grand West casino in Cape Town, as well as Hemingway’s in East London,” says Meyer. “Having established that we could work together, we decided to take the joint venture a step further and to form an all-new empowerment company.” Claude Neon Bill-M Signs (Pty) Ltd, is one of the first empowerment companies in the signage industry, according to Meyer. “With this new company, we will have the advantage of being able to tender for national contracts that were previously out of reach of both Claude Neon and Bill-M Signs,” he says. “The opportunities in the dynamic union of the financial stability and heritage of Claude Neon and the entrepreneurship and trading ability of Bill-M are incalculable,” adds Porter. Claude Neon Bill-M Signs has the capacity to expand rapidly in the signage industry, which is estimated to be worth more than R500-million a year, he adds. The company has the use of five factories, 18 installation teams and a team of 280 people around the country.