Illuminated Thoughts

With 2009 almost at a close, it is worth goimg over some of the developments we have made over the year.

From a whole company point of view (WB White Foundry and Architectural Street Furnishings), several things have happened. Whilst some parts of the engineering world have been a bit quiet, others have had decent years and because we manufacture such a wide range of products we've been able to roll with this a bit.

Firstly and most notably, we've tried to forge into the 21st Century, with three new websites (ASF, foundry, cast bollards)and several blogs. These have been a real eye opener to us - obviously, from a business point of view they all work well but they have also been really interesting as well. Introducing us to all sorts of people with interests in street furniture, history, urban design and the like. This is always good because, although we are a company we still have a real passion for what we do, and are incredibly proud of our casting pedigree as well as the fact that the modern world again sees cast iron as an environmentally friendly material. It also led me to write a short blog on TUMBLR about the history of street furniture.

Also in 2009 we have looked at updating ourselves accross the board and worked on our ISO 9001 accreditation. This meant further time and financial investments in I.T but we're very nearly there now so the ISO stamp will be on all our paperwork early in 2010.

From a product point of view we'vw done quite a lot this year. Firstly, we've put together a range of illuminated bollards and now have the ability to retro fit lighting components into many street furniture items. We have also (finally) put together a proper range of cycle shelters. canopies, walkways, in fact, we can now make shelters for pretty much any purpose.

The final, and most interesting thing this year has been the undertaking of the restoration of a Victorian Cast Iron Bridge Parapet. This work is ongoing and has been a real eye opener, working in the gap between heritage, local authority and private contractor is a pretty tough act but it feels like we're just abouth there with that now.

So, what for 2010?

Well, in the first instance more of the same. There are plans to create some more micro websites highlighting particular product types and /or manufacturing processes, as well as keeping on with these blogs.

If the afore mentioned bridge refurbishment goes well then there is just cause to look at offering this kind of work as a standard service and getting some marketing together to get this going.

The existing ASF website needs some work: a dedicated page for illuminated bollards and cycle shelters as well as a fair bit of housekeeping. There are a bunch of projects and bespoke jobs that need to be added next year to give the sites more volume and make them a bit more interesting for readers. There are also some other product areas to delve into - the modern world sees the requirement for anti-terrorist street furniture so that will be a major addition in the new year.