Independent specialist aluminium fabricator Fentrade Limited’s journey continues with a recent successful and well attended Open Day that welcomed industry colleagues and friends through their doors to view the new facilities. The day itself also celebrated the efforts of the management team with the presentation of the company’s ISO9001:2015 Quality Management System accreditation and marked the company’s eighth year trading!
Fentrade journey from a vision to an established and respected fabricator to the trade has seen the company move from humble beginnings in rented premises to now occupying a large 10,500 square foot manufacturing facility with additional outside space which is owned within the group and provides the fabricator with a springboard to implement its’ ambitious growth strategy over the next five years.
Chris Reeks, Fentrade’s director, was pleased to have the opportunity to showcase the new facility to the many visitors who attended, invited from across and outside of the industry. “It was great to share the day with so many of our colleagues and friends, allowing us to demonstrate how far we’ve come since 2018 and also outline our plans for the future.” Visitors were given guided tours of the new offices and factory, with fabrication continuing during the tours allowing the visitors to chat with the staff and see the whole manufacturing process in action. The highlight of the tour for many was viewing the operation of the largest investments Fentrade has made to date, the Elumatec SBZ145 5 axis machining and cutting centre.
“The SBZ145 has already made a significant difference to our fabrication process, and it was great to have the ability to show this off during the Open Day”, said fellow director Brian Jones. “The machine represents a significant part of over half a million pounds worth of investment in Fentrade this year so far, and as we explained to visitors on the day it will be a major driver for improving and enhancing the quality and efficiency moving forward”.
Visitors were able to meet and greet many of the internal sales and support staff as well as a number of Fentrade’s suppliers who had supported the event. Aluk, Jack Aluminium, Scheuco, Elumatec and Coastal were among the suppliers in attendance with many of their products being utilised in the building of Fentrade’s new showroom facility.
“Having a dedicated space to demonstrate the versatility of our product range was important to us when we were laying out the plans for the new building” explained Chris. “We wanted to create an inviting dual-purpose space that would allow Fentrade to display our products to new and existing customers as well as our customers being able to use it as their showroom to invite homeowners along to view and try the products.” The entrance into the showroom has been created using a mix of Aluk and Jack Aluminium commercial products as well as an ID30 Telescopic internal door which garnered a lot of attention during the Open Day. Further into the showroom a viewing wall has been created incorporating Aluk 58BW and 58BD Hi windows and doors which allows visitors to see into the factory and observe the manufacturing process underway.
The day also marked an important milestone in Fentrade’s journey of constantly improving and evolving with the presentation of their ISO9001:2015 Quality Management System accreditation and certificate. The process had started just as the contracts were exchanged on the new premises and the management team worked tirelessly to write and implement the procedures whilst organising and co-ordinating the complete relocation of the business to the new premises. “I am extremely proud of our whole team,” commented Brian, “in managing these two major projects in tandem without interruption to production and our customers. It is testament to the dedication and experience of the team that we have in place at Fentrade.”
The ISO9001:2015 is just one of number of planned accreditations and certifications that Fentrade will be undertaking for the betterment of its’ products and service and to improve the overall product quality and service for the customer base.
Since the acquisition of Fentrade by Aluminium Vision in 2025 the company has introduced more resources into the infrastructure both in terms of people and plant as part of the strategy for the next five years. Additional staff in both the office and the factory, a new Operations Manager to oversee the day-to-day running and more mechanisation in the factory are just some of the changes made so far, and Chris is confident about the road ahead. “The Open Day’s success was down to a lot of hard work and effort by the fantastic team behind the scenes, and has provided us with a great start to implementing our growth strategy and firmly establishing Fentrade as a specialist fabricator of choice for retail and commercial installing businesses”.
