One of the founding members of the team that launched printing franchise, Sign A Rama, Brian Pretorius, has been recognised as one of the Most Influential People in the print, sign and display industries.

A poll run by Visual Impact magazine asked members of both the Visual Industries Suppliers Association and the Australian Sign and Graphics Association who they felt had the most influence in their industry, and Pretorious was one that came out on top.

“I was amazed when the editor called me to say that I had been nominated,” Pretorius told Franchising. “To be honest, I asked who had voted for me and joked that I would need to buy that person a case of beer, and he said that if that was the case I would need to a lot more than one case.”

Sign A Rama was launched in Australia in 1998, with Pretorius and his team struggling against a general attitude that the business was an American franchise, where for the first years of business no local supplier would sell or supply to the Sign A Rama Group.

All the fittings, equipment and software was shipped to Australia from the USA while Pretorius continued to sell the sign franchise concept to the local Australian suppliers. After a few years the local industry saw the came onboard, offering their products and services. Today all the fixture, fittings, furniture, equipment and software for a new Sign A Rama franchises are bought, supplied and serviced in Australia.