Steel firm's faith in Preston

Financial controller Andrew Telfer said: “The vibes are good.

“There’s a buzz about the place and we are quite excited about it.

“There’s a lot happening in the city at the moment.”

That is a fairly solid show of support for Preston from the major steel stockholding business.

Barclay & Mathieson Ltd has depots across the UK from Aberdeen down to Sittingbourne and Winchester.

The core of the business is based in the north west of England.

Now it has transferred operations from its site at Buckshaw Village near Chorley to part of the Printing Press Services International Ltd site in Sellers Street, Preston.

Barclay & Mathieson (B+M Steel) has over 130 years’ experience as steel stockholders and fabricators in the UK.

Beginning life as a general steel stockholder in Wallace Street, Glasgow during 1877, Barclay & Mathieson Ltd has grown into a leading steel stockholder with bases throughout the UK.

Barclay & Mathieson operates as an independent business that today offers its traditional range of general steel and Access and Safety products under the B&M Steel brand,

It also has a comprehensive line of architectural solutions that are distributed by B&M Architectural.

B&M Steel is currently a steel stockholder with 14 sites throughout the UK, around 220 employees and a turnover of around £60 million.

Each of the company’s network depots carries a full stock of steel products, which allows B&M Steel to supply clients at short notice throughout the UK and Ireland.

Mr Telfer said : “ As a business we are a pretty good barometer for how the economy is going.

“The construction trade seems to be doing quite well at the moment.”

The firm not only makes steel for industrial use, it also makes safety products.

Mr Telfer said the city centre location had already proved beneficial.

The firm had got off to a good start and its neighbours had been very supportive.

Around 15 staff are employed at the new Preston site.

The model that the company employs in running the business is to ensure that it has steel available and in stock, which allows it to get it out to clients as quickly as possible.

The focus of the business is centred around customer service.

Customers vary greatly and it has around 5000 customers on its books, which range from large structural fabricators to one-man operations.

The firm says its provides them all “with the same level of excellent service”.

B&M Steel provides a comprehensive range of steel products including merchant bar’ sections and channels; plates and sheets; tubes; colour coated steel; rebar; stainless steel and aluminium and Access and Safety products.

Its other Lancashire site is at Morecambe.

The Preston site has a showroom displaying some of its new product lines.