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Pallet racking in Cwmbran, planned around new town estates and locked stock.

Cwmbran was designated in 1949 as the only new town in Wales, and its industry was zoned onto the edges from the start. That gives the town a ring of purpose-built estates at Llantarnam, Springvale, Ty Coch, Avondale and Croesyceiliog, each a few minutes from the A4042 and M4 junction 26.

We design, install and inspect pallet racking for the units on those estates: aerospace and electronics component stores, food packaging overflow, trade counters and regional distribution. Where the stock is small and valuable, we pair the racking with mesh cages and partitions so it stays locked, counted and insured.

Drive from Seven Sisters
About 70 min
Road distance
About 55 miles
Survey lead time
Within 5 working days
Typical install
4 to 8 weeks from order

How Cwmbran's planned estates shape the racking we fit.

The Cwmbran Development Corporation laid the town out with housing in the middle and industry on the rim, separated by distributor roads such as Cwmbran Drive. The result is that almost every warehouse in Cwmbran sits on a named estate with its own spine road, rather than scattered along a high street. Units range from the original corporation sheds of the 1950s to 1980s, often 5 to 7 metres to the eaves with columns at close centres, to larger modern portal frames on Llantarnam Park where 10 metres and more is available.

The work in those buildings is light and medium manufacturing rather than heavy industry. The town's longest-established employers include a biscuit factory and an aircraft seating plant, each employing around 1,000 people, and Llantarnam Park is home to aerospace, food and public sector occupiers. That mix means racking here carries finished cartons, packaging reels, machined parts, seat frames and electronic assemblies, frequently in the same building.

Older units need careful setting out. Column grids rarely suit a standard 2700mm beam, floors have been patched over decades, and roller shutters are placed where the original tenant wanted them. We measure all of it before drawing a single bay.

  • Llantarnam Industrial Park

    Larger modern units 2.5 miles south of the centre: aerospace parts, food production and packaging stock, with the Springboard innovation centre nearby.

  • Springvale Industrial Estate

    Off Cwmbran Drive, about a mile north west of the centre: trade, light manufacturing and parcel collections for national distribution.

  • Ty Coch

    Mixed engineering and B2B suppliers with steady courier traffic, typically small units where longspan shelving sits beside two or three runs of pallet racking.

  • Avondale

    Smaller workshops and storage businesses, often in older corporation units with lower eaves and tight yards.

  • Croesyceiliog and Grange

    North east of the centre: light industry, engineering and trade counters with mixed pallet and hand-pick stock.

Racking and storage services for Cwmbran units.

Cwmbran buyers tend to ask for a combination of pallet racking, controlled storage for valuable parts and a mezzanine to win space in a low unit. The list below is ordered by how often those requests come from Torfaen.

Adjustable pallet racking

Most Cwmbran schemes start here: 900 or 1100mm deep frames with beams set to suit the column grid of a corporation era unit. Beam levels move in 50 to 75mm pitches, so a store holding seat frames this year can hold cartons next year without new steel.

Mesh partitions and security cages

For electronic assemblies, aerospace fasteners and returns awaiting inspection, we fit lockable mesh cages within the racked area or full height mesh walls that divide a shared Springvale or Ty Coch unit into goods in, quarantine and dispatch zones. Doors are sized to a pallet truck, access is limited to named staff, and panels are bolted so the layout can change.

Mezzanine floors

Where an older Avondale or Croesyceiliog unit has 5 to 7 metres to the eaves, a mezzanine often adds more usable area than taller racking could. Steelwork usually goes up in 1 to 3 weeks, with picking, packing or offices on top.

Longspan shelving

Hand-pick components, packaging and spares sit on longspan bays rated at roughly 200, 400 or 800kg per level. In the smaller shared units on Ty Coch, where a trade counter often sits at the front, it typically runs along the walls and behind the counter, with two or three runs of pallet racking down the centre of the unit.

Racking inspections

Annual inspections by a SEMA Approved Rack Inspector, with a written report graded by risk. We fit them around shift changes on Llantarnam Park so the building keeps running, and leave the appointed person with a simple weekly visual check routine to record between visits, so damage from a truck strike is logged and reported rather than found a year later.

