GOLDEN YEARS
50
FEATURE: MEMBERSHIP CELEBRATING 50 YEARS IN MEMBERSHIP
In advance of Birmingham Chamber entering its third century in 2013 CHAMBERLINK is celebrating companies that have been members for 50 years or more. SUE COOKE visits TOP TEC, which designs and manufactures IT security enclosures
Voyager goes global N
ecessity is the mother of invention, a proverb which aptly describes the innovation of a Birmingham company. In 1993 a Garretts Green engineering manufacturer experienced the theft of its office computers, twice. So TOP TEC built its own IT
security enclosures. The local crime prevention officer was so impressed that he encouraged the company to speak to neighbouring businesses. The family run company now designs, manufactures and installs secure
workspace furnishing and AV and ICT security products as 90 per cent of its business. With a turnover of £3.3 million, TOP TEC, which is the trading name of Dalen Limited, was established in 1957 and has been a member of Birmingham Chamber of Commerce Group for over 50 years. In the 1980s the company developed a range of industrial products and
extended its operation to include the manufacture of stands for world leading TV manufacturers under the name Dalen. Although now a smaller part of the business, the company continues to manufacture access platforms for forklifts, skips which tip and storage units. The most recent project is for the Bodleian Library at the University of
Oxford. Dalen designed and manufactured customised platforms for a forklift which is specially designed to carry books. TOP TEC is a member of the British
Education Suppliers Association and provides products to universities, colleges and schools throughout the UK. In 2009, the company launched the Voyager
range which includes lecterns, presentation centres and media mounts which will integrate IT and AV assets. Managing director, Clive Beardmore
said: “Customers particularly like the illuminated corporate branding which looks great in company reception areas.” The corporate market is where the company would
Clive Beardmore, managing director of Dalen. The firm’s original premises pictured above
like to expand into. Clive said: “In the summer we are heaving because schools and universities want their work done during their holidays. So we are looking for other seasonal work particularly in the overseas market, South Africa and Australia. We have just sold a Voyager product to a business in Cairo and we know there is a market there for us.” The company employs 47 people with a range of skills including welders,
fabricators, industrial designers and computer coding specialists. Clive said: “Above all we are a family company. The majority of our
employers are local and they have been with us for a long time. One chap has been with us for 35 years, many over 20 years and over half of the workforce in the factory has been with us for more than 10 years. The majority of our suppliers are local too.” The Beardmore family business employs seven members of the family and has 2,500 active products for the education, local authority, commercial and industrial sectors. For the future, TOP TEC is launching a secure reception desk for the
office environment called Pronto. Clive said: “Our Chamber membership is important to us and has been a useful asset. It is a place where information crosses and comes together and in a time when we are all suffering information overload it is good to have a gatekeeper. “When we launched our Voyager
range to businesses we wanted a prestigious environment and the Chamber was our natural choice.”
‘We are looking for other seasonal work particularly in the overseas market, South Africa and Australia’
NOVEMBER 2011 CHAMBERLINK 35
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