{"id":9981,"date":"2026-10-30T08:55:26","date_gmt":"2026-10-30T08:55:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sthelensplant.co.uk\/blog\/?p=9981"},"modified":"2026-10-30T17:59:36","modified_gmt":"2026-10-30T17:59:36","slug":"st-helens-plant-announces-strategic-uk-partnership-with-van-thiel-united","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sthelensplant.co.uk\/blog\/company-news\/st-helens-plant-announces-strategic-uk-partnership-with-van-thiel-united\/","title":{"rendered":"St Helens Plant Announces Strategic UK Partnership with Van Thiel United"},"content":{"rendered":"

New UK-Netherlands partnership brings together European Tube-Lock\u00ae technology and British scaffolding expertise to expand product availability across the UK and Ireland.<\/h3>\n

<\/p>\n

St Helens Plant (SHP Services), a leading UK scaffolding supply, fabrication, and reconditioning specialist, is pleased to announce a new strategic partnership with Netherlands-based Van Thiel United (VTU).<\/p>\n

Following a meeting on Thursday, 29 October 2026, both companies confirmed a joint commitment to developing the UK and Irish markets for the advanced Tube-Lock\u00ae system.<\/p>\n

Direct Supply of European Innovation<\/h3>\n

At the centre of the partnership is Van Thiel United’s Tube-Lock<\/a>\u00ae connection technology, designed to deliver superior on-site efficiency and speed compared to conventional systems.<\/p>\n

For the first time, these highly sought-after Tube-Lock – previously only accessible via European distribution – can now be offered, supplied, and delivered directly through SHP\u2019s<\/a> extensive distribution network.<\/p>\n

Covering England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the offshore sector.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Tube-Lock
Tube-Lock – Van Thiel United \ud83c\uddf3\ud83c\uddf1 – SHP UK Partnership \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Planned Future UK Conversion Capabilities<\/h3>\n

Alongside immediate product supply, SHP and VTU are actively progressing plans to establish dedicated Tube-Lock\u00ae<\/em> tube conversion capabilities at SHP’s existing 35,000 sq ft North West manufacturing facility<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Once operational, this heavy-duty processing line will allow contractors to bring in their existing, used 48.3mm<\/em> standard scaffold tube to be straightened, cut, inspected and converted locally to Tube-Lock\u00ae.<\/p>\n

\u267b\ufe0f This service will allow businesses to cost-effectively upgrade their current stock into high-efficiency Tube-Lock\u00ae assets while entirely bypassing international logistics and import red tape.<\/div><\/div>\n

Specialist processing machinery is scheduled for installation and commissioning first quarter of 2027.<\/p>\n

Please note:<\/strong> the conversion facility is a planned future development and is not yet operational; further rollout details will follow as the project progresses.<\/div><\/div>\n

Looking Ahead<\/h3>\n

The immediate priority is the rollout of the Van Thiel United product range through SHP’s sales channels, supported by a joint product brochure and direct engagement across the NASC, Scaffolding Association, and wider UK supply chain.<\/p>\n

Together, SHP and Van Thiel United look forward to driving innovation, efficiency, and long-term asset value across the UK scaffolding sector.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Gordon Pilling, CEO St Helens Plant<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New UK-Netherlands partnership brings together European Tube-Lock\u00ae technology and British scaffolding expertise to expand product availability across the UK and Ireland.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10209,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"yes","_lmt_disable":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard","override":[{"template":"7","parallax":"1","layout":"no-sidebar-narrow","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"float","share_float_style":"share-normal","show_share_counter":"1","show_view_counter":"1","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_popup_post":"1","show_comment_section":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"1","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"1","show_post_reading_time":"1"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"no-crop","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","disable_ad":"0","override_image_size":"1","subtitle":"","trending_post":"0"},"jnews_primary_category":{"id":"278"},"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[49,278],"tags":[362,360,356,359,361,139,44,358,73,357],"class_list":["post-9981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-company-news","category-latest-news","tag-scaffold-tube-conversion","tag-scaffolding-connections","tag-scaffolding-industry","tag-scaffolding-innovation","tag-scaffolding-partnerships","tag-scaffolding-suppliers","tag-st-helens-plant","tag-tube-lock","tag-uk-scaffolding","tag-van-thiel-united"],"modified_by":"St Helens Plant","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sthelensplant.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sthelensplant.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sthelensplant.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sthelensplant.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sthelensplant.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9981"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sthelensplant.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9981\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10068,"href":"https:\/\/sthelensplant.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9981\/revisions\/10068"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sthelensplant.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sthelensplant.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sthelensplant.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sthelensplant.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}