The early years
F.R Fletcher & Son Ltd have been operating from Carterton since September 1961. Frank Fletcher began working from his garden shed at "Stonewell", using traditional blacksmithing and forging methods to aid the local community. He bought an electric welder on hire purchase, and borrowed £50 so he could rent some gas bottles.
Aided by his wife Ann, his reputation for quality work grew and they soon needed larger premises. They moved to "The Forge" in 1963 with a purpose built unit where they operated from successfully until the late 1970s.
Not being able to expand further in a residential area meant that a move to the newly formed Carterton South Industrial Estate seemed a logical choice, and one that would prove very positive for the company throughout the 1980s.
Expansion
In 1991 we built a major extension to the workshop so that structural steelwork could be fabricated and supplied more readily, giving us added storage capacity and a 5 tonne overhead gantry crane.
F.R Fletcher & Son Ltd continued to prosper and Frank's son Stephen took over the running of the business in the 1990s. We expanded the workshop further with a machine shop area for our lathe and milling machine, and continued working locally for the construction trade and private customers.
More recently....
Stephen's son Andrew has joined the business, so we are now 3 generations of the same family working together. In 2009 we acquired the adjacent industrial unit for expansion, which we originally occupied when moving to the estate.
This new workshop is being used solely for sheet metal work, stainless steel and aluminium fabrications. This expansion has also given us additional office space for the accounts side, and also a dedicated drawing and management office.
The future
2011 will be the 50th anniversary of the business which will be an exciting time for us all.