Tenants in safe and warm hands with Shelforce

Manufacturing windows and doors to keep communities safe has been a key driver for Shelforce for more than four decades.

The Birmingham-based company provides high-quality PVCu products and Fire doors for specialist window and door projects tailored to local authorities and housing associations and employs some of the city’s most vulnerable people with 75% of its workforce disabled.

As a result, Shelforce has developed effective relationships and works with national contractors and leading house builders within Birmingham and beyond.

It has also raised the standard in the industry with its fully compliant Fireshel 30-minute fire, smoke and security resistant door.

Howard Trotter, Shelforce’s Business Manager, said: “The standards for windows and doors are very much in the spotlight and the quality has shot up because it has had to. Making sure we provide our customers with fully compliant and tested products will mean their tenants are safe.”

Understanding what is required
From high rises to new builds, Shelforce have experience with all types of social housing refurbishment and maintenance and have developed a first-class reputation for providing Local Authorities with the right products, on time and on budget.

Howard said: “We understand the challenges Local Authorities and housing associations face and what is important for both them and their tenants, including providing security and energy efficiency and value for money.

“We also know what they need to look out for when specifying their windows and doors, so they get the product that is best suited to their project. Fire doors are a good example, and local authorities must know what third party certification and a field of application are. We can provide them with a greater understanding of fire doors and their components, including testing and certification, regulations and standards, inspection, and the maintenance needed.”

Window and door production at Shelforce

A legacy for Birmingham
Shelforce’s reputation has seen the company work on a substantial number of worthwhile projects in Birmingham in the past.

The company manufactured the windows and doors for an £11million revamp of a 20-storey tower block in Aston to help homeless families, helping to turn Barry Jackson Tower, which houses 160 flats, into a controlled, state-of-the-art, safe environment to accommodate up to 544 people for up to four months while permanent housing applications are processed.

It also provided new double-glazed PVC windows for the external refurbishment of two 12-storey tower blocks – 132 properties – known as the ‘Boat Blocks’ to help deliver warmer homes and lower fuel bills for residents.

And thanks to the Fireshel Fire door, Shelforce supplied and installed 210 fire doors for three blocks of flats that support retirement housing in Acocks Green, and 72 for installation in a sheltered housing scheme.

“Not only do we continue to deliver incredible social value, providing skilled employment and training opportunities for people with disabilities in our communities, but we also manufacture products that help keep our wider community safe and warm,” said Howard.

“To help provide residents in high-rise and low-rise apartments with a better quality of life and warmer, more energy efficient homes to help cut carbon emissions and lower energy bills, particularly at this time, is massive.”

The Fireshel Fire Door from Shelforce

In high demand
Thanks to the success of the Fireshel Fire door, Shelforce has had to increase manufacturing capacity at its Erdington factory due to demand, with 200 doors a week now produced by the team.

They are supplying replacement fire doors for tower blocks in Birmingham, including 6,000 fire doors for energy and regeneration specialists Equans and 2,500 for Fortem, which provides specialist property solutions, alongside windows.

“The work we have put into the Fireshel Fire door has allowed us to provide local authorities and housing associations with the perfect fire door solution,” added Howard. “We have a packed last quarter of 2022 and are looking forward to helping to deliver important refurbishment projects within Birmingham.”

To find out more, call Shelforce on 0121 603 5262 or visit www.shelforce.com