The Guide to Choosing the Perfect Lockers for Your School

Posted by Nata Rukhadze on

Introduction

As a leading manufacturer of lockers, we understand how important it is to provide students with secure, functional and aesthetically pleasing storage solutions. Choosing the right locker for your school can significantly impact student organization, security and the general school atmosphere. In this blog, we’ll explore nine different types of lockers suitable for school premises and outline each one’s special qualities and advantages.

1. Metal lockers

Traditional lockers are manufactured with metal, and many individuals associate the sounds of a banging metal locker door with their early school years. Even if alternative materials are now widely utilized, there are still many schools where metal lockers are still the preferred choice for storage solutions for students and staff.

Benefits:

  • Durability: Can withstand high traffic.
  • Security: Supplied with robust locking systems, such as Lowe and Fletcher.
  • Variety: Available in various sizes and configurations.
  • Available as a Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 for younger students.

Ideal for: High School/Secondary schools and middle schools where durability is crucial.

2. Laminate Lockers

A robust storage option manufactured with a metal frame and laminate door. At Helmsman we only use the best laminate, so it will resist years of usage and wear & tear. We provide lockers for both dry and wet environments as we have a variety of materials accessible.

Benefits:

  • Hygiene: Easy to sanitize and maintain.
  • Durability: Resistant to scratches and dents.
  • Aesthetic Appeal: Available in various colours and woodgrain finishes.
  • Available as a Z-shaped locker, allowing two people to store their belongings in the footprint of one locker.
  • Also accessible as Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 for younger students.

Ideal for: High School/Secondary schools and middle schools, colleges, and universities where durability is crucial.

3. Mini Minder Lockers

A small but essential locker where students and staff are available to store mobile phones and small personal items. There are a variety of compartment quantities available for mini minders, ranging from 12 to 40. Mini minders can be manufactured as charging lockers. Every locker is equipped with a plug socket and an extra USB port, allowing you to charge phones while keeping them secure during school hours.

Benefits:

  • Space-saving: ideal for schools with limited space.
  • Security: Secure storage for personal items.
  • Learning: Reduces distractions for students.

Conclusion

When choosing a locker type for your school, it’s important to consider things such as durability, security, style and specific requirements of the staff and students. Whether you’re looking for an advanced smart locker or a traditional metal locker, our range guarantees that you’ll find the ideal option for your school premises. Investing in high-quality lockers not only improves your school’s overall functionality but also contributes to a safer and more organised learning environment.

Ready to upgrade your school lockers just before summer is over? Contact us today at 01284 727626 or get your quote here.

Importance of updating school lockers

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Schools should update their lockers for several reasons, including security, durability, functionality, aesthetics and functionality. Each of these aspects contributes to a better school environment and an enhanced experience for both students and staff.

Are you unsure whether your lockers need replacing or just some TLC? It’s possible that Helmsman can assist with the upkeep and servicing of the lockers rather than having to purchase new ones if yours are growing old, have a noisy door, or just have lost the keys. Our dedicated team are highly qualified engineers to keep your lockers in like-new condition.

Make a good first impression on New Students

We understand how important lockers are for schools just by observing the number of schools and students in the UK school alone. When good, quality lockers make a statement during summer break inductions, schools automatically implant confidence in the parents of the students who will be joining in September. Fresh school lockers add to the general ‘feel’ and ‘look’ of a school and can either entice or discourage parents from enrolling their children to the school. When parents are choosing a school for their children, first impressions are the key.

Are your lockers fit for purpose?

While your lockers hold personal items, are they securely locked away? Are they simple to operate? Are they rusted? Does the colour still go with the colour scheme used at your school? If not, it’s time to make a change to your locker selections. It’s crucial that the doors are not hanging off hinges, and the holes left by previous locks are hidden. Every locker must operate properly. This is related to initial impressions. Making sure your lockers are in like-new condition demonstrates the establishment’s strong attention to little details. This is why we have a service department to help maintain the lockers in the best condition, if you require replacement doors or locks and other elements, contact us here.

Why Helmsman School Lockers are the best choice.

Helmsman Lockers is known for manufacturing and installing high-quality, durable and customer-focused storage solutions. Here are a couple of reasons why Helmsman Lockers should be the go-to option for updating school lockers.

