Cable management specialist Marshall-Tufflex, the go-to manufacturer for well-designed, hard-wearing and installer-friendly cable containment solutions, is a trusted supplier with more than 70 years’ experience of supporting the electrical contracting industry in the UK and worldwide.
The business, which remains family owned with its manufacturing base in Hastings, East Sussex, has established itself as offering the most comprehensive range of high quality PVC-U trunking and power delivery solutions on the market. This, coupled with great customer service and constant product development, has enabled Marshall-Tufflex to maintain its market-leading position.
Its tried-and-trusted range includes 10 high performance Cat 6 (and in some cases Cat 7) compliant trunking products including the unique all-curved Odyssey profile, which is available in standard and anti-microbial Bio versions. In addition it offers a wide variety of profiles including Twin 165, which provides greater space for data cabling, and Sterling XL for extra high capacity. Containment profiles are available in a variety of sizes, colours and finishes, including aluminium, steel and GRP. Bespoke orders are handled by a dedicated ‘specials’ team.
A good example of how well-specified cable management can enhance the final look of a project is the impressive refurbishment of the Pace Building within Durham University’s Palace Green Library. The 1960’s part-listed Pace Building unites wood, exposed steelwork, concrete and glass to provide university students with a beautifully executed, modern, hi-tech environment in which to study and to do research.
Each of the many desks within the library have power delivered by Marshall-Tufflex’s charcoal coloured Sterling Profile 1 dado trunking where a perimeter cable management solution was required.
Project mechanical and electrical building design consultant Desco, based in Sunderland, turned to Marshall-Tufflex, a brand name with which it is familiar, to provide cable containment that combined looks and performance and was in-line with GSS Architecture’s requirement for trunking to suit the architectural aesthetics of the building. Sterling Profile delivered the required style, colour and finish for the project together with functionality: as well as looking good the 167x50mm trunking has three segregated compartments that can be further sub-divided as required, making it an attractive and flexible solution.
The second key requirement of the project was an underfloor power delivery solution suited to the open plan environment. For this Marshall-Tufflex’s in-screed floor distribution system was specified.
All Marshall-Tufflex’s products were supplied by Edmundson Electrical, Durham, and installed by McVickers Electrical Contractors, Sunderland.
Marshall-Tufflex has built a solid reputation for providing robust, good-looking, fit-for-purpose cable management for education environments. Another recent project saw some 9,000 linear metres of two CAT 6 compliant profiles – Twin165 and Sterling Profile 1 – used throughout the re-building of Dormers Wells High School, Southall, London, and the remodelling of Cardinal Wiseman School, Greenford, London. In specifying for the two London Borough of Ealing schools, Balfour Beatty Engineering Services (BBES) required good-looking DDA compliant trunking systems with the capacity for large amounts of data and the flexibility for re-configuration.
“Marshall-Tufflex products are excellent!” said Geoff Ings, of electrical wholesaler Rexel Senate, which supplied the trunking. “Twin 165 was installed ‘double-banked’ to provide the three-compartmental system that was required. It was chosen for its aesthetics combined with its convenient size, which provides greater capacity without the need for larger trunking. Plus, as the internal arrangement of the new Dormers Wells building evolved during construction, its flexibility enabled engineers to think on their feet. Twin 165 has gone in to all areas, including where it is simply a future-proofed containment system ready for power and data supplies should the current layout be altered or new classrooms created. We supplied triple the original order, which initially was for the ICT suite alone.”
Approximately 5-6000 linear metres of Twin165 have been installed throughout the new Dormers Wells High School for the ICT infrastructure and other power supplies. Kevin O’Toole, BBES project manager, said: “Marshall-Tufflex’s trunking system has gone into all of the approximately 300 classrooms within the school where it supplies all of the data and some power and lighting. It looks the part.”
At Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School, the chosen Marshall-Tufflex containment system was three-compartment Sterling Profile 1 perimeter trunking in white. It too was supplied with DDA compliant accessories in charcoal. Sterling Profile 1 is one of Marshall-Tufflex’s PVC-U multi-compartment perimeter trunkings, which is available in different heights, designs, cable capacities and numbers of compartments to suit all installation requirements. As the first phase new build was to be followed by later refurbishments to the existing school, a compatible cable management system was required. “Our brief was a three-compartment PVC-U trunking in white to give us flexibility and to avoid any potential issues. We have used Marshall-Tufflex products before, they are good products,” said Tom Counihan, BBES project manager. “We have had no issues and are happy with the finish. Sterling Profile 1 has gone in successfully in phase 1 where it has been used widely throughout classrooms, offices, kitchens and the dining hall, which includes teaching areas.”
