Good Directions

Good Directions LTD had the pleasure of manufacturing a bespoke double-sided Drum Clock for Nomads’ Coffee Shop, located in Paisley, Scotland. This drum clock was to be a replica of an old travel agents clock which hung outside of “Duncan’s Travel Agency” back in 1957, a business which stood on the same location that Nomads’ now occupies. In June 2021, Nomads’ Coffee moved into the historic location and as part of a move to restore and retain the heritage of this iconic building, as they had kept the travel themed etched windows and other original features, they wanted a replica of the long lost clock feature, but in the colour scheme of Nomad’s quaint coffee shop. We were contacted by SJM Architects who were working on a project to refurbish the shop frontage as part of the townscape heritage regeneration of Paisley High Street. Working with SJM Architects, Good Directions replicated the original clock design working from historical photos. Aluminium profiles were cut on Good Di...

 Clocks are a key architectural feature in many parts of the world and not just for telling the time but as a symbol of power and importance helping to make buildings stand out from the crowd. It was this exact reason why ‘G-Enviro’ in The Middle East got in contact with us regarding the manufacturing of clocks. G-Enviro is a leading company in Telecom full turn-key projects and manufacturer of traditional and non-traditional supporting structures. As part of the unusual structures they create to mask unsightly telecom masts, they were looking for large clocks to create a focal point.   ‘G-Enviro’ enquired all around the globe for who was the best manufacturer of large exterior clocks and after extensive research they decided that they wanted to work with a UK manufacturer and after discussing their needs with various companies they chose ‘Good Directions Ltd’. Having looked at our selection of clock dials they chose our Skeleton bezel clocks for their traditional style,...

Good Directions LTD had the pleasure of manufacturing three bespoke silver bezel clocks for ‘G-Enviro’, a company located in Saudi Arabia. This was the third time our companies had worked together, with all different styles and sizes of clocks being manufactured to be proudly displayed in the Middle East. This time the design was based upon a clock we had manufactured previously for a golf club in the UK, which was a small 400mm silver clock to go on the first tee. This clock featured traditional Roman numerals on the outside of the dial, but then also had a more modern clock on the inside. The difference here being ‘G-Enviro’ wanted theirs to be 1440mm instead of 400mm. We manufactured 3 of these huge clocks, all to the same design specifications and size. These clocks were to have a dial within a dial design, with a larger traditional clock, with Roman numerals on the outside of the dial and then a smaller modern take on the same clock on the inside, with rectangular chapters. Th...

  The Engineers In Production.   One of our recent on-site installations for our customer over at Tattershall Lake Country Park, for which we produced and fitted a 1000mm square bezel clock overlooking the swimming pool. This particular dial was produced and manufactured in the style of Art Deco, taking inspiration from an original 1920’s clock. The clock, although based on an existing design, had specific chosen colours by the customer, to give off the appropriate aesthetic. This dial was fitted with a CL200 Mechanism and a resynchroniser to ensure that the clock will change within appropriate seasonal time changes. Additionally, the dial was back illuminated allowing for visibility in both day and night-time. This clock is proudly displayed on the side of the building providing all staff and customers with accurate time any hour of the day. For more information and to see our full range of clocks and all services which we provide, please visit our website for more. We...

In 2012 local residents in Burley held many fund raising activities to celebrate the Queens diamond jubilee. When all the celebrations were over the Parish Council were left with a small surplus of money and decided to ask the residents what they would like to do with it. T he majority view had a leaning towards providing something permanent for the village, which would mark the Queens Jubilee, be sympathetic to the environment and benefit the village as a whole. The Parish Council gave the community the opportunity to put forward ideas on what shape this would take and the idea of a clock on the form of a village sign was suggested and received popular support. The project has taken place under the leadership of Councillor Neal Martin, who contacted Good Directions to work with local artist Suzan Houching who has been involved in the design aspects of the clock. It was important to ensure that the design was a true reflection of the village and captured the essence of Burl...

 Clock celebrating 100th episode of Grand Designs  This autumn Channel 4's flagship design show reached its 100 th episode and Kevin McCloud launched his book '100 Best Grand Designs'. So what better way to celebrate such miles stones, at the Grand Designs Live exhibition in the NEC, than with custom designed clocks for the event. Clock features have often been used over the decades not just to note the passing of time but also to celebrate it. Clocks of all styles and sizes have often been erected to commemorate Coronations and Jubilee's, as memorials to fallen heroes, denote anniversaries, celebrate centenaries or mark a special event such as at this exhibition. Central to the show is the 'Grand Theatre' for which we designed a modern clock sculpture. Featuring two clock faces on a blue sphere supported by six sweeping stainless steel legs, the clock feature was surrounded by matching stainless steel seating. The clocks were controlled by ...

