Estate agent signboard defaced by Welsh language campaigners
North Wales eXp agent Gavin Morgan apologises for his 'English only' For Sale sign, saying his supplier put up the wrong board.
An estate agent in North Wales has got into hot water after one of his signboards attracted unwanted attention from Welsh language campaigners.
Gavin Morgan, who recently launched his commercial and residential agency via the eXp UK platform, has come under fire from the Society of the Language, a vociferous but non-violent Welsh campaigning group that placed a sticker over one of his signboards, which are all solely in English, and images of the ‘censored’ sign shared on social media.
The sticker says: “ble mae’r Gymraeg?” which translates as “where is the Welsh?”.
Before joining eXP Morgan worked in the property industry for 20 years, including a stint running his own estate agency.
He is not the only target of the group’s ire; in the past similar campaigns have targeted road signs, phone booms and business signs all disapproving of their lack of Welsh.
Signboards statement
The agent released a statement after the comments went viral and attracted local media attention, saying: “Sorry guys my board is in Welsh and English, board company have erected the wrong board.”
The Society of the Language, which is hoping to persuade Welsh businesses to use Welsh first and English second in their promotional and advertising materials, has a steep road ahead of it – few agents other than in some deeply rural and pro-independence areas use dual language boards.
The Welsh Language Measure 2011 requires organisations to provide some services in Welsh, but this is limited to certain public bodies and does not include businesses.
Purplebricks was also critcised recently for its signboard, not because they lacked Welsh, but because they included the ‘lion’ of the British Olympic team, which the agency has been sponsoring since 2019.
