Also online at: www.dijonline.co.uk 20 THE door industry journal spring 2023 Industry News Platinum Celebration for Doorfit For most people 1953 is a period in time that they will only know from the television – a year that saw Queen Elizabeth II crowned in Westminster Abbey, Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tensing become the first people to summit Mount Everest and when the rationing of sugar was finally ended after the War. However, for the team at Doorfit 1953 represents a very special time in history, as that was the year that the company started trading from a Victorian house based in the centre of the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham. Founded by brothers John and George Neil, Doorfit started life selling Architectural Hardware, a division of the company that still exists today. Its introduction to the world of garage doors came in 1956 when it was approached by Henderson to provide contract care to Bryant Homes, a local company who were instrumental in the building of new homes in and around Birmingham after the War. As both the Architectural Hardware and garage door sides of the business grew, additional storage was needed, 1978 saw Doorfit move out of the Jewellery Quarter to purpose-built premises in Heaton Street, Central Birmingham. The company continued to expand and by the mid-’80s even more space was required, meaning that Doorfit built a new facility on the opposite side of the road, with both sites still being operational today. Now 70 years after it was first founded, 2023 sees Doorfit still growing and enjoying considerable success. They are now one of the largest independent garage and entrance door suppliers within the UK market, supplying the supply and fit, trade and commercial markets. Importantly Doorfit is still a family-owned and run business, currently being led by the sons of John Neil, Robert and Philip who are fully involved in the business and instrumental in its day-to-day operation.
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