2022 is set to be an important year here at British Spirals & Castings as we celebrate our 30th Anniversary in May. The business has changed a lot over the years, growing from a two-man operation in an old shed, to the company we are today with over 20 staff, our own foundry and workshop, manufacturing staircases, railings and balconies for projects all across the globe. Despite our growth, we remain a truly family business and are proud to manufacture all our pieces right here in Britain.
Of course, that success only comes from constantly challenging ourselves and looking for ways to keep developing as a business. Despite the difficulties posed by the pandemic, we’re busier than ever and have a lot of exciting updates to announce.
Perhaps the area of our business which has changed the most over the past couple of decades has been the use of computer aided design (CAD) technologies. When we started, our staircases were all designed by hand. Today, however, we use a bespoke CAD package which allows us to show the staircase or balcony to customers and finetune it to their tastes, and the project measurements, before we begin manufacture.
To help us to keep progressing in this area, we’re pleased to be able to welcome Sion Davies to our team as our new CAD Technician. Sion has a wealth of experience working across a number of different CAD software packages and is helping us to push our CAD designs to the next level.
Whilst we take real pride in being able to walk customers through the measurement process, meaning we can often manufacture staircases precisely without ever having to visit site, this isn’t always possible. This is specifically true on older properties where walls are rarely plumb and often undulate in and out. To help streamline measuring on these projects, we’re investing over £24,000 in a dedicated laser scanner.
The scanner is an amazing tool, by setting it up in a few locations on site, we can create an exact digital replica of a space with millimetre accuracy. This scan can then be used within our CAD software, ensuring the balcony or staircase precisely matches up with your project. It also takes pictures of your property, meaning the 3D visualisations give an even more accurate representation of how the staircase or balcony will look once installed
We’re also making improvements to our manufacturing processes, by adding a £5,000 extension to our powder coating oven, allowing us to paint even larger items. We use this facility for most of our internal cast aluminium pieces and the powder coating process gives an unmatched quality of finish. Keep your eyes out for a new video in the next couple of months which will explain how powder coating works, and why it’s such a great choice.
Along with the new machinery, we’re also pleased to have been able to take on a couple of new apprentices. Apprentices are the lifeblood of our business and we’re proud that many of our long-serving staff joined us straight out of school. Lewis Weston has joined our experienced team here in the workshop and will be learning the ropes on how we finish and quality test all our pieces before sending them out to customers.
Josh Hammersley has also joined the team at our dedicated Staffordshire foundry where we cast all of our aluminium pieces. The foundry has been in operation for over half a century and we recently opened a new building with fantastic modern facilities. You can take a look at the building, and see Josh hard at work, in our new foundry video.
We’ll keep you up to date on all the developments, along with a snapshot of some of the projects we’ve been working on, right here on this blog. Here’s to a great 2022.