Good Directions manufactured skeleton style clock to suit stonework Good Directions Ltd has restored a clock on the retained façade of an old grammar school building in Banbury to mark the site’s £9.7 million redevelopment of the Stanbridge Hall building into a housing scheme for the over-55s. The clock began ticking again during a special ceremony where representatives from the involved organisations met at the site, which in now complete and known as Stanbridge House. Starting the clock at a special ceremony Planners were keen to retain elements of the site’s former use, planning its interior design to reflect previous features, as well as the cleaning and restoring the original façade, including re-instating the clock . We were asked to manufacture a Skeleton style clock on a white backing to exactly fit the original decorative stonework on the building, with an extended shaft to house the mechanism the other side of the wall. The replacement clock is fitted with our cl...

Good Directions Ltd have manufactured a large scale version of a gold pocket watch to create a centre piece in a Wetherspoons pub. To see a video of our manufacturing process please click on this link: http://youtu.be/QHaEIYLXDjI

Good Directions Ltd were pleased to see that 'Ecclesiastical and Heritage World' magazine chose their Big Ben replica, manufactured for the new signature room in Harrods, to feature in their latest issue of the magazine. The scaled version of Big Ben stands 2.4m high and replicates exactly the four clock faces, with their black numerals and gold detailing, back illumination and chiming system programmed to mark each quarter of an hour and strike on the hour. The clocks are also fitted with a state of the art controller to automatically change all four clocks at the summer and winter time changes and deal with any power failures that may occur. To read the article in full you can see it clearly on their website: http://www.ecclesiasticalandheritageworld.co.uk/component/content/article/399 Also to see other examples of our clocks please visit: http://www.exterior-clocks.co.uk/ or for our full range of products visit: http://www.good-directions.co.uk/ For any enquiries please con...

Disney has unveiled its new showcase store in Oxford Street, which became the biggest in Europe when it opened on 2 nd June. The centrepiece is a 28 foot high castle which sits in the middle of the store and is the first thing to be seen when walking in. Good Directions Ltd were asked to manufacture a specially designed clock specifically to suit the castle. The clock is in typical Disney fairytale style with beautiful ornate gold hands, yellow and gold chapters back lit with static white lights and the centre of the dial back illuminated with multi coloured changing LED lights. The clock is controlled by one of our clock resynchronisers, which will automatically restart the clock after any power failures and is pre-programmed to alter the clock at the summer and winter time changes for the next 20 years.   A launch party was held at the new store, where guests including Claudia Winkleman, Ben Fogle and Tom Hollander sampled the store with their families. Jonathan Storey...

Some weeks ago we were approached by Paul Cook, the proprietor of hair salon 'Hair Concepts' to design and manufacture a feature clock to go on his new premises in Banbury. The building was formerly a warehouse for a wine merchants, which Mr Cook has sympathetically transformed with his team of Architect, builder and shop fitters to recreate a period building typical of Banbury town centre. The clock is now a unique landmark above the shop, appropriately featuring hands in the shape of scissors and the words 'It is hair time' in place of traditional numerals around the clock face. With back illumination behind the dial the clock is highly visible both day and night. In keeping with traditional clocks the bezel surround, although manufactured by Good Directions in modern GRP material in a colour to match the rendering, it is designed to look like raised stonework around the clock. Using GRP instead of stone however means that it can be manufactured to suit the clock size...

  Good Directions was excited to receive an enquiry to manufacture a replica of Big Ben for Harrods prestigious London themed signature room, which was designed and recently installed by Prop Studios. Harrods Signature Room, home to their branded products and souvenirs, has been given a complete new look thanks to a range of iconic replicas of London buildings and British landmarks. The room has been themed with large-scale models of iconic British landmarks, which include Tower bridge, Big Ben and traditional telephone boxes. We were asked to manufacture four working clocks to exactly replicate a scaled version of Big Ben’s actual clock faces. The dials were produced in white opal acrylic with black numerals and gold detailing, with back illumination behind each face. Standing 2.4 metres tall the Big Ben makes for an impressive addition to the scheme.  Inside the clock feature our Total Control system is fitted to keep all the clocks acc...

Just weeks before the launch of the new and much talked about breakfast TV show ‘Daybreak’ we were approached to manufacture two 4ft clocks to feature in the brand new studios in London. Based on an old style train station clock the simple dial needed to be clear and easy to read with an antique white face in a metallic burnished bronze colour bezel.   Good Directions clock on the new ITV set for Daybreak   Of course all this was top secret before the show went live on 6th September and we were delighted to receive such a prestigious order. It didn’t give us much time however as they needed the clocks ready for the press launch the week before but working all hours we got the clocks ready on time. Although simple in design, state of the art technology was used to be sure the clocks would run on time. Obviously with potentially millions of people seeing the clocks every morning they need to be accurate and this is why the most advanced technology was used for our controller ...