High-quality materials

Helmsman lockers are manufactured from long-lasting, high-quality materials including metal, laminates, stainless steel, MFC (Melamine-Faced Chipboard Lockers) and many other materials. The strength, durability and damage resistance of these materials ensure that the lockers will last the last of the school for many years.

Customized lockers

Wide Range of options: Helmsman provides a range of locker sizes, suitable for all students, such as Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, colours and configurations to meet the specific needs of any school. Helmsman can offer bespoke solutions whether the requirement for lockers for hallways, changing rooms or even for classrooms. Schools can customize lockers with colours of the school colour scheme, schools may express their school pride and identity while also establishing a unified and distinctive atmosphere.

Expert installation and support

Professional installation: Helmsman provides installation service to guarantee that lockers are installed correctly and securely while causing the least amount of disturbance to the school’s daily activities.

Ongoing support: Helmsman offers school administrators piece of mind by guaranteeing that any problems or maintenance requirements are immediately resolved through exceptional customer service and support.

Conclusion

Updating school lockers is a significant investment that pays off in enhanced security, durability, functionality, aesthetics and hygiene. Helmsman Lockers stand out as an ideal choice due to the high-quality materials, bespoke designs, advanced security features, innovative features and many other reasons.

By choosing Helmsman, schools can ensure that their students have access to the best possible lockers contributing to a positive, safe and efficient learning environment.

Elevate Your Project With Helmsman Bespoke Storage

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How Helmsman can help with your bespoke storage needs.

Bespoke storage is becoming more popular as a result of the growing need for individuality and modification in a world where standard solutions are no longer sufficient. This point of view is especially relevant regarding the essential security and storage solutions that Helmsman lockers offer. Here at Helmsman, we recognise the value of adaptation and standing out, which is why we manufacture our lockers with an extensive range of customized arrangements to suit each individual need.

Bespoke Solutions

At Helmsman, we believe that every customer has different needs and ideas about their lockers. For this reason, our lockers offer a wide range of styles and layouts. We can tailor any feature to meet your specific requirements, including more shelves, bespoke measurements, or any other feature to meet your needs.

Our wide range of bespoke choices guarantees that your lockers blend in perfectly with your location, optimizing the use of available space and enhancing overall performance. In addition, Helmsman values our lockers to allow the user to have comfort that their personal belongings are safe and secure.

The Limits of Normalisation

Consider a situation where you work in an industry in leisure, education, commercial or any other sector where you have a specific demand for storage. Imagine the restricted uniform locker design that is unable to meet your unique needs. This may result in a general lack of convenience, ineffective use of available space, and compromised security. These restrictions may seriously impair productivity and hinder your personal belongings’ security.

Enhancing Your Space’s Aesthetic Appeal

In a generation where lockers don’t have to be unappealing anymore, the use of colours, designs and materials is used to provide beautiful lockers. You can select a design that complements the aesthetics of your space with the variety of choices we offer our clients as we fabricate the lockers from scratch. Our design option lets you construct lockers that not only provide a functional need but also bring a unique touch of aesthetically pleasing to your area, whether you prefer radiant and bold or elegant and simple.

If you have a project requiring lockers, discover how Helmsman Bespoke storage will be the perfect solution for your project.

If you want more information, contact us today at sales@helmsman.co.uk or click here to get a quote.

Why You should Choose Heated Lockers?

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Helmsman Heated Lockers

Heated lockers are becoming more relevant than ever as it has become more important for employees and employers to be more sustainable by the way we travel to work, so we can protect the environment in the long term.

Nonetheless, one of the most important things is having sustainable facilities. Instead of having damp clothes in the office, employees and employers can dry their belongings instantly and easily. For this purpose, we manufacture and supply heated lockers.

In this blog, we will be discussing about Helmsman’s heated lockers in further detail.

Aesthetic

Heated lockers at Helmsman are available in a variety of sizes from our standard sizes and compartments as well as Z-shaped lockers, as well as being a manufacturing company we can provide bespoke sizes.

With metal or laminate doors are available depending on your aesthetic needs. Here at Helmsman, we have a wide range of colors.

Sustainability

At Helmsman, we supply our clients with the highest quality products by forming reliable relationships with suppliers who share our commitment to environmental responsibility. We also provide our customers with eco-friendly heating solutions.

We would want to concur that environmental concerns and world events have raised our awareness of environmental issues and allowed us to make eco-friendly decisions.

