Our Story & Our Team

Originally mining in Ayrshire, John Gilmour starts coppersmith & tinsmith work after moving to Glasgow Gorbals.

Robert Gilmour, son of John, brings a second generation to the trade and continues on with the coppersmith & tinsmith work in the Gorbals area.

George Gilmour, brother to Robert, begins trading as George Gilmour & Co. where work is moved to Norfolk Court in the Gorbals area.

Supply to the Clyde shipyards & chandlers starts with primarily yellow metal components.

Manufacture & supply includes sheet metal work for lifeboat buoyancy tanks, fish storage trawlers and ship galleys.

Land mine damage during WW2 leads to the move of the operating site to 22 Broomloan Road, Govan.

George maintains the supply of parts into the Scottish shipyards with buoyancy tanks into Clyde made steamers. 

After serving in the military during WW2, George’s son, George (Jnr) joins the business as the third generation.

Whilst maintaining the supply of parts into the shipbuilding industry, a working association is made with British Aluminium Ltd which leads to a move into manufacture & supply into the construction industry.

The Govan Road site is acquired after the Broomloan road location is used for the expansion of the Glasgow subway workshops.

The new site is a prominent city central factory location in a previous timber yard next to the historical Princes Dock.

A key working link is established with Cincinnati Incorporated machine tools with them being located in East Kilbride.

A stronger link with aluminium architectural products is harnessed with long length gutters, roofing & cladding being utilised in large whisky bond developments.

The Govan Road site is expanded to 2.5 acres with a 40,000 sqft factory & the inception of the George Gilmour (Metals) & (Stockists) Limited companies to further strengthen the focus of the supply of sheet metal materials and parts into the architectural aluminium sector.

The addition of a de-coil & shear line harnesses the introduction of kassett rainscreen cladding to the UK using Granges Essem coil coated aluminium.

The strong industry links & manufacturing knowledge enable export work of roofing & cladding to the middle east by overland trailers from Govan to Iran & Iraq as well as to the highly distinctive and culturally significant Al-Nilin Mosque in Sudan.

John Gilmour, son to George, joins the business as the fourth generation.

British Alcan closes in Falkirk and Gilmours bring the BA paint plant to Govan, setting up Colourbond Coatings Limited, allowing the in-house post coating of formed aluminium profiled sheet.

Ecometal Limited is acquired expanding the portfolio of available products to include mineral wool cored materials.

This extensive product offering allows for the supply of long length insulated gutters to the Nissan car plant in Sunderland & the complete cladding package at Sizewell B power station, including the distinctive white dome.

Rebranding of the business takes place to strategize the full in-house offering of Gilmour Ecometal & the companies are condensed into George Gilmour (Metals) Limited.

The high-performance hook & pin rainscreen is introduced and tested to CWCT standard for use in local projects; Glasgow Airport and the BT headquarters.

The skillsets of the manufacturing team are further reinforced by the supply to renowned bespoke projects of the Glasgow Science Centre Mall buildings, The Deep aquarium façade in Hull and the Hampden Park Scottish stadium refurbishment. 

Graham Gilmour, son to John, joins as the 5th Generation into the business.

3D sheet metal modelling takes hold with new software availability, opening up a new way of offline working.

The Gilmours hook & pin rainscreen system is used as the supply basis to the Wembley stadium cladding package.

George Gilmour (Solutions) Limited is introduced bringing a stronger focus to 3D design to manufacture and services for the design definition of customer support.

The streamlined Gilmours brand takes hold encompassing the strength of the (Metals) manufacturing and the (Solutions) design development.

London remains a focus from the supply of; shingle cladding to the Twickenham Allianz Stadium, unitised assemblies to the Two Fifty One tower block, and our contribution towards the family connected & highly significant Bomber Command Memorial in Green Park. 

Covid takes grip of the first 2 years of the decade but remote working and a change in working methods brings a new perspective.

Fire safe work permits the manufacturing facility to continue operating over this challenging time with re-cladding and remediation being a significant focus of the industry.

2025 brings a façade award to the business with the supply of the geometrically striking re-cladding of The Hexagon Tower in Manchester, winning “best use of a rainscreen system using aluminium”.