Our story Our story

ABOUT US

Castrads in a nutshell

ABOUT US

Castrads in a nutshell

OUR STORY

Castrads began as a five-man team, based on a farm in rural Cheshire. Fifteen years on, with a factory in Manchester and showrooms in London and New York, we’re opening Castrads EU, headquartered in Poland.

Family-run since 2006, we’ve grown into an ambitious multi-national company, continually seeking to innovate improved products and methods, whilst reducing our carbon footprint and maintaining a personal approach, tailored to each customer, new and old.

OUR STORY

PEOPLE

Originally started by Chris Baylis, Castrads is now run by his sons, Nick and Adam, and employs 65 people. We have developed into a formidable team with adept engineers handling the hardware and a dedicated crew behind the scenes. We are regularly praised for our customer support, which we owe to our stellar consultants who go above and beyond to provide reliable, friendly guidance.

We Make Radiators That Last Not Decades But Centuries

— Nicholas Baylis, CEO —

CASTRADS EU

Castrads EU is headed up by Wladek, who has been part of the family since the early days. He started out assembling and testing radiators in 2007. As the company grew, he soon became Chris’s right-hand man, managing a team of assemblers, taking care of scheduling, HR, deliveries and fitting radiators on site. Since moving to our current HQ in 2012, Wladek has been in charge of factory operations, also becoming the purchasing manager in 2016. With years of hands-on experience in our own facility and his close relationship with our partner foundries and suppliers, he knows our radiators inside out. Wladek grew up in Zawidow and has now relocated with his family to Zgorzelec to begin a new chapter in his career with us.

PEOPLE

CASTRADS EU

Castrads EU is headed up by Wladek, who has been part of the family since the early days. He started out assembling and testing radiators in 2007. As the company grew, he soon became Chris’s right-hand man, managing a team of assemblers, taking care of scheduling, HR, deliveries and fitting radiators on site.

Since moving to our current HQ in 2012, Wladek has been in charge of factory operations, also becoming the purchasing manager in 2016. With years of hands-on experience in our own facility and his close relationship with our partner foundries and suppliers, he knows our radiators inside out.

Wladek grew up in Zawidow and has now relocated with his family to Zgorzelec to begin a new chapter in his career with us.

PLACES

Our radiators are all built to order, tested and finished in our factory and HQ in Stockport. In 2015, we opened our first London showroom in historic Wimbledon Village and soon followed with a second in Chelsea’s interiors quarter. Then, in 2019, we took Castrads stateside, opening up in Manhattan’s sky high Design Centre and Brooklyn’s Army Terminal, a modern manufacturing hub overlooking the bay.

PLACES

PROGRESS

In recent years we’ve been rethinking our products and modernizing our company for the future. In 2015, we recruited our first product design engineer, Simon Evans, who helped us to create Mercury, our own exclusive column radiator and the most versatile cast-iron range available today. It’s a contemporary take on Ideal Standard’s neo-classic design, which was the era-defining column radiator of the early 20th century.

We now have an in-house product design department, led by Simon, which focuses on updating our products for the modern home and reducing the carbon intensity of their manufacture. We are committed to bettering the products we offer so that each of them adheres to our ethos of prioritizing durability and eliminating in-built obsolescence in our industry. Each step in our expansion has offered us new opportunities to innovate. For instance, when we moved to America we started working with steam heating systems, which pushed us to come up with suitable thermostatic controls. This brought a whole new skill set to the business and we now design all our valves ourselves.

PROGRESS

We now have an in-house product design department, led by Simon, which focuses on updating our products for the modern home and reducing the carbon intensity of their manufacture. We are committed to bettering the products we offer so that each of them adheres to our ethos of prioritizing durability and eliminating in-built obsolescence in our industry.

Each step in our expansion has offered us new opportunities to innovate. For instance, when we moved to America we started working with steam heating systems, which pushed us to come up with suitable thermostatic controls. This brought a whole new skill set to the business and we now design all our valves ourselves.

RADMOBILE

Right now, we’re on the hunt for the home of Castrads EU but in the meantime, we’re bringing the showroom to you!

We are introducing mobile showrooms to the UK and Poland. Our outrageously good-looking Radmobiles allow you to browse our edit of favorite styles and a full display of finishes. Give us a honk if you see us out and about!

RADMOBILE

DOUBLING DOWN ON SUSTAINABILITY

We’re also addressing our impact on the planet and the fight against disposability. For instance, we have:

SOLAR PANELS

Installed solar panels on our factory building so that we generate 30% of our electricity.

DIP PRIME PROCESS

Introduced a dip prime process, halving our usage of compressed air.

BIODEGRADABLE PACKAGING

Started to move towards fully recyclable and biodegradable packaging with a goal to remove plastic completely.

GREEN ENERGY

Switched to a green energy supplier.

REUSE WATER

Changed our testing process so that we capture and reuse the water with no impact on local waterways.

RECYCLABLE MATERIAL

Cast iron is the original circular material, being produced from scrap and infinitely recyclable. We build our radiators to last a lifetime - they’re paintable, repairable, restorable - making them a solid choice for sustainability.