Function

We provide heaters with single and twin tubes. Depending on your location, these lockers can be connected to a fused switch or a UK three-pin power outlet via wires. It is advised to wire lockers into a fused switch if there is a long run of lockers.

We manufacture the heated lockers to have a perforated base which allows the warm air to circulate inside the locker and perforated slots at the top which allows the damp air to flow out.

The heated lockers have an optional thermostat, 24-hour time control, and 3 different programmable time periods which allows you to control when the heating is being used within the lockers.

Security

Here at Helmsman, we have an excellent range of locks. We have standard Camlock and Hasp locks to smart locks by Lowe & Fletcher as well as Ojmar, which are a fantastic choice of locks as they assure the users feel secure that their personal belongings are all safe, as well as smart locks can be in a public or private user mode, which means they can be set up for day use or permanently with one code.

Conclusion

Helmsman heated lockers are an excellent choice for sectors that have employees who commute to work, providing heated lockers, it is an ideal solution for when the environment is damp, and employees and employers are available to dry clothes in a secure environment.

A Guide to Leisure Lockers

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Introduction

Whether it’s a gym, a swimming centre, a spa, a stadium or a theme park, leisure lockers are essential for enhancing the overall experience for users using the leisure facilities. The lockers enhance the convenience, and organisation of leisure activities, in addition to the lockers offering a safe place for personal belongings.

We will dive into the world of leisure lockers in this in-depth guide, covering their varieties, features, maintenance advice, and ways they may enhance your leisure experience.

Section 1: Understanding Leisure Lockers

1.1 Type of Leisure Lockers

  • Traditional lockers with wrist strap keys
  • Z lockers
  • Smart lockers with digital locks
  • Family-sized lockers for group storage.

1.2 Materials and Durability

  • Solid-grade laminate doors and aluminium carcass.
  • For areas with high moisture and humidity – due to the material there are no risks of peeling, cracking, or delamination
  • At Helmsman we also offer a leisure locker that is manufactured with an aluminium body and the doors are PAR 10mm toughened coloured glass, with a roller coat pant finish inside the locker doors.

 

Section 2: Features That Matter

2..1 Digital Locking System

  • Combination locks, Ojmar OTS locks, Lowe & Fletcher Nimbus locks and many more accessories are available at Helmsman.
  • Enhancing the security and ease of use

2.2 Charging Stations

  • Within a dry area, having a destination with charging lockers to keep personal belongings such as mobile phones to be charged during leisure activities

 

Section 3: Maintenance and Safety

3.1 Cleaning and Hygiene

  • Regular locker maintenance is advised to maintain. Here at Helmsman, we provide O&M Manuals (Operation and Maintenance Manuals) so the customers always have guidance.

Section 4: Aesthetics and Customisation

4.1 Locker Designs

  • Having customised lockers with colours to match the theme of the place
  • Incorporating branding elements for a cohesive look

 

Section 5: Benefits of Quality Lockers

5.1 Enhanced Customer Satisfaction:

  • Providing a hassle-free experience for visitors
  • Building a positive reputation for leisure facilities

5.2 Improved Facility Management:

  • Streamlining operations with efficient locker systems
  • Reducing staff workload and enhancing overall productivity

 

Conclusion

Leisure lockers are an essential component of the whole leisure experience, rather than just a storage space. Investing in high-quality leisure lockers is a step towards improving patron satisfaction and creating an unforgettable leisure experience.

Here at Helmsman, we have an in-house design where we take pride in helping our customers bring their vision to life. We are here with you from the start.

If you have a project and you’re interested in our leisure lockers call us today at 01284530427 or get your quote.

Why do schools have lockers?

Posted by Nata Rukhadze on

Introduction

For many years, lockers have been widely seen in the educational sector, giving students a dedicated area to keep their belongings. Though they can appear to be straightforward metal or laminate storage spaces, lockers have several uses in schools other than just holding bags and books. We’ll consider the reasons why schools have lockers and how important these seemingly overlooked storage systems are to the educational process in the blog.

Organisation and efficience

Lockers provide the students an individual space to store their personal belongings and books, which helps them to maintain their organisation skills. This improves the efficiency of the learning environment as well as their daily routine. With students having a designated area for their belongings, students can efficiently and rapidly collect what they need for each lesson, reducing interruptions and extending the amount of time they spend learning.