Racking repairs

Damaged uprights and beams flagged in an inspection are replaced with matching components from the original manufacturer, so load notices stay valid. In older Avondale and Springvale units where the racking came with the lease, we first identify the make, then price repairs as a separate schedule that can be closed out before a customer audit.

Rack protection

Column guards, end of aisle barriers and Armco at 560, 610 or 760mm for tight yards and narrow internal aisles, where counterbalance trucks turning in 3.5 to 4.2 metres cause most of the knocks we see.

Racking inspections and duty holders in Cwmbran.

Under PUWER 1998 and HSG76, the operator of each Cwmbran unit is responsible for its racking, whoever installed it. That means naming a person responsible for racking safety, recording regular visual checks, and arranging an expert inspection at least once a year by a SEMA Approved Rack Inspector. In multi-tenant buildings on Springvale or Ty Coch, the lease usually puts that duty on the occupier, not the landlord, which surprises some businesses that moved into a unit with racking already in it.

Manufacturers supplying aerospace or food customers in Cwmbran are often audited against their own quality standards, and auditors increasingly ask to see the racking file: load notices, the last inspection report and a record of repairs closed out. We leave every bay with a load notice, give the appointed person a short walk through of what to check weekly, and return repairs as a separate priced schedule so they can be signed off before the next customer audit.

Book an inspectionHow inspections work →

Securing high value stock inside Cwmbran warehouses.

A lot of what is stored in Cwmbran is small, light and worth far more per pallet than bulk goods: electronic assemblies, aerospace fixings, machined components, branded packaging and finished product awaiting release. Open racking makes that stock easy to reach for everyone in the building, which is exactly the problem. Shrinkage, mispicks and insurance conditions all push operators towards physical separation.

Our approach is to treat the cage as part of the racking design rather than an afterthought. Mesh panels can be fixed to the rear and sides of selected bays, a full mesh enclosure can wrap a run of longspan, or partition walls can create a locked room within the unit with its own door. Because the estates were built with modest units, we usually plan cages into existing bays so no floor space is lost, and we keep sprinkler and lighting coverage clear of the mesh roof where one is fitted.

Lockable bay fronts

Mesh doors on the front of standard pallet racking bays, padlocked or keyed alike, so selected pallets are secured without a separate enclosure.

Quarantine and returns cages

A separate caged zone for goods awaiting inspection or release, useful where a quality system demands that held stock cannot be picked by mistake.

Partitioned stores in shared units

Full height mesh walls that split a single Cwmbran unit between two businesses or two departments, with doors sized for a pallet truck.

Planned with the racking layout

Cages drawn into the same survey drawing as the racking, so frame positions, aisle widths and door swings work together from day one.
Mesh partitions and security cages

Getting to Cwmbran from Seven Sisters.

From our base at Gwauniarll, Seven Sisters, the run to Cwmbran is down the Dulais valley to the M4, east past Cardiff to junction 26 at Newport, then north on the A4042 dual carriageway. It is about 55 miles and usually around 70 minutes outside the rush hour. We leave the M4 at junction 26, just before the Brynglas tunnels, but at peak the eastbound queues for the tunnels can back up through junctions 28 to 26, so install crews tend to leave early and arrive on site before eight.

Surveys in Cwmbran are booked within 5 working days and are often grouped with visits to Newport and Pontypool on the same day. Installs are delivered direct from the manufacturer to your estate, with our SEIRS registered team on site to receive them. Inspections and repairs can be carried out on a Saturday or during a planned production shutdown, which suits Llantarnam manufacturers that run weekday shifts.

Route
M4 to J26, then A4042
Llantarnam Park to M4 J26
About 2.4 miles
Out of hours work
Saturdays and shutdowns
Mezzanine steelwork
1 to 3 weeks on site

A typical Cwmbran project: racking plus a caged parts store.

