Company History

Barley Chalu Ltd was founded in 1967 by Terry Chalu and Terry Barley. The company began operating from small premises in Norwich, Norfolk, applying wet 'stove enamel' coatings to steel components, wheels and parts primarily for Lotus Cars their former employer.

In 1970 Barley Chalu Ltd moved to larger premises in Wymondham, Norfolk and started to specialise in quality pre-treatment and stove enamelling of aluminium, mainly for the window industry, both prime and replacement. Soon after, Terry Barley left to pursue other interests.

1978 saw the company move to its present custom built factory on Ayton Road, Wymondham. Growth in demand led to this factory being extended in 1980. Powder coating was introduced in 1983 in a further purpose built factory, mainly to coat white home improvement products, followed by further new powder coating lines in 1984 and 1988 to colour coat aluminium for the architectural market.

1996/97 saw further investment in plant and machinery, with Barley Chalu Ltd spending half a million pounds on a new pre-treatment system and one complete powder line (replacing two smaller ones).

In 2002 Barley Chalu Ltd invested in two new Aluroller polyamide lines to service a growing trend for polyamide thermal break in the fenestration market, ultimately replacing the existing 'pour and cut' method due to ever tightening government legislation.

2004 saw further investment in a state of the art, Gema 12 digital gun powder plant, incorporated in its own clean room facility to further improve the quality and efficiency and to keep us at the forefront of polyester powder coating in the UK & Europe.

The commitment to quality saw the company being registered to ISO 9001:2000, comply with BS 6496:1984 BS EN 12206-1:2004 and hold the Qualicoat licence (No. 1001) the premier European coating standard in 1997, ensuring that Barley Chalu's reputation as market leader is maintained in the industry.