In 2025, Highcross Leicester embarked on a bold refurbishment plan — updating its entrances to reflect the city’s proud heritage and create a fresh, modern welcome for shoppers. As part of this transformation, Premium Signage installed by Project Print Management (PPM) played a key role in delivering high-impact visuals that combine design elegance with long-term durability. Below, we explore how this signage was chosen, produced, and installed — and why using only the best materials such as Avery Dennison vinyls was central to the project’s success.
A Reimagined Highcross for 2025: Celebrating Leicester’s Textile Heritage
The refurbishment of Highcross Leicester is much more than a surface-level update. The centre’s four main entrances — High Street, Church Gate, East Gate, and Bond Street — are being redesigned to incorporate design elements inspired by Leicester’s historic textile and fashion industry.
Rather than standard retail signage or generic façades, each entrance design aims to “dress” the building in textiles — with references to runway aesthetics, curtain reveals, twisted pleats and fabric-like textures. The idea is to pay homage to a time when Leicester was one of Europe’s textile powerhouses — and to carry that legacy forward into a modern retail landmark.
It’s a transformation in both form and function: beyond aesthetic appeal, the redesign also aims to improve accessibility, visibility, wayfinding, and the overall shopper experience — making Highcross not just a shopping centre, but a revitalised urban gateway.
The Role of Premium Signage — and Why Quality Materials Matter
In a design-driven redevelopment like this, signage does more than inform — it becomes part of the architecture itself. Entrances are landmarks, and signage must live up to that status: clear, striking, durable, and in harmony with the architectural vision.
That’s where Project Print Management’s choice of materials and printing processes becomes crucial. The use of high-grade vinyl films ensures that the signage doesn’t degrade, distort, or lose impact over time — which is especially important for an environment as busy and public-facing as a major shopping centre.
For this project, PPM used Avery Dennison’s premium vinyl films to deliver graphics that combine clarity, durability, and visual appeal.
Why Avery Dennison SP 1540 Ultra Clear Was the Ideal Choice for Premium Signage
One of the standout materials for the signage project was Avery Dennison’s SP 1540 Ultra Clear digitally printable film. This product offers several features suited to demanding architectural signage and long-lasting applications.
Key Advantages
Optically clear, high gloss finish: The film is virtually invisible on glass when unprinted, meaning that signage appears clean and professional without distracting from the architecture. Avery Dennison Graphics
No need for separate overlaminate: SP 1540 is self-laminating, so the film itself offers protection — simplifying production and reducing the number of materials required.
Great printability and digital compatibility: The vinyl is designed to be compatible with all major digital printing platforms, including UV flat-bed printers — the type used by PPM for this project.
Durability: Printed graphics on SP 1540 are rated for up to 8 years of outdoor use and up to 12 years indoors — ideal for signage expected to endure heavy footfall, exposure to weather, and long-term use.
3D Conformability: The film can wrap and conform to curved surfaces or complex architectural shapes, helping signage integrate seamlessly with entrance designs that may include non-flat surfaces.
By using SP 1540 Ultra Clear (or equivalent high-grade vinyls), Project Print Management ensured that the signage would not only look professional on Day 1 — but remain crisp, legible, and visually appealing for years to come, supporting the long-term vision for Highcross as a rejuvenated retail hub.
Installation Logistics: Works Carried Out Out of Hours
An upgrade of this scale — especially in a busy shopping centre during renovation — poses logistical challenges. Disruption to shoppers and retailers needs to be minimised, and safety must be maintained throughout.
For the Highcross project, much of the signage installation and related work was carried out outside normal trading hours (i.e., out of hours). This approach offered several advantages:
Reduced impact on shoppers: With fewer people around, installers have more freedom to operate without interrupting footfall or creating hazards.
Safety management: Night-time or off-hours installation minimizes the risk of accidents involving the public, especially when using ladders, lifts, or power tools.
Cleaner installation environment: Without busy crowds, installers can work undisturbed — ensuring precise alignment, quality finishing, and secure adhesion of vinyl graphics.
