CLARK DRAIN LTD
Suppliers of: Access solutions, drainage channels, manhole covers, gully gratings, kerb gullies, surface boxes, linear drainage, access chamber systems, security solutions, bespoke solutions, underground fixtures and fittings and accessories
Clark-Drain are technical experts and leaders in the design, manufacture and distribution of access solutions and drainage products for the construction industry.
A family-owned and run company established in 1963, Clark-Drain began setting new industry standards as pioneers of the first steel cover in the UK. Since then, Clark-Drain has produced recycled and recyclable channels and chambers and championed sustainability.
Working in partnership with merchants, civil engineers, Tier 1 and ground sub-contractors, architects and asset owners, Clark-Drain listen to the needs of their customers and understand the challenges they face. In turn, they design and innovate solutions that are grounded in expertise, with a focus on quality, cost effectiveness and commitment to their customers.
A leading supplier, their philosophy is based on true partnerships which supply local distribution channels from a UK design and manufacturing base, with support from a network of global production facilities. Clark-Drain are committed to and invest heavily in product development, to bring innovative and high-performance solutions to market, enabling customers to complete projects on time and with the right results in all construction industry sectors.
Products
Manhole Covers, Gully Gratings & Surface Boxes
Our cast iron covers and gully gratings meet the requirements of the European Standards BS EN 124 and provide innovative features designed to make them durable, safe and easy to install.
Our steel access covers and polypropylene covers offer solid top and pavior options in various sizes and loading capabilities suited to residential, commercial and industrial building and construction.
Clark-Drain have a wide range of thermoplastic, polymer concrete and polypropylene linear drainage systems to suit diverse applications. View our wide range of options to find the loading best suited to your project.
Fittings, Polypropylene Inspection Chambers (PPIC) and bottle gulleys in a variety of sizes will precisely meet your underground needs.
Complete chamber access solutions delivering cable/utility access and network protection for various applications. Central to their design is their strength. It is why we supply them to meet the specific requirements of an installation in terms of ease of use and durability in use, as complete systems, ready to go in the ground.
Bespoke solutions can be designed in a way to suit a specific application and industry need. Clark-Drain is versatile and has a depth of product knowledge which can match your requirements with unparalleled flexibility.
Including highly secure access chambers and security lids, Clark-Drain’s products are widely used within the defence, retail security, CCTV, telecommunications and financial sectors.
Lifting keys, chamber reducers and build-in step irons make up just some of the Clark-Drain ancillary items
Further technical information, image galleries and product specifications are available through the Clark Drain Ltd website or via the BPI Download Library.
Brilliant Access Cover Solution for High Water Table Areas
Our Aqua Knight range are innovative, cost-effective, British-made access cover solutions for high water table areas.
Here’s more on the Aqua Knight range, and why it excels at keeping water pressure (and odours) in check, both outside and indoors.
What is a high water table?
A high water table area is defined as any area where the water table is within 1.8 metres of the ground surface during the frost period, up until the end of August, or within 2.4 metres of the ground surface during the rest of the year.
High water tables can result in excess water pressure, which can cause all manner of issues, an example of this is groundwater and surface water contamination by sewage. It can also force conventional access covers up and out of position, as they are simply not designed to withstand that level of water pressure in the chambers beneath them.
With more frequent episodes of heavier rainfall now a repeated consequence of climate change, the water table is rising in many areas, putting more and more access covers at risk of breach.
Why Choose Aqua Knight?
Our Aqua Knight range is made from galvanised steel, in clear opening sizes from 450 x 450 to 900 x 600, which also feature multi-point locking screws and a neoprene seal that make them resilient enough to stay watertight to an impressive one metre head of pressure, preventing lifting as well as locking in odours.
They are also part of the 88% of Clark-Drain products that are British-made, and permitted to carry the Made in Britain mark.
Aqua Knight covers are significantly more cost-effective than the more expensive “double cover” access solutions often used in an attempt to overcome problems of pressure build-up, providing quality and a fair price.
With a 5-tonne GPW load rating, our Aqua Knight covers are as resistant to damage from above as from below, delivering a long-life, low life-cost solution for safe, durable, maintenance-friendly access.
