Graffiti prevention

Innovative new products from H Bingham & Sons could spell the end of unsightly graffiti following investment by UK Steel Enterprise.

A new anti-graffiti coating and an innovative film that restores severely scratched windows damaged by vandals have been launched by H Bingham & Sons, the Sheffield-based engineering group.

In a deal that took just six weeks to complete, UK Steel Enterprise, a Corus Group company that invests in growing businesses, provided £250,000 to fund expansion of the coatings and the Traincare division of the company. It now means Bingham can further develop the coatings and present them to a wide range of markets.

Bingham is a company that is defying the current downturn. The £7m-a-year group has a substantial order book with several major contracts underway.

Already a leading UK supplier to the rail industry, managing director Stuart Watson has set about driving the group in new directions to give its four businesses - Bingham Rail, Bingham Traincare, Bingham TMR and Bingham Crossfield - a constant supply of work.

Cleaning graffiti from railway infrastructure has always been labour intensive, using chemicals to do the job effectively or constant repainting, a task that has cost rail companies and Network Rail hundreds of thousands of pounds over the years. Searching for an alternative led to Bingham’s discovery of the new anti-graffiti coating to apply to newly cleaned track-side walls, bridges and cabinets.