What UK Businesses Put on Their Signs: Order Data 2023 to 2026
Three in ten signs UK businesses ordered from us between 2023 and 2026 carried a QR or NFC code. The most-ordered worded signs were “session in progress” notices, dog rules, open and closed signs, hotel door hangers and no-smoking signs. When businesses wrote their own wording, a quarter of messages said “please”.
of business signs carried a QR or NFC code, steady at about 3 in 10 each year from 2024 to 2026
worded sign: “session in progress” and similar quiet-please signs for therapy, treatment and meeting rooms
were signs that meet a legal duty: no-smoking, CCTV and allergen notices
messages businesses wrote themselves included “please”; 8% said thank you
custom messages were typed in capital letters; the median message was 6 words
of business signs used any Welsh, most of them our bilingual open and closed sign
What business signs are for
Every business sign we made, grouped by its main message. Each sign line in an order counts once, whatever the quantity.
Share of business signs by message type, April 2023 to October 2026
QR and NFC codes lead by a wide margin. After them come house rules and notices (dog rules, no smoking, payment terms and requests), “do not disturb” and in-session signs, and signs naming rooms, toilets and staff areas.
The 15 most-ordered worded signs
Signs with set wording, ranked by their share of all business signs. Signs where customers wrote their own message are covered in Finding 4.
| Rank | Sign | Share of business signs |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Session or treatment in progress, quiet please | 6% |
| 2 | Dog rules or dogs welcome | 5% |
| 3 | Open and closed | 5% |
| 4 | Hotel and room door hangers | 5% |
| 5 | No smoking or vaping | 5% |
| 6 | Room names and numbers | 4% |
| 7 | Toilets | 3% |
| 8 | Food allergy notice | 2% |
| 9 | Opening hours | 2% |
| 10 | Private, no entry or by appointment only | 2% |
| 11 | CCTV in operation | 1% |
| 12 | Please mind the step | 1% |
| 13 | Guest information and welcome | 1% |
| 14 | Staff only | under 1% |
| 15 | Please mind your head | under 1% |
The top of the list is about managing people and spaces rather than selling: telling visitors a session is under way, setting dog rules, showing whether you're open and asking guests not to disturb. Signs the law requires sit among them: no-smoking signs (5%), allergen notices (2%) and CCTV notices (1%). Our signage law checker lists which ones your premises needs, and the law changes tracker covers the tobacco notice and deposit return labels coming in 2027.
What the QR codes are for
QR and NFC signs by purpose, as a share of all business signs
The QR share has held steady (2024: 33%, 2025: 31%, 2026: 29%). Most codes open a website or menu, a social media profile, the WiFi or a review form. For where those links go and how they hold up, see where small businesses point their QR codes and do QR codes expire?
How businesses word their own signs
- Polite: 25% of custom messages included “please” and 8% “thank you” or “thanks”. “Thank you” was the phrase repeated across the most orders, ahead of “do not”, “please do not”, “reserved for”, “help yourself to” and “do not disturb”.
- Direct: 11% included “do not” or “don't”, and 14% used an exclamation mark.
- Short: the median message was 6 words; 9% ran past 20 words.
- Often in capitals: 12% were typed entirely in capital letters. Department for Transport guidance recommends mixed case because it is read more quickly; our sign text size calculator sets out the sources.
For wording ideas, see house rules sign ideas and café table signs that do the awkward talking.
Welsh on business signs
Under 1% of the business signs we made carried any Welsh. Most were our Welsh–English open and closed sign; the rest were bilingual messages on hotel door hangers and a QR code sign. Our customers are spread across the UK, so this isn't a measure of signs in Wales. Private businesses in Wales don't have to use Welsh (see is bilingual signage required in Wales?), and our Welsh–English sign phrasebook has sourced wording for the common signs.
How we collected the data
We went through every sign, QR code sign and door hanger in our website orders from 23 April 2023, the first business sign, to 28 October 2026, excluding cancelled and test orders. We left out signs bought for homes or as gifts, such as poems, bedroom and family signs, occasion messages, wedding signs and model railway nameboards, identified from the product and the wording. Each sign line in an order counts once, however many were ordered.
Signs with set wording were classified by product. Where customers wrote their own message, we classified it from the text and measured the wording on the message itself, ignoring notes to us such as where to put a logo. Welsh was identified by reading the text. Limits: this is one maker's customers, mostly small UK businesses buying engraved indoor signs, and the categories reflect the products we offer. We publish shares only, rounded to whole numbers, never a customer's name or wording, and the raw extract has been deleted.
How to cite it
Cherry Grove Craft (2026). What UK Businesses Put on Their Signs: order data, April 2023 to October 2026. https://cherrygrovecraft.co.uk/pages/what-businesses-put-on-signs
Licence: you're free to reuse this data, including commercially, under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence (CC BY 4.0), as long as you credit Cherry Grove Craft and link to this page. For badges, see what businesses put on name badges; for timing, when UK businesses order.
Frequently asked questions
What do UK businesses put on their signs?
In our order data, 30% of business signs carried a QR or NFC code. The most-ordered worded signs were session or treatment in progress notices, dog rules, open and closed signs, hotel door hangers and no-smoking signs. Signs that meet a legal duty, such as no-smoking, CCTV and allergen notices, were about 9% of the total.
What is the most common sign a small business buys?
From us, a QR code sign, at about 3 in 10 business signs every year from 2024 to 2026, most often linking to a website, social media, WiFi or reviews. The most common sign with fixed wording was a session or treatment in progress sign for therapy, massage and treatment rooms.
Do business signs usually say please?
A quarter of the messages businesses wrote themselves included “please” (25%), and 8% said thank you. About 11% included “do not” or “don't”.
How long is a typical sign message?
Six words was the median length of a message businesses wrote for their own sign, and 9% ran past 20 words. One in eight was typed entirely in capital letters, though accessibility guidance recommends mixed case because it is quicker to read.
Do businesses in Wales use Welsh on their signs?
Welsh appeared on under 1% of the business signs in our data, which covers customers across the UK rather than Wales alone, and most of those were our bilingual open and closed sign. Private businesses in Wales don't have to use Welsh on their signs.