Broxap Street Furniture: Review of the year

As 2021 draws to a close, Broxap Street Furniture looks back on another year.

Welcoming our teams back after the Christmas break in the midst of heavy snowfall was swiftly followed by the news that the country was headed into a full lockdown again.
It was a tough start to the year for our employees but, as key workers in the manufacturing industry, they rose to the challenge that lay ahead.
Broxap immediately put a series of rigid safe working practices in place for both office and production workers including work ‘pods’, strict hygiene procedures and daily temperature checks.
Disruption for clients was kept to a minimum with arrangements made for virtual site surveys harnessing the latest communications technology, and on-site installation crews following Covid-19 safe protocol.

By continuing to maintain services throughout lockdown, Broxap was able to respond to clients quickly and effectively, which led to a recruitment drive across the business.
We supported the ‘binfrastructure’ campaign led by recycling charity Wrap and announced our sponsorship of the Big Pedal.
Projects during February included the installation of bespoke cycle storage hubs and parking systems at Greater Brighton Metropolitan College as well as a Twin Conic Canopy at Collyer’s sixth form college.
We also celebrated the first order for one of our new parklets, designed to support hospitality and other industries looking to make the most of their outdoor space in response to the Coronavirus pandemic.

Work we carried out at London Luton Airport was showcased by the Galvanizers Association in its Hot Dip Galvanizing Magazine.
Product development work continued at our Staffordshire base with the launch of the seated planters range, inspired by a raft of grants announced by the Government to rejuvenate town centres following lockdown.
Our Hand Made Places division gave its popular Trim Trail collection an overhaul, adding new equipment and redesigning the range to offer better play value for customers.
And at Sunshine Gym we reached out to schools looking to invest their PE and Sport Premium funds, by injecting variety and capacity into PE lessons.
Back in the office staff dressed in red for the day to raise cash for Comic Relief, and our Stadia Sports business supplied Ant & Dec with equipment for their Saturday Night Takeaway show.

Active travel was given an £18 million boost by the Government, keeping our Shelters team busy designing, manufacturing and installing a range of cycle parking and storage solutions for customers.
The Big Pedal event took place, with hundreds of families choosing to walk, cycle or wheel the school run instead of taking the car. Broxap Street Furniture donated a cycle rack and a scooter rack as prizes for the schools which managed to record the most green journeys with sustainability charity Sustrans.
Projects included a new staff wellbeing courtyard at the University Hospitals of North Midlands. We were especially proud to support our local hospital which serves the Broxap workforce.
And we showcased our shelters, canopies and walkways, designed to support outdoor activities in the education sector, in a new brochure.

Our commitment to R&D continued with an article in Public Sector Build Journal discussing the importance of design in public realm infrastructure.
We launched the Blox Bench range, a chunky, modular seating system built to reflect the individual needs and demands of any specific location.
Installers moved on site in Caerphilly, working with the local authority and individual businesses to set up a series of parklets for customers.
And we supported Leeds Civic Trust in its Take A Seat campaign. We built 15 benches for the trust which it distributed to different communities to commemorate the way they responded to the pandemic.

We shared our thoughts on the future of outdoor spaces in schools with Croft Architecture and we celebrated the achievements of our employees on International Women in Engineering Day.
Projects included a series of curved benches at Bournemouth War Memorial Homes remembrance garden and a covered walkway at Ysgol Dyffryn Aman.
Production started for a series of litter bins ordered by the Canal & River Trust and we took on the challenge of adapting one of our bench designs to fit around an electrical cabinet, while still maintaining safe and essential access to the box.
And our new Hand Made Places branding was revealed and applied to our van.

In July we celebrated England’s success in Euro 2020 with breakfasts all round for our teams.
All of our divisions were kept incredibly busy with orders, supporting customers up and down the UK with their outdoor improvements.
Projects included seating at a community garden for the ETNA Centre in London and the manufacture and supply of football goal posts to Stone Old Alleynians Football Club.
And despite having to work around live commuter traffic, we completed an £82k-plus project replacing seat and litter bins at West Bromwich Bus Station. This was the fourth project of its kind in an overall £400,000 framework agreement with West Midlands Combined Authority.
Our marketing team gave our logo a freshen up to reflect our core strength – street furniture – and we partnered with haulage company S&L Services to unveil our own branded lorry.

Our Ford Ranger Pick-Up Truck was given a new look with Sunshine Gym branding, and we added to our Broxap Street Furniture fleet with an 18-tonne truck.
Testing started on our football goal posts and rugby goal posts following design alterations to make them compliant with new safety standards.
Our dedicated teams in the office battled against a global materials shortage and huge demand on the logistics sector, going above and beyond to maintain open communications with customers and suppliers.
And projects included a bespoke outdoor dining shelter at Guilsborough Academy as well as bespoke cycle parking and a shelter at the Rainham campus of New City College in London.

Our annual employee fishing match took place.
We completed a fantastic new playground for Northlands School in Essex, featuring an area for imaginative play, climbaround, trim trail and outdoor classroom. The Hand Made Places division also celebrated the launch of a new website.
At our head office, works on new access improvements came to an end, marking a £1.8m investment. The Sunshine Gym team took advantage of the late September sunshine to complete a series of customer service videos.
And we baked, bought, ate and enjoyed lots of cake for the annual Macmillan World’s Biggest Coffee Morning, raising £105 for people living with cancer.

We relaunched our refurbishment and recycling scheme for customers investing in litter and recycling bins and announced a string of measures to reduce our carbon footprint including reusing pallets.
Our workshop also took delivery of laser processing equipment to further enhance our high-quality standards. The laser cutting machine will increase capacity and enhance accuracy for our engineering operatives.
A cluster of schools came back after half term to new outdoor gyms with our Sunshine Gym installers working to accommodate the school holidays.

Broxap Street Furniture marked its anniversary with a huge party for all employees. Celebrating 75 years in business, the Lee family pledged a £5 million transformation package investing in new equipment, skills and facilities at our Chesterton base.
A new logo was unveiled to be used throughout the anniversary year.
The success of our charity cake sale prompted us to stage an office bake off competition with employees taking home prizes for the best tasting, best looking and best savoury bake.
Projects included the installation of Luton walkways and Cambridge Junior cycle shelters at Bohunt School in Horsham.

We made a festive start to the month by joining in with Elf Day, encouraging our teams to dress as elves all in aid of the Alzheimer’s Society. Our thoughts also turned to those who might not be able to afford a Christmas celebration with collections for Newcastle-Staffs Foodbank. And we donned Christmas jumpers for Save the Children.
Our teams put in a massive effort to complete as many orders as possible before the Christmas shut-down. Santa’s elf made himself at home in the factory, lending a hand here and there while preparing the way for the big man himself.
Projects included a series of shelters for supermarket brand Waitrose as well as cycle parking at a number of different sites including MOD Lyneham.
From December 24 our teams will be taking a well-earned break until January 4. We wish all our clients past and present, a very happy, healthy and prosperous new year.