A THORNABY glass company has celebrated almost 30 years at the cutting edge by relocating to new premises close to where the business began in 1992.

Creative Glass has gone from strength to strength over its lifetime, and has recently worked on prestigious contracts, such as the Globe in Stockton and Thornaby Town Hall as well as the new Foodies Village Deli & Bakery in Wolviston, and Maple & Dough in Guisborough.

Managing Director and North East England Chamber of Commerce member Tony Campbell described the business as “designers who play around with glass” and explained that they work across projects involving restoration, shopfitting, as well as privately within people’s homes, and all across the UK.

Starting out in the construction sector, Tony identified a gap in the market for producing glass features for design projects. The company’s early contracts include the redevelopment of Newcastle Football Club, and fitting out Harry Ramsden’s fish and chip restaurants. Recruiting designers from local art colleges, they developed original techniques to create different textures on one pieces of flat glass.

The pandemic came with fresh challenges, as many projects were postponed, however it also created unexpected new contracts for the company, as it produced glass screens to protect staff within retail and medical settings.

People have also spent much more time at home over the past two years, and are choosing to redecorate in new ways, leading Creative Glass to work on an assortment of projects within private homes, such as glass verandas, antique-style mirrors, and wet rooms.

Recent projects which the company is particularly proud of include the restoration of two buildings which are part of Teesside’s heritage, Thornaby Town Hall and the Globe Theatre in Stockton.

Part of the project at Thornaby Town Hall involved restoring original clock faces dating back to the 19th century, and working alongside a metalwork company to do so. Based on an old sepia postcard from 1903, Creative Glass also created a new feature of a glass photo curving with the main staircase.

At the Globe, Creative Glass has been involved for more than three years, and have contributed feature mirrors based on sketches from the original 1935 opening programme.

Highlights of this project included the use of glass with a distinctive colour called “arsenic green”, and a mirror with a hidden secret known only to visitors. The original Globe theatre was built in 1913, and was then rebuilt twice in 1926 and 1935. The building closed its doors in 1997, but reopened this year after its restoration.

Tony is a proud Teessider and said: "In the North East we don’t shout enough about how good we are. Creative Glass is so proud to have contributed to these two major heritage projects on Teesside, which give bright new opportunities for the community to enjoy these stunningly restored buildings.”

 

Keep up to date with all the latest news on our website, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

You can also follow our dedicated Teesside Facebook page for all the latest in the area by clicking here.

For all the top news updates from right across the region straight to your inbox, sign up to our newsletter here.

Have you got a story for us? Contact our newsdesk on newsdesk@nne.co.uk or contact 01325 505054