Strength vs aesthetic
The tapered frame of our Aqua Knight covers ensures a secure bedding, adding stability to the cover and helping it withstand impacts.
The recessed tray in which the cover sits, can be filled with a variety of coverings to match the visual characteristics of the surrounding floor – including screed, carpet tiles and block paving to name a few – leaving the cover virtually invisible once it’s installed, meaning you have strength of product without compromising on the aesthetics.
Innovation - a family affair
Like everything we supply, the Aqua Knight range is the result of the innovation that goes right back to our company roots 60 years ago, when Francis and Dorothy Clark founded their own business creating an access cover for their garden to avoid a long wait for overseas delivery.
It’s a reflection of the values we still stand for today: those of a close-knit family business, personally and professionally invested in continuous improvement, backed by many years’ experience of understanding, and solving our customers’ challenges.
We produced the UK’s first steel access covers, we were the first in our market to make products from 100% recycled and recyclable materials, and with our Aqua Knight range we are solving a problem more cost-effectively than conventional alternatives.
As our strapline has it, our Aqua Knight range is, like everything we do, “Grounded in Expertise”.
For more information on how you can buy Aqua Knight and other quality, British-made drainage, and access solutions, get in touch today.
Clark Drain is Now Working with Palletways Member, PC Howard
At Clark-Drain, we pride ourselves on delivering – and that doesn’t just mean developing innovative and sustainable drainage solutions, it means actually getting them to our customers efficiently, reliably, and cost-effectively.
This is why we’re so excited to announce that, with immediate effect, we are using Palletways’ member PC Howard as our haulier in addition to our own fleet to maximise benefits to our customers.
So, why were we so sure Palletways and Peterborough-based logistics provider PC Howard was the right decision to make?
Cost-effective, customer-focused, nationwide delivery with pride in local expertise
PC Howard, headquartered in Kings Cliffe, Peterborough has depots in Corby and Northampton, and provide a fully integrated delivery solution across the UK. They are a good fit for our business and our values because, like us, they draw on local expertise and have family values at its core.
George MacDonald, Supply Chain Manager at Clark-Drain, commented “We needed a logistics partner with proven reliability that could also deliver service excellence, which we found in PC Howard. We’ve been impressed with PC Howard’s level of expertise in delivering our goods to customers on-time. This is a great coming together of two likeminded, family-owned businesses in the East Midlands, both focused on going the extra mile for their customers. I have no doubt working with PC Howard will help us improve on our already impressive customer service record.”
Sustainability and environment
At Clark-Drain, our commitment to continuously finding new and more sustainable ways of doing business is a priority and working with Palletways and PC Howard also makes sound environmental sense. This is not only because it enables us to use a local supplier just a short distance away, but because its network is so highly integrated and widespread that it optimises transport routes for faster delivery, at lower cost, and also – of course – for the use of less fuel.
Additionally, Palletways’ advanced IT infrastructure not only makes for more timely and transparent updates and communication, it also slashes the amount of paper used (PC Howard’s drivers, for instance, use handheld devices rather than hardcopy manifests).
Finally, as pallets can, with appropriate maintenance and repair, be re-used, with PC Howard we are continuing to do all we can to further build recycling and reuse into our operational processes, and ensure that the value of precious natural resources is both appreciated and maximised.
Combined with the inherent lightness of many of our products – which reduces fuel use both in transportation to site and installation once there – we’re proud that this is enabling us to make real inroads into shrinking our carbon footprint.
From us to you, with care
As Jasper Sawyer, Business Development Manager at PC Howard said, “We work tirelessly to provide a professional and reliable distribution service. Clark-Drain were also impressed by Palletways’ market-leading IT systems which remain at the forefront of our operations. Our shared values will make our relationship with Clark-Drain a great success and by offering a flexible and dynamic distribution service, we will help contribute to their continued growth across the UK.”
In short, by choosing Palletways and PC Howard, we’re investing in what we know is important to you, our customers: quality products, responsibly manufactured and transported, that get to you to rapidly, reliably, and economically.
For more information, get in touch today.