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While there are some obvious things you might expect an industrial coatings supplier like Gloucester-based Elmbridge UK to work with, some of the uses of its paints and lacquers may just surprise you.

The industry-leading firm usually supplies wood coatings for elements of traditional buildings – like kitchens, bathrooms, furniture, doors and windows – to bespoke and mass-market makers from all over the UK.

And on the metal side, it works with construction equipment manufacturers, providing the products that keep everything from cranes, skips and excavator buckets, to mobile welfare cabins and large-scale fuel tanks protected from the elements – as well as more decoratively, things like high-end iron gates and fencing, too.

But with coatings from the Gloucester firm found everywhere from Glastonbury stages, to the hulls of ships, SoGlos rounds up eight of the more surprising things it's worked on. 

Guitars

Expert British guitar maker, Auden, uses coatings supplied by Elmbridge UK to achieve high-end finishes on its hand-crafted, bench grade acoustic guitars.

From natural woods, to deep blacks and sunbursts in a range of tones, Auden's skilled luthiers use Disolac products from Elmbridge with a full mixing system running individual colours, helping their premium instruments to really stand out from the crowd.

Festival stages

Giving the best bands and artists a spectacular platform from which to entertain the masses, Elmbridge's industrial coatings are used to make sure stages at the UK's biggest festivals – including Glastonbury and Reading – are protected from the elements.

Depending on the size and festival, single coat, direct to metal or aerosol paints from Elmbridge are used to provide fast-drying solutions that ensure stages are suitable for both internal and external use; and are weather, scratch and UV resistant.

Speakers

Elmbridge UK has worked with a number of loudspeaker manufacturers, ensuring the units pumping out the best quality audio in professional and domestic settings both look and sound the part.

Both its Sayerlack wood coatings and Adler water-based range have been used as coatings for a range of loudspeaker cabinets.

Books

The most eye-catching elements of the prettiest books in your collection could be thanks to products from Elmbridge, with the coatings specialist supplying paints to leading book printers.

Fore-edge printing is a popular feature of modern hardback editions, whether they're painted a single colour, or as a picture with a water-based topcoat using Pantone colours.

Football stadiums

With Gloucester City AFC having been forced out of the city due to devastating flooding in 2007, Elmbridge UK stepped up to help the Southern League South club finally return home after 13 years.

Elmbridge donated the paint needed for parts of its new stadium free of charge, with the team playing its first game at the New Meadow Park in the 2020/21 season.

Coffins

An important part of giving your loved ones the perfect send off, several UK coffin and casket manufacturers source their coatings from Elmbridge UK.

As a key aesthetic element of many funerals, paints and lacquers supplied by the Gloucestershire firm ensure that coffins and caskets are looking their best, giving them rich colour or accentuating their natural wood finishes.

Ships

Making sure a range of vessels are ship-shape before they set sail, Elmbridge UK has worked with two Gloucestershire dry docks – Sharpness Shipyard & Drydock and T Nielson in Gloucester â€“ on the refurbishment of the wooden and metal hulls of ships.

Specialised paints are used below the waterline to prevent the accumulation of unwanted biological material, like algae and barnacles, with high-gloss topcoats used above the waterline.

Pianos

Bringing a timeless look to any setting where you sit down to tinkle the ivories, Elmbridge UK has supplied products to several piano makers.

In a similar way to guitars, paints and lacquers from Elmbridge UK are used to give pianos a variety of colours and finishes, from professional black, to statement whites, vibrant colours or rustic traditional woods.

For more information about how products from Elmbridge UK could be used in your business or project, visit .