All photographs on our website of gates, railings, handrails, coal bunkers, corn/storage bins and tin baths are products we have manufactured in our factory. A Foreword About Mail Order Ironworks
Hepburn style railing with bespoke horizontal top bar. We know it is a leap of faith that our customers make when placing an order with us for wrought iron goods, be it a large or small order, because they can’t first be seen in the flesh. So we invite you to read on and hope you are reassured by the following information. There is always also the option of picking up the phone to speak to our Technical Director Anthony Brettell if you have any questions about your project, or our products. If you are planning to be in the area we would also welcome you by prior appointment to visit us and have a look around where you can see our products being made. If not, we have tried to make our website as informative as possible and we can guarantee that all photographs of gates and railings on this and our Brettell Brothers website show ironworks that we have manufactured in our factory. Please be in touch with us if you have any queries about our products no matter how small, we work on the basis that no question is a silly question and we are always happy to help.
Quality and Workmanship
All our products are manufactured by our manufacturing company Brettell Brothers Ltd which has a continuous trading history dating back to 1946. Now our mail order company Gates Railings Direct has a growing number of professional tradesmen such as architects, builders and landscapers who have become regular customers using us as their supplier of choice. This is down to both the quality of our workmanship and the excellent customer service we provide. But, no matter how carefully we craft our products, if they are badly finished or made from inferior components, they will not exhibit their true beauty. Furthermore, they would be unlikely to provide the durability that we like to promise. That’s why we have been so exacting in our search for exceptional suppliers.
Components
We do not believe in using cheap materials and we do not sell ready made gates and railings imported from overseas. All our products are carefully crafted by hand using the best quality materials we can find.
GRD 7 Railhead. The components we use to build the designs in all of our ranges include railheads, bars and bushes carefully sourced from our tried and trusted suppliers. Reassuringly our suppliers have all been in their respective businesses for many years and in using them we are proud to support local businesses. Brooks Forgings a leading manufacturer of both hand forged and machined products, is based in nearby Cradley Heath. The company has been in business for over 50 years. Always a reliable supplier of first rate quality goods, we know from experience that everything we buy from them helps us create ironworks that are both striking and enduring. F.H. Brundle has been trading since 1889, originally selling nails and ironmongery in London. Now a national company, they supply us with top quality wrought iron components of all different types, from railing bars to scrolls and laser cut letters and profiles.
Galvanizing1 - Compliant with British Standards BS EN ISO 1461
Bespoke Regent style single gate with dog bars. Edward Howell Galvanizers Ltd is another local supplier just a few miles from our factory. They are one of the best galvanizing companies in the country with a trading history dating back almost 150 years. Their hot dip galvanizing provides a zinc coating that prevents corrosion for 50+ years and is carried out to British Standards BS EN ISO 1461.
Powder Coating - Compliant with British Standards BS EN ISO 13438
We have used Aspect Powder Coatings Ltd since we started manufacturing our wrought iron style products. They have traded continuously since 1994 from their production facility based in nearby Tipton. The quality is exceptional, being applied to an average thickness of 80 microns which exceeds the industry standard of 60 microns.
Ground fixed handrail bolted down. Their process involves taking the products through a ten stage pre-treatment process to ensure that the powder coating, when applied and baked on, adheres correctly to the surface of the metal. We have numerous photographs in our gallery of powder coated products where the superior quality of the finish is evident. By way of comparison the photograph below shows how inferior powder coating succumbs to the elements in a very short space of time.
Poor quality powder coating.
Quality Assurance Our manufacturing company, having traded continuously since 1946, gives a certain reassurance that our products are high quality and have stood the test of time with our customers whilst fending off stiff competition. This is extremely important in setting us apart as a legitimate company of proficient and expert people. We have our own internal quality assurance system which incorporates checking, approval and signing off of order component calculations and scrutiny of all works at each stage. Each is checked, approved and signed by a second director whilst all calculations from site layouts and drawings to ironwork sizes and the number and style of components is checked for accuracy by three people. Importantly, our fabrication is checked at each stage, for example welds, galvanizing and powder coating to ensure smooth even surfaces and robust joints. But it’s not just internal signatures and checks that are important. As a measure of reassurance to you the customer and to ensure we have interpreted your order correctly, we will ask you to verify an order confirmation before we cut any components to size.
Service Excellence We think that product quality goes hand in hand with service excellence. We are here to help and we promise a friendly and highly responsive service from your first contact with Gates Railings Direct right through to completion of your order. Scores of our customers have commented that our company has the quickest turnaround time between initial enquiry and quotation. We can normally promise a quotation within two working days of you first contacting us.
Anthony Brettell - A very clever man. Should you have any questions about measuring for, or fitting of your ironworks, you will have the knowledge of our Technical Director Anthony Brettell at your disposal. Anthony is himself highly experienced in the design, fabrication and installation of our wrought iron products, so you really couldn't be in better hands.