Faster turnaround: Install teams can work continuously without needing to follow strict opening hour breaks, helping meet project deadlines and ensuring entrances reopen as scheduled.
This careful scheduling shows a respect for both shoppers and retailers — keeping disruption to a minimum while delivering high-quality signage that complements the refurbishment.
The Premium Signage Impact: Enhancing Architecture, Identity & Wayfinding
Using premium signage materials and placing installation at strategic times is about more than practicality — it’s about shaping the identity and atmosphere of Highcross. The signage contributes to several important outcomes:
1. Architectural Harmony
Because the vinyl used is optically clear and conforms well to surfaces, the signage doesn’t feel like an afterthought — it becomes part of the architecture. The high-gloss finish and clean cut allow graphics to sit elegantly against glass or structural elements, complementing the textile-inspired entrance designs.
2. Longevity & Low Maintenance
With up to 8 years outdoor durability (and even longer indoors), the signage is built to last. That means no frequent replacements, no fading graphics — a smart long-term investment for the centre’s brand image. Especially in a heavily trafficked urban location, durable signage reduces maintenance overhead and ensures the centre always looks its best.
3. Improved Visibility & Wayfinding
Clear, high-quality signage helps guide shoppers, making entrances more welcoming and easier to navigate. Especially with multiple entrance points (High Street, Church Gate, East Gate, Bond Street), clear signage helps manage footfall flow, improves accessibility, and supports the refreshed centre layout.
4. Brand & Heritage Storytelling
Through careful choice of materials and design, the signage becomes part of the story — nodding to Leicester’s textile past while positioning Highcross as a contemporary retail destination. That narrative aspect is subtle but powerful: signage doesn’t just direct — it communicates identity.
Why Project Print Management Was a Strong Fit for the Job
The selection of Project Print Management (PPM) to supply and install signage for Highcross was not an accident. Their approach aligned closely with the demands of the project:
Experience with high-quality, durable vinyl signage — essential for a long-term retail environment.
Use of UV flat-bed printers, ensuring sharp, vibrant, weather-resistant graphics appropriate for large-scale signage.
Capability to execute installation outside of regular hours, minimising disruption to shoppers and retailers.
Understanding of architectural integration — producing signage that doesn’t just hang in place but becomes part of the building fabric.
By combining technical expertise with practical logistics (off-hours installation, use of premium vinyls), PPM delivered signage that supports Highcross’s ambition to become a revitalised, heritage-aware shopping destination.
The Bigger Picture: Premium Signage as Part of Highcross’s Rebirth
The renovation of Highcross is more than a facelift: it’s a repositioning. With new entrances, updated public realm, and a refreshed occupier mix — including new global brands — the centre is reinventing itself for a post-pandemic, always-evolving retail landscape.
Signage plays a subtle but vital role in this rebirth. It’s a tangible, visible marker of change — something everyday visitors will see and interact with. Good signage doesn’t just make a centre look new; it helps reshape perceptions, supports navigation, and elevates the overall experience.
By investing in quality — in both materials and workmanship — Highcross and PPM are sending a message: this is a centre built to last, built with respect for heritage, and built for modern retail life.
Premium Signage Built to Wow — and Built to Last
The refurbishment of Highcross Leicester is a bold project, blending respect for local heritage with contemporary retail ambition. In that context, signage is far from a minor detail: it’s a statement.
Thanks to Project Print Management’s use of premium materials — especially Avery Dennison SP 1540 Ultra Clear vinyl — and thoughtful planning (including out-of-hours installation), the signage at Highcross doesn’t just mark entrances. It transforms them. It makes them part of a narrative that celebrates Leicester’s past, enhances the shopping experience, and sets the tone for the next chapter in Highcross’s story.
As the new entrances reopen and shoppers stream through, the signage will quietly but powerfully reinforce that this is more than a shopping centre — it’s a revitalised urban hub, built to impress and built to endure.
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