Manufacturing Wire Products Since 1982.
Bedford Shelving is one of the UK's leading manufacturers and suppliers of high-quality wire, aluminium, stainless steel and chrome shelving for healthcare and catering use.
Boasting a 174-year heritage in the wire and shelving industry, we are supported by a significant on-site manufacturing operation and a factory in Brighouse, Yorkshire.
We design and manufacture world class wire products, especially shelving and racking solutions and bespoke wire products. Today we use automated equipment and CAD systems..although we still have wire workers whose valuable experience we use to make prototypes and small batches.
(We did this video ourselves and some of our people
are not very good actors but it is still worth looking at.)
To open the Video in Windows Media Player - click here.
SOME OF OUR PRODUCTS
COSHH Hazardous Material Storage
QuarterMaster Hygienic Shelving
Chrome Wire Shelving & Racking
Stainless Steel Shelving & Racking
Stainless Steel Kitchen Shelving
FULL HISTORY OF BEDFORD SHELVING LTD
During the early nineteenth century, the keeping of songbirds was becoming very popular. A necessary piece of equipment for keeping birds was, of course, a birdcage; and maybe a wire mesh panel to prevent the birds flying out of an open window would have to be purchased.
There were many wireworking businesses in the central west end of London, and one of them belonged to Mr Richard End. The business grew to such an extent that he formed a company in 1824 and the company moved to a row of converted houses in Long Lane, Bermondsey. The business flourished, but sadly, Mr End died in 1841. That same year his widow sold the company to a Mr Bedford, and the seller/buyer relationship bloomed so well that Mr Bedford married Mrs End.
After a short period Mrs End, took into the business the two sons of Mr Bedford, Robert and John, and promoted another employee, Mr Steer to the position of manager. Again after a brief period as the business expanded Mrs End (now Mrs Bedford) and Mr Steer were appointed as directors of the company and the name was changed to Bedford Steer End & Company Ltd and incorporated in 1893.
Around 1904 the converted houses in Long Lane were demolished and a new factory was built that still stands in today. At the turn of the twentieth century, Bedford Steer End Co Ltd was purchased by Potter and Soar Ltd which was owned by the Soar family. Potter & Soar Ltd was another wire working business whose premises were off Great Eastern Street in Shoreditch. No employees of the Bedford Steer End Co Ltd were retained, however both the companies continued to exist separately under the Potter & Soar directors.
Little is known of the history from after that time until circa 1950 when we know that Bedford Steer End Ltd were manufacturing not only wire products but also had a manufacturing process for producing woven wire.
As well as numerous local and national customers for wire goods - such as window, machinery and fire guarding and bespoke wire goods - an important long-standing customer of the company was the local, well known institution - Guy’s Hospital. Bedford Steer End Co Ltd supplied Guy’s Hospital with wire mesh and sheet metal bed chart holders, baskets, trays and window and machinery guards. 
By 1958 the first large NHS teaching hospital building since the Second World War was constructed at Guy’s hospital which contained 200 beds and needed to be supplied with new a new, modern, plastic coated wire chart holder which was designed and manufactured by the wire working department at Bedford Steer End Co Ltd.
Designated as KH1, the K stood for the wire department’s code, H for hospital, and 1, the first item of hospital equipment classification. The first order of 200 was placed which was to become the first of thousands sold during the coming years, to hospitals all over the country. A new concept in equipment sterilisation had been devised by HM Forces during the war and was now being successfully introduced into hospitals. It involved the setting up of a central department for the sterilisation, packing and distribution of syringes, catheters, sterile packs and operating instruments. Thus Central Sterile Supply Departments, CSSDs, were formed in hospitals throughout the country. Soon Theatre Sterile Supply Units would also formed
It was soon apparent that wire products could be an important feature of hospital’s equipment requirements, and a new range of holders for sterile packs were designed and included in the company’s brochures. Syringe holders, catheter holders, sterile pack racks, bedpan racks and urinal holders and crates. The range developed from KH1 to KH50 in about ten years! By the late 1960s an innovative type of modular shelving was introduced in the USA, constructed simply but strongly from heavy and light duty wires in a large range of sizes.
Bedfords soon identified uses for the shelving throughout hospitals and catering establishments and started importing one of these systems from Philadelphia. It soon became very popular in hospital CSSDs, catering departments and equipment and bulk item stores.
In 1969 Bedford Steer End Co Ltd bought out the old established company of Duke, Waring, Crisp & Company of Vauxhall SE London which had been formed in the mid nineteenth century, which was also as an amalgamation of three companies owned by a Mr Duke, a Mr Waring and …well, you get the picture! In 1974 the company celebrated their 150th anniversary.
By the 1980’s the £/$ exchange situation had worsened and Bedford Steer End Co Ltd decided to manufacture their own shelving. They ceased importing the American product and designed their own Quartermaster and Stackmaster ranges of zinc coated mild steel, nylon coated mild steel and also stainless steel shelving, which was manufactured by another company within the Soar Engineering Group. They also imported Italian Plastic shelving and an American hospital drawer unit system which was used in medical & theatre equipment.
In 1986 the company name was changed to Bedford & Soar Ltd as part of a family of company names - in line with other companies with in the parent company Soar Engineering Ltd.
In 1997 Bedford & Soar Ltd moved their Sales & Marketing functions to offices in Slough and opened a warehousing & distribution facilities to Leighton Buzzard where it continued to operate until 2008.
In 2008 Bedford Shelving Ltd was formed from the sale of assets from Soar Engineering Ltd in September and became part of Booth Wire Products in Brighouse.
Happily we have maintained the continuous line from 1824 by forming Bedford Shelving Ltd and we still continue be one of the main market leaders in the manufacture and supply of a wide range of shelving products and provision of bespoke wire product solutions.