Concerto GS takes Princes Bradford’s accessibility to the next level

A new Concerto GS lift makes the soft drink manufacturer’s main office building easier to access for employees and visitors.

Princes is one of Europe’s fastest growing food and drink groups, specialising in sourcing and manufacturing quality products. Their largest UK soft drinks production site is located in Bradford, West Yorkshire.

The site, which has been owned by Princes since 1991, employs over 300 people altogether. A major £40m redevelopment was completed in 2013, increasing capacity and improving efficiencies at the sprawling production site. The redevelopment works and recent feedback from employees made Princes management consider the accessibility of the main office building.

“Some of our employees were struggling with the stairs due to their age or an injury”, says Nigel Muscroft; Health, Safety & Environmental Manager. “We also get a lot of visitors to the main office, so a lift becomes essential in providing safe, fair and equal access for everybody. It also helps to protect our staff from unnecessary manual handling and facilitates our compliance with the requirements of the Equality Act”, he explains.

External installation, customised with corporate colours

The existing structure of the main office building did not allow an internal lift to be installed, which led Princes to look for an external, modular solution that could be easily incorporated with no major building works. “Having a lift that could be easily fixed to the existing structure was the best option for us. Terry Lifts’ Concerto GS is a unique solution which fit our requirements very well”, Muscroft says.

In addition to the advantages of flexibility and simple installation, the Concerto GS offers a wide range of colours and enclosure options. Princes chose to have two glazed sides to the lift shaft and a large glass door on both landings. RAL colour 5002 (Ultramarine blue) on the external and internal walls matches closely with Princes’ corporate colours and complements the building well.

Great positive reception from Princes’ staff

Princes’ management and staff have been very pleased with their new lift. Accessing the second floor of the main building is now safe and easy for everybody. “Feedback has been very positive. Not only does the lift help employees who struggle with the stairs, it also helps our laboratory staff to carry items safely and easily”, Muscroft says.

The company is also very satisfied with the level of service from Terry Lifts. According to Muscroft, “Terry Lifts’ installation team was very efficient. They completed the installation very well and were pleasant to work with”. He also says he would not hesitate to recommend Terry Lifts to Princes’ other offices, should they also find themselves in need of a new lift.