2020 After a shareholder buy-out Barley Chalu is now owned and run by two shareholders, Mo Panam and John Chalu.
Offering polyester powder coating, polyamide and polyurethane thermal break, stripping, pre-anodising, anodising and electrocolouring of aluminium, it is a long way from its early days when Barley Chalu was founded back in 1967 by Terry Chalu and Terry Barley. The company started its days operating from small premises in Norwich, Norfolk, applying wet 'stove enamel' coatings to steel components, wheels and parts primarily for Lotus Cars, the founders' former employer.
1970 Barley Chalu moved to larger premises in Wymondham, also in Norfolk and began specialising in quality pre-treatment and stove enamelling of aluminium, mainly for the window industry, both prime and replacement. Soon after, Terry Barley left to pursue other interests.
1978 The company moves to its present custom built factory on Ayton Road in Wymondham. Growth in demand led to this factory being extended in 1980 where powder coating was introduced in 1983. Housed in a further purpose built factory and mainly coated home improvement products. This was followed by additional new powder coating lines in 1984 and 1988, to colour coat aluminium for the architectural market.
1996/97 Investment in plant and machinery, with Barley Chalu spending half a million pounds on a new pre-treatment system and one complete powder line (replacing two smaller ones).
1997 Its commitment to quality saw the company being registered to ISO 9001:2008, comply with BS 6496:1984, later BS EN 12206-1:2021 and further on to hold the Qualicoat with Seaside Endorsement (Licence No. 1001), the premier European coating standard, ensuring that Barley Chalu's reputation as market leader was maintained in the industry.
2002 Barley Chalu invested in two new Aluroller polyamide lines to service a growing trend for polyamide thermal break in the fenestration market, ultimately replacing the existing 'pour and cut' method due to ever tightening government legislation.
2004 Investment in a state of the art, Gema 12 digital gun powder plant, incorporated in a purpose built clean room facility to further improve the quality and efficiency and to keep Barley Chalu at the forefront of polyester powder coating in the UK and Europe.
2008 Terry Chalu retired. Five employees undertook a management buy-out and remained directors and shareholders until 2020.
2014-2015 A total of £1.5M - £2.0M was invested in the latest equipment and technology for Pre-anodising, Anodising and Electrocolouring of Aluminium, also becoming the first QUALANOD licensee holder in the UK in over 30 years.
2017-2018 Over £1.0M invested in the most modern technology available for the pre-treatment of architectural aluminium, vertically.
2019 First company within the UK to be granted the Qualideco Certificate.
2021-2022 Over £1.5M invested in the most advanced Vertical Plant System currently in the UK incorporating profile recognition technology.