Our new site on Crittall Drive
Growth rarely announces itself quietly. For us at Lasered Components, it arrived in the form of a second production site on Crittall Drive, right next door to our original Warner Drive factory in Braintree.
What followed was months of fit-out: new power, new flooring, new machines rolling in on the backs of lorries, and no shortage of site inductions. Then, on 18 May, the doors on Crittall Drive opened for production, taking our combined manufacturing footprint from 25,000 sq ft to 38,000 sq ft in one move.
It’s the single biggest physical expansion in our history, and it’s already changing how we work.
Why a second site?
Warner Drive has served us well since 1998, but growth needs room to breathe. Crittall Drive gives us a dedicated environment purely for stainless steel and non-ferrous materials, including aluminium, brass and copper.
Separating these materials from our mild steel production isn’t just about space. It means cleaner handling, better material segregation and less risk of cross-contamination, so the parts leaving Crittal Drive meet the same exacting standard customers expect from every Lasered Components job.
The Investment
Crittall Drive doesn’t stand alone. It’s one piece of a wider £6.5 million investment programme running through 2026, the largest we’ve committed to since the company was founded in 1998.
Across both sites, our laser fleet is growing from five machines to seven, all new TRUMPF systems, lifting our combined rated laser power by 57%, from 84kW to 132kW. Our press-brake facility has grown from two machines to five: a TruBend 5170, a TruBend 5130 and three TruBend 7050s, one of them paired with a TRUMPF Flex Cell that can load, bend and unload high-volume small parts for hours at a time. Later this year we’re bringing double-sided deburring and edge rounding in-house too, so more of the finishing work customers used to source elsewhere happens under one roof.
None of that capacity means much without a way to see it working. That’s where the Hub comes in, our own quoting, production and customer-tracking platform, built in-house and fully live since January 2026. It gives our estimators a live view of stock, capacity and workload when pricing a job, and gives customers a live link to watch their own order move from cutting through to delivery.
The results are already showing, and Crittall Drive is a big part of how we got there.
In Karl’s words
“The availability of the neighbouring site gave us the opportunity to unlock a much larger growth plan for the company and for our team here in Braintree. This investment increases capacity, creates jobs and keeps us at the forefront of manufacturing technology.” — Karl Willett, Managing Director
What it means for you
More capacity. More consistent quality. A dedicated home for stainless and non-ferrous work, backed by the same fast turnaround and live order visibility across both sites. Whether it’s a one-off prototype or a high-volume run, Crittall Drive means we can take on more, without compromising on the standard you already rely on.
The Crittall Drive Timeline
We take possession
Keys handed over on the 13,000 sq ft unit next door to Warner Drive.
The fit-out begins
New power, new flooring, and three new TRUMPF lasers arriving on site.
Production goes live
Combined footprint grows from 25,000 sq ft to 38,000 sq ft.
Three lasers, fully running
Two 12kW and one 24kW TruLaser 5030, dedicated to stainless and non-ferrous work.
Our busiest month on record
644,000 parts across 1,825 orders, still delivered in an average of four working days.
Our Gallery
Scenes from behind the build.
