Good Directions

Good Directions LTD had the pleasure of working alongside a customer who wanted a bespoke and very special clock made for their home. While watching an episode of the TV show ‘Poirot’, she noticed a fabulous clock in the background of a shot and immediately thought how fantastic it would be if she had one in her own home. After finding our amazing work online and viewing our stunning portfolio, she reached out to us to see if we could help. Having taken a photo of the clock on her TV screen she emailed this to us so we could produce artwork and replicate the clock for her at a size to suit her own home. Having got her approval of the design, we got to work on this 1300mm bespoke clock. The specification of this clock was very strict as it was important to recreate the clock as close as possible to the original design. The clock dial itself was manufactured out of MDF and finished in a matt black, to give it a sophisticated and modern aesthetic. We used our router to cut out a chann...

  Bespoke Clock designed by a pupil. Good Directions Ltd prides itself on its skilled workers and creativity when it comes to creating bespoke and unique clocks. They have always had their finger on the trigger of ingenuity and consistently strive to make beautiful products that you are proud of and will be talked about for years to come. Bespoke designs and allowing you to have creative freedom when ordering items from them is the companies USP and is no more evident than in this clock which was made for Dallimore Primary School. The school ran a competition where the children were asked to design a clock for the school and the winning design was made into reality. Incorporating everyday school items into the clock hands design is what truly separated this design over all the other submissions. The ruler and pencil clock hands were cut out of Dibond, which is an aluminium and plastic composite, making it strong and rigid and eliminating the need for a rib down the middle of th...

Good Directions Ltd proudly presents this 680mm bespoke clock which was produced for the high-end eatery ‘The Wolseley’, who are situated in Piccadilly in London.   Pattern Being Made   Prior to the job commencing, the customer sent us photographs of the old clock which used to be in place at the establishment. This was to allow us to lovingly create a replica of said clock down to the last detail. We achieved this by utilising a variety of traditional and modern techniques together with top engineering skills that we have learned throughout our three decades in clock manufacturing. Our engineers worked from drawings provided by the customer to create hand carved patterns, from which moulds were taken to then create the stunning moulded detailing for the bezel surround in GRP (Glass Reinforced Plastic) to recreate the fruit detailing which existed on the original clock.   Pattern ready to be sprayed Using a silicone mould to ensure pinpoint precision allowed us to c...

Good Directions LTD is over-joyed to be able to present this bespoke 1000mm clock which was manufactured all in house and proudly supplied to ‘Spuntini La Vita’ a new restaurant in Glasgow. Working with Burns Interior Design Ltd this particular design was inspired by another clock which the customer wanted to replicate as they thought it would make a stunning feature and talking point in their new restaurant.   Using out water jet cutter, we were able to cut this 25mm Riven Slate with ease and into the desired and correct shape for this dial. As well as cutting this piece of slate to size on our water jet, thanks to the accuracy and precision of the machine, we were also able to add a chamfered edge to the dial. The plus side to using Riven slate is that it does not have a smooth finish like most slate, instead it retains its natural stone aesthetic and texture for a more interesting finish.   Waterjet Cutting out the Foam Templates. Once the dial was cut and ready, we procee...

 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 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

Clock for school in Azerbaijan  Setting a machine    Good Directions Ltd recently moved to new premises in Botley, Hampshire to expand in-house manufacturing capabilities. As a family owned British company we are world leaders in the design, manufacture and installation of Exterior Clocks, Roof Turrets, GRP Structures and Copper Guttering. When moving to our new building we also took the fantastic opportunity of taking over a local engineering company, including their seven highly skilled staff and precision CNC machines for our new workshops. Our new 15,500 sq ft unit has been designed to cope with our growing manufacturing capabilities including large purpose built metal fabrication and CNC machine workshops, together with more offices offering the latest in computer technology, enabling us to provide a complete design service using the latest in 2D and 3D CAD CAM technology to customers wishing to create unique products.  Welding radius gutter   Technicians ...

 Sales Advisors - Melanie (left) Maria (right)  At Good Directions Ltd we are lucky enough to have loyal staff that have been with us for many years, including two of our Sales Advisors - Melanie Cassie (who has been with us for eleven years) and Maria Rudd (who has been with us for five years.) Last year we were pleased to offer them both the opportunity to work through an NVQ and an Apprenticeship in Customer Services so that they could both obtain qualifications to support the work that they do every day. Having put in an enormous amount of effort, hours of study and thousands of words into their case studies, we are pleased to say that both have passed with flying colours and have now received their certificates. Both staff deal with our customers every day helping to quote our many products including exterior clocks, clock towers, weathervanes and copper guttering. For more information on all our products please visit our website http://www.good-directions.co.uk/ or contact...

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...

 Maria (left) Dave, Melanie and Georgia On Friday Good Directions joined in the national 'Wear it Pink Day' by wearing pink clothes to work and donating £2 each to the breast cancer campaign. We also played the 'guess the next item on the washing line' game that was included in the charity pack. The organiser of the pink day (Rosalie) chose what she would next put on the washing line and everyone had to pay £1 to have a guess, with half the money raised going to the charity and the winner receiving the other half of the money. At the end of the day it was reveiled that Maria had chosen the correct item (a pair of knickers) but kindly donated her winnings to the charity instead of keeping it. Overall Good Directions Ltd staff raised well over £500 for the very worthy cause so a big well done and thank you to all the staff. To find out more about Good Directions Ltd please visit our website http://www.good-directions.co.uk/ . 

 New Factory and Head Office in Botley Hampshire  Good Directions Ltd is a world leader in the design, construction and installation of Exterior Clocks, Cupolas, GRP Structures and Weathervanes. Our Head Office and factory is based in Botley, Hampshire where we recently increased our in-house production capabilities by enlarging our metal fabrication workshop and employing new staff. It quickly became apparent that the premises we had could no longer cope with our requirements and we have now purchased a new unit nearby increasing our space from 3,500 sq ft to over 10,500 sq ft. Increased in-house metal fabrication workshop facilities The new unit has been designed to cope with our growing manufacturing capabilities including large purpose built metal fabrication and machine workshops, together with more offices offering the latest in computer technology, enabling us to provide a complete design service using the latest in 2D and 3D CAD CAM technology to customers wishing to crea...

Having been with Good Directions Ltd for ten years now we were pleased to present Alan Gingell, our newly appointed General Manager, with a clock to celebrate his time with the company and to mark his recent promotion. Alan studied Art, Design, Accountancy and Business Studies at College before joining Spectrum Signs in 1994 as a trainee sign maker designing, manufacturing and installing signage nationwide. Skills acquired by means of both traditional hand tools and state-of-the-art CAD CAM systems. In 1997 Alan joined global sign maker Fast Signs as a graphic designer and sign maker in their Southampton branch and in 1998 was made branch co-ordinator covering all aspects of running the business. In March 2001 Alan joined Good Directions as a Production & Installation Technician to work within our newly accuired signage company ‘Swift Signs’ as well as helping with design and production elements within the core business. Alan's hard work and skills has seen him...

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...

  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 ...