About Us

Newark Copper Cylinders was established back in 1977 by the company’s founding Chairman John Smith, who from the age of 16 up until the age of 37 had worked for numerous cylinder manufacturers.

Newark Copper Cylinder Co Ltd was set up as a joint venture between John and his wife Janet Smith along with 2 other partners. Both John, together with his wife Janet, put in a substantial amount of effort and their own personal capital into the company to start up the business. Fortunately, this effort was well rewarded as the company grew rapidly and employed more staff until they had to move from the old Hop Kiln premises in Millgate to new premises on Brunel Drive in 1980, where they still are today.

Also to join the husband and wife team in 1980 was one of their sons, Mark, at just sixteen years old. Since then he has worked in every aspect of cylinder manufacturing within the business, and has learned from the shop floor upwards until 1998, when he was made the main Technical and Sales Director. Also at the age of 16, their other son Andrew, joined in 1983, who has also learned from the same experience as Mark about manufacturing within the business. It was in 1989 when Sarah, Mark’s wife, joined the family business as company Accountant and Secretary to alleviate some of the workload of Janet and John regarding accounts and the financial well-being of the company.

Over the years it has been a natural progression for the two sons to take over the general day-to-day running of the company. Mark in particular has achieved a high level of expertise in the design and manufacture of solar and mains pressure units. He has worked closely with others in this field to develop a wide variety of prototypes and to improve their efficiency. His certification in the installation of unvented mains pressure units, and of solar systems, is clearly of benefit in this regard.

The business is now left in the hands of Mark and Andrew, as Managing Directors they take on active roles for the business, as well as being on the technical and sales team.

In 2009, Tom Sharpe became a member of the Technical & Sales Team. Previous to his Technical Advisory role with us, Tom gained 5 years of ‘hands-on’ plumbing experience, and an NVQ level 3 qualification in Plumbing and Heating. His progression from manual plumbing to a more theory-based role has been a positive one for the company.

In June 2021, the business was rebranded as Newark Cylinders to match the wide range of products and expertise we provide.

The experience and expertise of everyone involved enables the company to offer effective and relevant technical advice and assistance to its customers. The company particularly prides itself on its ability as a family-run, hands-on business, to respond quickly and effectively to its customers’ needs and has built a reputation both for its quick response and in the manufacture of domestic hot water cylinders, industrial calorifiers and bespoke products to customers’ particular requirements.

Over the years we have helped develop and manufacture new generation units, including high-efficiency hot water cylinders, solar cylinders, solar thermal stores, mains pressure units, and pre-plumbed packages, we also work closely with housing organisations, and council projects.

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