Security for belongings

Students carry a range of personal belongings such as lunch, electronics, and PE (sports) uniforms. Lockers provide them with a safe space to keep their items during class hours, reducing the risk of loss or damage. This maintains the school community with security and trust while safeguarding the belongings of the pupils.

 Alleviating the burden of heavy backpacks

Throughout the day students who carry heavy backpacks full of textbooks, notebooks, and personal items, may cause students to experience back pains and discomfort. A solution for that would be provided by lockers, which give students a space to keep their stuff in between classes.

Preparing for future independence

The students that use lockers are better prepared for future events where organisation skills are essential. The capacity to manage one’s own area and possessions becomes more crucial as one may be heading to university or employment. These are vital life skills that are regularly practiced in lockers.

Conclusion

Lockers are more than just a basic storage space in schools, they are an essential part of establishing a welcoming and encouraging learning atmosphere. The provision of lockers enhances kids’ overall development by encouraging responsibility and organisation as well as a sense of safety and community.

guidance on cleaning

Guidance on Cleaning Your Lockers

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Whether it’s at school, at the gym, or even at work, lockers are a fundamental part of our everyday life. Lockers may gather relentless stains and smudges over time, not only making the environment unpleasant but also making it unsanitary. In this blog, we’ll give you guidance through the locker cleaning procedure and provide you with practical advice for removing all types of stains and smudges.

Guidance for Cleaning your lockers

Step 1. Use a damp cloth or sponge and a little soap or detergent for a general cleaning. After finishing, rinse and dry the panels.

Step 2: For tough strains apply a gentle home cleanser or detergent and a soft-bristled brush.

Step 3: If tough stains remain the same, apply a non-scratch cleanser like Cif or Flash while softly scrubbing the stain for 10 to 20 seconds.

Step 4: If the stain still exists, use household bleach that has not been diluted, let it sit for no more than two minutes, and then thoroughly rinse with warm water. Do not expose laminate to household bleach and it may result in irreversible discoloration.

Step 5: Use a mildly abrasive cream cleanser to gently scrub the surface if it has been discoloured due to prolonged contact with industrial grime.

Do and Do Not

  • Do not use acidic or abrasive cleaners.
  • DO always rinse thoroughly after cleaning (residue from cleaning solutions is
  • the single greatest cause of damage to glass and laminate surfaces).
  • Do wipe up spills immediately and rinse thoroughly.
  • DO NOT use acidic or abrasive cleaners, expose the glass or laminate to household bleach for prolonged periods of time, or apply excessive scrubbing.

Laminate and Glass Locker Doors.

With the Laminate and Glass locker doors always start by trying the gentlest method of cleaning. If a stain persists work through the following steps, repeating each step several times if the stain seems to be disappearing.

Metal Lockers

For metal lockers and lockers with metal bodies, it is essential to lubricate the hinges and locks on occasion. This will mostly rely on the location of the lockers and how often their owners use them. If they are used frequently, it is wise to routinely inspect the hinges and locks, which should be greased or repaired as necessary.

Conclusion

Cleaning lockers may be difficult, especially when dealing with stains and smudges that won’t go away. However, by the instructions provided you can successfully get rid of those undesirable markings and keep your lockers clean and sanitary. To keep your Locker looking good for a long time, keep in mind to use the appropriate cleaning solutions, be patient with difficult stains, and take preventative actions. With these suggestions, you can make your locker maintain a neat environment that is both practical and aesthetically pleasing.

Riverside Lockers
carbon neutral

Why should you invest in carbon-neutral lockers?

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Here at Helmsman, we are passionate about manufacturing our clients with bespoke carbon-neutral laminate lockers. We provide our clients with the best quality products by building strong partnerships with our suppliers that have the thought of the environment in mind. Due to the environmental issues and global events, we would like to agree that it has made us aware of our decision and increased our protection of the environment.

We have a new partnership with Abet Laminate. Abet Laminate has the thought of environment in mind with the laminate products they provide for clients. As the laminate consists of 70% cellulose and 30% thermosetting resins which can state that the material isn’t classified as a dangerous material for the environment.

We additionally have a partnership with BioCarbon Laminates, which provides sustainable laminate solutions including carbon-neutral laminates. The products are produced in a carbon-neutral manufacturing facility that monitors, controls, and balances carbon emissions reducing them to zero.

