Our History

Since the company was established in late 1999, STS has experienced steady, continual growth. Today we supply our manual handling equipment to a huge range of industries across the globe. But did you know everything you see today started with just one or two good ideas?

In the late 90s, our founder Colin was already immersed in thinking about how manual handling could be made easier thanks to his time working on offshore oil rigs. It was around this time that he also had a chance meeting with an 83-year-old gentleman named Henry.

Since the company was established in late 1999, STS has experienced steady, continual growth. Today we supply our manual handling equipment to a huge range of industries across the globe. But did you know everything you see today started with just one or two good ideas?

Henry had been working on quite a different manual handling solution. A lady he knew needed to move heavy buckets of coal. He had been trying to devise a way to do this using a unique method. After talking through the challenges, Henry suggested Colin should set up a company to solve these types of handling problems. So that’s what Colin and his wife Kathi did. Henry stayed involved as an associate of the company for many years, watching the company grow and evolve.

The start-up team began testing a few concepts before landing on the industrial drum trolley design that would ultimately become the company’s first core product. This flagship drum trolley has evolved over the years but certain original design elements remain the same due to the unique minimal-effort design developed in those early days.

The products we develop have always been heavily influenced by the people we work with and the problems they need to solve. We listened and designed equipment to suit their needs. This led us to create products to lift and move barrels and drums in various industrial scenarios.

We also understood the regulations and how the approach to manual handling was changing in the workplace. Looking back at that time, we feel we were different from our competitors, not just because we understood lifting but because we got ourselves out there, travelling across the country and understanding the operational requirements of our customers.

This meant working with health and safety teams to understand their needs. Working with production managers, taking into account volumes and their speed and efficiency requirements. And, most importantly, working with the operators who would benefit from using our handling aids. It was vitally important that they enjoyed working with the equipment and found it simple and easy to use.

Having started as a handful of people manufacturing in a converted cowshed, 2014 was a transformative time for the business as we embarked on building a new factory in Cornwall, UK.

Completed in 2015 this was a major project, but we needed to scale operations to meet growing global demand. Steadily even this space started to fill up. During this period refining our operational processes was a major focus for us. We also invested in people—skilled welders, design engineers and other essential roles—to ensure that innovation remained at the heart of what we do.

Over time, we’ve transformed our vast, open-plan factory into an organised, efficient production space with designated areas for each activity. We’ve moved beyond small-batch production and we’re quick to cut out inefficiencies as these would only be magnified as we grow.

Today, our factory is a testament to what intentional growth looks like: clean, organised, and efficient. Our culture prioritises the customer, ensuring their experience is seamless, from the first call to after-sales support. At the same time, we’re committed to hiring the best team players who align with our values and are eager to contribute to our way of working.

The result? A business that delivers quality, meets customer needs and builds lasting success. Above all though. we have always been a family business; it’s been so important to maintain that feeling as we’ve grown. Want to know more about STS? Head to the About Us section and discover more about what makes us tick.