Youngman to sell five-colour variable message boards

Youngman Group is starting to market an Australian-made, five-colour variable message board that it thinks has enormous potential in the rental market.

The solar powered trailer mounted message boards are produced by Bartco in Australia and Youngman is to start trials of the product in the UK and France in the New Year.

John Bungay, Youngman's business development director, told IRN that the five colour capability differentiates the product from competitor models on the market, allowing the sign to be used to specify speed limits and lane closures as well as applications in events and advertising.

"They offer advantages over conventional message boards", said Mr Bungay, "They have fuel autonomy, and the five colour laps open up applications to advertising and events, and for mandatory signs on roads.

"It's much better at producing effective safety signage and offers up so many more uses than conventional message boards."

He said the target customers would be general rental companies and specialist traffic management rental firms; "The initial reaction has been good. We have approached the people we know who are potentially interested."

The message board uses LED lights, which are powered by solar panels on the roof of the message board. The panels will provide sufficient power throughout the year, even in northern European climates.

The signs can be monitored and controlled remotely, with rental companies and end users able to change messages remotely as well as turned on and off.

Youngman - which is best known for its access towers, ladders and mini scissor lifts - has a sales agreement with Bartco covering the UK and possibly also in France. The company showed the product at the recent Batimat exhibition in Paris.