A typical job in Cwmbran is a component manufacturer or distributor taking on a second unit on one of the estates, usually 1,000 to 2,500 square metres with 6 to 8 metres to the eaves. The brief is to fit adjustable pallet racking for incoming raw material and boxed finished goods, a block of longspan for small parts, and a lockable mesh enclosure for the stock that carries the highest value or needs to be held until it is released.

We survey the unit, draw the layout around the existing columns and shutter doors, and present it with the cage, aisle widths and protection on one drawing. Once ordered, racking is typically installed in 4 to 8 weeks, with the mesh fitted in the same visit. The photograph is illustrative rather than from a Cwmbran site, and shows an installer building pallet racking from a scissor lift.

Racking installer on a scissor lift building pallet racking

Standard racking and shelving delivered to Cwmbran

Bays, beams, shelving, protection and handling kit are in stock on the online store and delivered to Cwmbran. Designed systems still come through the free survey, because a layout has to be measured before it can be priced.

Shop the online store (opens in a new tab)Book a free site survey instead

Questions from Cwmbran.

Yes. In most Cwmbran units we fit mesh panels to the back and sides of chosen bays and add lockable mesh doors to the front, so the cage uses racking that is already there. We check the frame make, beam type and current load notices first, because the mesh adds a little weight and must not obstruct the beam locks. A run of 3 to 6 bays is usually enough for electronic or aerospace components, and the work is normally done in 1 or 2 days without moving the stock out.

In nearly every lease we see on Springvale and the other Cwmbran estates, the occupier becomes the duty holder for racking left behind. Under PUWER 1998 you must know its safe working loads and keep it in safe condition. We recommend a full inspection by a SEMA Approved Rack Inspector before you load it, which identifies the manufacturer, confirms the beam capacities, and lists any damage. If the racking cannot be identified, we will advise whether to replace it rather than guess its ratings.

Our team travels from Seven Sisters near Neath, about 55 miles by the M4 to junction 26 and the A4042. That is around 70 minutes on a normal morning. Surveys in Cwmbran are booked within 5 working days, and we often combine them with Newport or Pontypool visits. For urgent damage after a forklift strike, we will give you advice by phone the same day and arrange an inspection visit as quickly as the diary allows.

It depends on height. Many units built by the Cwmbran Development Corporation have 5 to 7 metres to the eaves, which only allows two or three pallet beam levels above the floor. In those buildings a mezzanine with packing or light storage on top can double the usable area for picking. Where the eaves are 8 metres or more, as on parts of Llantarnam Park, extra racking levels usually win. We assess both in the survey and give costs for each.

Yes. A racking inspection is a visual and measured check, so the inspector works aisle by aisle and only needs a short pause where trucks are active. For manufacturers on Llantarnam Park running two or three shifts, we often start at the shift change or on a Saturday. A typical single unit with 200 to 400 bays takes most of a day. You receive a written report graded by risk, with any red items marked for unloading straight away.

It depends on the truck. Counterbalance trucks need roughly 3.5 to 4.2 metres between racks, standard reach trucks 2.7 to 3.2 metres and articulated trucks 1.8 to 2.1 metres. In the smaller units on Ty Coch and Avondale, moving from counterbalance to reach or articulated trucks can add one or two extra runs of racking. We draw the options against your column positions so you can compare pallet counts before committing to new trucks.

Yes. Mesh partitions are often requested on their own to create a locked stores room, a server area or a separated area for a second business in a shared unit. Panels are bolted to the floor, can be full height to the roof steel, and doors can be hinged or sliding. We measure, supply and install, and the walls can be moved later if your layout changes, which is common as businesses grow across the estates.

Other towns we cover near Cwmbran.

Cwmbran sits between Newport and the eastern valleys, so the same survey day often takes in sites on the Newport docks, in Caerphilly, or up the A4042 towards Pontypool and Ebbw Vale. The towns below have their own pages with local estates and projects.

Plan your Cwmbran racking and cages together.

Send us the unit address and a rough idea of the stock. We will measure the building, draw racking, cages and aisles on one layout and price it clearly. Book a free site survey.

Book a free site surveyCall 07814 627770