The principal business of the company. Metalwork made to your specification, in mild steel, stainless steel, aluminium and combined steel-and-glass assemblies.
Overview
Fabrication to specification, not to a catalogue
Fabrication is where most enquiries start and where most of the value is decided. A drawing that is easy to draw is not always easy to make, and the difference between the two usually shows up as cost, lead time or a weld that cannot be inspected.
We fabricate to customer specification across a wide product range: decorative balustrades for commercial buildings, stainless staircases and architectural metalwork environments, interior metalwork for horsebox manufacturers, wheelchair access ramps for public transport, racing car chassis for export, and set metalwork for theatre, film and television.
That range is deliberate. A shop that only ever makes one product loses the ability to solve an unfamiliar problem, and unfamiliar problems are what customers actually ring about.
Capability
Full design-and-build, or manufacture to your drawing
Prototype and first-article work, including development of a concept to manufacturing intent
Jig and fixture work for repeatability across a batch
Trial assembly before despatch where an assembly has to fit existing structure
Stainless fabrication to a specified surface finish, including linished and polished
Combined steel and glass assemblies for architectural applications
Applications
Typical work
Balustrades, handrails, staircases and access platforms
Stainless steel staircases, balustrades and architectural metalwork
Wheelchair access ramps and public transport boarding equipment
Vehicle and trailer interior metalwork
Chassis, frames and sub-frames
Theatrical, film and television set structures
Heritage and conservation metalwork to approved detail
What we need
To quote accurately
A drawing (DXF, DWG, PDF or STEP) or a dimensioned sketch
Material grade and specification, or the application if you want us to advise
Any inspection, certification or documentation requirement
Delivery location and required-on-site date
Missing something from this list? Send what
you have. Most enquiries can be priced from a dimensioned sketch, and we would rather ask
one question than quote round a gap.
Working envelope
Materials and product forms
What arrives on the rack, and what leaves the shop as an assembly.
Yes. A dimensioned sketch is enough to quote from more often than people expect, and for a one-off it is frequently the sensible way to start. What matters is not the drawing standard but whether the critical dimensions, the material and the duty are stated. If something important is missing we will ask rather than assume and if there is no drawing at all, that is engineering consultancy rather than a quotation, and it is work we do.
2D as DXF, DWG or PDF. 3D as STEP, IGES, Parasolid or native SolidWorks part files. PDF is fine for reference, but a DXF or DWG removes a tracing step and on profiled work that shows up in the price. If you only have a 3D model we will develop the flat patterns and confirm bend allowances with you before anything is cut.
One item. A significant share of the work here is single fabrications and the shop is set up for it. Jig and fixture work is built when repeatability justifies it, not as a matter of routine. What a one-off does change is where the cost sits: on a single item the setting-out and development time is a much larger fraction of the price than the cutting and welding.
Yes, and it is one of the more useful things we do. A drawing that is easy to draw is not always easy to make, and the difference usually appears as cost, lead time or a weld that cannot be inspected. Where a small change to a detail takes significant cost out we will say so before quoting, rather than quietly pricing around it. That review is design for manufacture, and on a repeat part it usually pays for itself in the first batch.
Yes, and stainless is a named specialism rather than an occasional job. It is worked in 304 and 316 alongside mild steel and aluminium, including combined steel-and-glass assemblies. Stainless is less forgiving: every weld, handling mark and grinding scratch stays visible in the finished item, so the surface finish has to be specified up front and protected through the build rather than recovered at the end.
Yes, UK-wide. Survey before detailing, trial assembly in the works on close-fitting work, then installation by our own team. See site and project support. The practical benefit is not the convenience. It is that the person detailing the bracket knows how the assembly has to get through the door it will be lifted through.
Related capability
Rarely one process on its own
Most jobs cross two or three disciplines. Quoting them together removes handling,
transport and the interface risk that comes with splitting a job across suppliers.