Investing in carbon-neutral laminates is a way to reduce carbon emissions which takes part in harming the environment. By investing in purchasing carbon-neutral laminates, it is a way to help the environment such as letting trees absorb carbon.

At Helmsman we provide materials such as Solid Grade Laminate, Glass, Timber, and Metal, which can be recyclable. The material we use to make our products has a long-lasting shelf life which is beneficial for the earth.

We want to make a difference and protect the environment by providing carbon-neutral and other materials that is recyclable for our lockers. To find out more about bespoke lockers that are carbon neutral contact us or call us 01284 530421.

Choosing lockers for your project

Choosing Lockers for your Project

Posted by Kamile Speteliunaite on
Choosing lockers for your project

Looking into Lockers

With so many different styles of lockers out there in different combinations and finishes, we thought it would be useful to explain the different types and uses to help you choose the best lockers for your project.

Gone are the days of rows upon rows of metal school lockers in drab metallic grey and padlock clasps. The choices now for locker specifications are almost limitless giving architects and designers plenty of the scope to realise their creative schemes.

Material: Aluminium, Laminate, Glass – the list is endless.

Locker carcasses are traditionally manufactured from aluminium, galvanised steel or stainless steel depending on the area of usage. This is then coupled with a door made from the same material or with compact grade laminate or glass. Banks of lockers are manufactured together with shared side walls and are frequently manufactured with a sloped top to stop the accumulation of litter or clutter and to aid cleaning.

The configuration of the lockers can be incredibly varied as can be the locking systems they employ. They can be full height, Z Lockers or multi-compartment with other options such as charging lockers and garment dispensers. Vents and vision panels can also be incorporated to encourage airflow or for areas at high risk such as museums and stations where visual inspection is needed.

Full height lockers are exactly that, lockers that have one opening the entire height of the locker bank. Internal compartments can be added as well as shelves and hanging ability and these are lockers in the purest form. Z Lockers are designed where space is an issue as they maximise capacity in the most efficient way. Each has a garment hanging sector and space for bags or personal items.

Size

Most people don’t realise lockers are designed around the user and the application. Standard lockers are 1775mm high while in schools, for example, lockers tend to be 1 to 3 compartments and are manufactured to different sizes depending on the age. Key Stage 1 lockers are 1250mm high while Key Stage 2 lockers are 1600mm high. Other factors such as height, width and depth are determined by the alcove or space where they’re going to be situated. Helmsman manufactures most of its lockers to size and exact specification.

A Splash of Colour

Lockers can be manufactured from metal, laminate or glass depending on their use. If you’re looking for clean-cut lines and a contemporary look then glass lockers may be the solution. A relatively new concept, they comprise an aluminium locker body with solid grade laminate door and then over-clad with tempered glass. Alternatively, RAL coloured glass is used for the doors.

Laminate lockers offer unparalleled options in terms of colours, designs and styles. Compact grade high-pressure laminate is incredibly robust, strong and secure and is a perfect choice for areas prone to high moisture and humidity as there is no risk of peeling, cracking or delamination. They are fully self-supporting, are easy to work with for cutting and fabrication and have resistance to wear, impact and scratching. See our colour options here. 

Usage

From schools, universities, leisure centres, wet area changing rooms and retail parks through to staff rooms, emergency services and prisons, lockers are unique to their use.

For example, charging lockers are becoming more commonplace. These small lockers are manufactured with various compartment doors i.e. 5, 10, 12, 15, 20, 28, 30 and 40 and come complete with plugs and USB sockets to safely store phones, tablets and laptops or power tools while charging them at the same time.

Anti-bacterial and anti-microbial lockers are popular in areas at risk from cross-contamination and for clean rooms; while food processing plants often also include perforated shelves means they can be hosed down at the end of each shift.

In the pharmaceutical industry, stainless steel lockers are popular as they can withstand almost any cleaning solution and chemicals that are used for sanitisation and therefore is used as their preferred material for lockers.

Garment Dispensers and Collectors are lockers designed to allow employees to collect clean garments while soiled clothing is collected centrally through another locker into a serviced laundry bag. This system ensures that clean laundry for the individual employee is secure and ready for collection at any time of the day or night and not compromised by soiled clothing.

More information on lockers and specification as well as cubicles, vanity units and seating are available from Helmsman, please contact us.

In the meantime, keep an eye on LinkedIn and Twitter for the latest projects, news and updates.

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