Clark-Drain has been providing professional and competitive solutions to its customers’ construction needs since 1963. Back then, it was a small family business and it has now grown into a well-known global company, widely renowned within the drainage industry.
Grounded in expertise, Clark-Drain is a leader in the design, manufacture, and distribution of access solutions and drainage products for the construction industry. It’s a family business, based in Yaxley, England, offering professional drainage services to domestic and commercial customers – and it’s been doing so for nearly 60 years.
The company’s ambitions and vision enables it to continuously expand while still maintaining the friendly family values it was built on all those years ago. So how did Clark-Drain grow to become one of the most trusted names in drainage?
Clark-Drain’s Humble Beginnings
Formerly known as Clark Steel Ltd, the company was founded in 1963 by Francis Clark and his wife,
Dorothy. The couple were looking to buy a manhole cover, but after being quoted an unacceptable delivery time of 12 to 18 months, the pair decided to make a cover themselves and the rest, as they say, is history.
2 years later in 1965, the company developed the UK’s first steel cover, setting new industry standards with this ground-breaking product. The success of this meant that when 1978 rolled around, the company began exporting steel covers internationally including countries in Asia such as Indonesia and Singapore.
Fast forward to 1981, and it became one of the first drainage suppliers to self-produce an embossed pressed steel cover instead of the usual Durbar plate. Then, to increase the cover’s strength, Clark Steel introduced a plastic range of covers featuring easy-form corners in 1986.
Clark-Drain Expands Its State-of-the-Art Technologies
The company didn’t stop there and in 1995, it became the first in the drainage industry to produce all its patterns and tooling in-house, pressing its own recessed paviour. In an effort to showcase its expanding collection of classic and niche drainage products and access solutions, Clark Steel Ltd was then rebranded as Clark-Drain Ltd in 1998.
In 1999 to increase production and efficiency gains, Clark-Drain launched a high-tech, robotic manufacturing process on to its shop floor to weld steel covers and lids. Then in 2003, Clark-Drain’s robotic technologies expanded to integrate its signature plastic frames featuring steel covers.
With the turn of the century Clark-Drain became the first manufacturer of Polypropylene domestic channel drainage in the UK.
Clark-Drain Introduces a Range of Pioneering Products
By the time 2012 arrived, Clark-Drain developed a polypropylene linear channel solution for rail platforms that adhered to Network Rail’s requirements. This revolutionary channel product cut down the installation time by as much as 25 percent compared to traditional products.
The dawn of 2015 saw Clark-Drain develop a long-lasting, heavy-duty polypropylene chamber in-house to supply security, defence, and communication infrastructure markets.
In early 2018, Clark-Drain transformed into a flourishing export business, continuing to supply to a whole host of prestigious projects across the globe, including The Caribbean, Asia, and Europe. Later that year, the company launched a composite manhole cover and B125 chamber focused on street lighting, traffic signalling, and communication network projects which was exceptionally robust, offering maximum product lifespan in footways and verges.
Grounded in Family Values
Proud of its heritage, Clark-Drain has nearly 60 years experience of family business and are experts at what they do and there are three generations of the Clark family working in the company to this day. Sadly, over the years the company and family have lost Francis and Dorothy but their memory and legacy are strong. Ronnie Clark, Managing Director of Clark-Drain is the son of Francis and Dorothy who continues to run the company alongside other family members that are at the heart of Clark-Drain, who have the support of their amazing teams and colleges. Here are the family members:
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Strong family values are rooted in every service the company provides, making Clark-Drain a one-of-a-kind, personal construction company, who consider not only family members but employees, suppliers and customers alike all part of the Clark-Drain family. To find out more, call on 01733 765317, email [email protected] or visit their website at About us | Clark Drain (clark-drain.com)