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Summer 2012 | p2p Magaz i ne |
23
www.binfo.co.uk
ICONS
Combining
quality with
functionality
Railex is probably one of the oldest players in
the storage and filing market. The company
was first established in 1908 by FrankWilson,
a salesman for a paper wholesaler who was
dismissed for lateness, and subsequently
decided to go it alone.
banks to invest in machinery to meet
a massive contract for record sleeves.
However, the record company reneged
on the order and despite the overall
profitability, the banks foreclosed and
W H Hilton went out of business. The
business was gradually rebuilt in his own
name and in 1939, Frank moved it to
Southport, where the factory and head
office remain today.
The brand name Railex was designed
to reflect the company's offering of rails
and suspension files.With product quality
and functionality at the heart of the
business, in 1947 the innovative Railex
221 Lateral Suspension File System was
launched. At the time, lateral suspension
files were totally new to the UK market
and the interest was almost more than
the company could cope with.
The system was called 221 as it
could condense two, four-drawer filing
cabinets into one lateral suspension
cabinet. This product remains one of the
company’s biggest sellers today and over
the years; the basic design hasn’t really
changed, although it’s now available in
polypropylene and in a range of colours.
In 2007, the firm had a major
restructure which resulted in the
formation of two companies – Railex
Systems Ltd who manufacture cabinets
and mobile storage solutions and Railex
Filing Ltd who supply the files and record
management products which fit within
their sister company’s product range.
The firm is now split across three
sites – a London-based showroom,
manufacturing of metal storage
products is inWitham, while the
paper filing products base remains
in Southport.
The company is
renowned for its range
of files and its mantra of
quality and service hasn’t
changed. Director David
Windsor says that it
can be quite difficult to buy files online
as there’s so much choice. “Railex is not
a mass producer, we are a fairly small,
tight team but where we think we have
an edge is that we are very solution
focussed.What we do well is to keep the
offer simple. Plus, as the filing specialists
we offer advice.”
The company website www.railexfiling.
co.uk is easy to navigate, features an
innovative product selector and orders
can be placed online. “There is also a filing
guide that ensures customers make the
right choices and get the best out of our
filing products,” says David. “And if you
can’t find what you’re looking for, then
we encourage customers to phone us and
we’ll help.”
As well as manufacturing traditional
spring-type transfer files, Railex is best
known for the Easifile and Polifile fitting
first launched over 50 years ago, but
which are still widely used and specified
products today. Both gave an excellent
alternative to the more common spring
transfer file, with the Easifile perfect for
low capacity situations and the Polifile
suited for thick and bulky contents.
The company also offers a bespoke
file design service. The flexibility of
its manufacturing facility allows the
processing of large format files as well as
size changes to its standard range. “We
can use a wide range of materials in our
machinery and with our links to UK’s
best board mills we are able to provide an
unprecedented range of different colours
and finishes,” says David.
“Railex products are designed to work
and manufactured to last.We offer a
range of premium, functional products
that are designed by us.What’s our USP?
I’d have to say – it’s our customer service,
as the filing specialists, we pride ourselves
on providing specialist advice.”
www.railexfiling.co.uk
Frank establishedWH Hilton in 1908
but instead of importing office files
from Germany, which at the time led
the world in office filing; he shifted
manufacturing to the UK, in Rochdale.
The company re-branded as Railex
in the mid-1940s and today, Railex
files are still manufactured in the UK
and the business has remained in the
family, with Frank’s grandson Howard,
the current Chairman.
In 1932 Frank borrowed from the