Experience of Broadaxe Timber Frame?

[Owain1602]

Hello,

 

I visited the Homebuilding Show at the NEC on Sunday, and came across a company called Broadaxe Timber Frame. 

They had on display their Larsen Truss frame system with blown cellulose (very similar to MBC from a distance), also guaranteed airtightness <0.6. They also offered services  beyond the frame (Kore insulated raft) through their parent construction company (think they were called Firth Construction).

 

Interestingly, they are based in Presteigne, Wales which is where Frame Technologies are based. 

 

Was wondering if anyone has come across them?

 

Thanks!

Edited March 25, 2025 by Owain1602

[Owain1602]

Hm…that’s not a good start, nobody has spoken or used them for their build?

Edited April 3, 2025 by Owain1602

[Thorfun]

Doesn’t mean they’re no good. Just means you need to do more research! Companies house checks. Google searches. Ask them to visit on-going and previous builds etc. 

 

we used Flight Timber and visited previous builds and were very happy with our build in the end. Didn’t stop them from going under and people losing money though 

 

so no matter who you choose you have to be careful. There are a number of threads on here about the subject. 

Edited April 3, 2025 by Thorfun

[garrymartin]

On 25/03/2025 at 07:01, Owain1602 said:

Interestingly, they are based in Presteigne, Wales which is where Frame Technologies are based.

This post came up whilst I was doing some research for my Timber Frame notes after @Great_scot_selfbuild mentioned Broadaxe.

 

Frame Technologies aren't just based in the same location, they appear to be based in the same yard! All the signage on Google Maps Street View says Frame Technologies, but the location also shows Broadaxe Timber Frames and Firth Construction on the general map and it is the location both companies list as their address (Broadaxe and Firth). And yet Frame Technologies and Broadaxe Timber Frames do not appear to share directors or any form of ownership of one another.

 

Not sure whether anyone else has information on the links between the two companies? Perhaps @Great_scot_selfbuild?

[Great_scot_selfbuild]

8 hours ago, garrymartin said:

Frame Technologies aren't just based in the same location, they appear to be based in the same yard!

Sort of... looks like google has yet to catch up - Frame Technologies sold their yard to Broadaxe very recently who were literally (by coincidence) just down the road. As far as I understood, I thought Frame Technologies had stopped operating, but I've just checked companies house and that's unchanged. Afraid I can't comment on Frame Technologies, but here's my experience of Broadaxe.

 

We've used Broadaxe and have been very pleased with the experience. Our build (very non-standard, complete with a curved stairwell - all in the Larsen-truss system) has just achieved 0.64, though as mentioned in another thread - I'm putting the 0.04 down to non-TF reasons.

 

Broadaxe summary:

Lewers Firth is the MD and his carpentry background and focus on quality and customer satisfaction really stood out to us. I visited their factory mid-build of our frame and was impressed with the setup and the installation didn't disappoint.

Our design was done by an architect for planning, we then used an Architectural Technician / CAD designer for building regs drawings and around this time we (finally) selected our Broadaxe as our TF supplier. Broadaxe costs included all the structural engineering and design of the TF (some of the TF companies, not all, wanted us to pay for the SE separately which would have brought in the VAT costs as a professional service rather than being part of the TF provision).

I arranged joint teams calls with all our design team (Broadaxe, Window supplier, Foundation Structural Engineer - my SE for everything up to the wall plate for the TF to sit on, and our Architectural technician who was still contracted to formally produce the 'construction drawings', but the frame itself was done by the designer contracted by Broadaxe). These joint calls were exceptionally valuable and enabled me to spot issues such as the window supplier and architectural technician showing the window schedule from the opposite sides (one looking in, one looking out!).

The windows were ordered off design 4 months out and the apertures made by Broadaxe were basically mm perfect, including where we had two huge steel columns and lintel.

 

My TF search:

I did extensive searching and tendering for TF company - I would strongly support the mention of checking companies house; I now do this for all trades / phases of the build. It doesn't mean I only use huge companies, but it means I know what I'm going in to and to manage my risk. I look for (in particular) when companies were started, how many directors they have and then (probably most important) how many companies the directors have been linked to and whether they are set up and closed quite readily.

TF suppliers I got quotes from:

Broadaxe (selected)

Arfon

Blokbuild

Flitcraft

MBC

Solo Timber Frame

Stickbuild

UK Structures Ltd

 

Based on the same tender document being sent out, the quotes ranged from £74k to £263k(!!). I spent a lot of time poring over the fine print and looking at how much detail they had considered and excluded (stated or implied).

 

Broadaxe was somewhere in the middle and for the specification and quality I believe they've been good value and (almost more importantly) easy to work with.

 

@garrymartin Good luck in your research.

 

[Jeremyw]

@Great_scot_selfbuild 

Thanks for the insight on BroadAxe. I sent out some initial enquiries a few weeks back and was impressed with the response I received from them. Interestingly, I sent the exact same enquiry to Frame Technologies but didn’t receive a reply. 

 

Pleased to note your positive experience. I will definitely return to them upon completion of our design which is now in progress.

 

Are you able to provide a bit more insight on the responses you received i.e. the detail or lack there of?

 

Also, how did you structure your tender document and what sort of information did you include on your inquiry?

 

Thanks

Jeremy 

[LnP]

On 22/06/2026 at 06:04, Great_scot_selfbuild said:

Sort of... looks like google has yet to catch up - Frame Technologies sold their yard to Broadaxe very recently who were literally (by coincidence) just down the road. As far as I understood, I thought Frame Technologies had stopped operating, but I've just checked companies house and that's unchanged. Afraid I can't comment on Frame Technologies, but here's my experience of Broadaxe.

 

Frame Technologies are still in business, but with only two employees, Simon Orrells and his wife.  Everything is sub-contracted out, including manufacture of the frames, albeit to a manufacturer who I believe is STA Gold. I think a previous incarnation got into trouble when a large order with a developer customer went bad. The consequence was that he had to sell the factory and let go all his employees. I'm sure it must have been a traumatic experience and he must have considered finding an easier way to spend his time, but he decided to get back into the business with this company structure - no fixed assets and no employees. He's a tremendous guy with huge experience which would be an asset to any project. I'm sure he has happy customers and could deliver a service as good as any other frame supplier and maybe better than some. But you need to do your financial due diligence and satisfy yourself you're happy doing business with a supplier with this rather unorthodox structure.

[Nickfromwales]

39 minutes ago, LnP said:

Frame Technologies are still in business, but with only two employees, Simon Orrells and his wife.  Everything is sub-contracted out, including manufacture of the frames, albeit to a manufacturer who I believe is STA Gold. I think a previous incarnation got into trouble when a large order with a developer customer went bad. The consequence was that he had to sell the factory and let go all his employees. I'm sure it must have been a traumatic experience and he must have considered finding an easier way to spend his time, but he decided to get back into the business with this company structure - no fixed assets and no employees. He's a tremendous guy with huge experience which would be an asset to any project. I'm sure he has happy customers and could deliver a service as good as any other frame supplier and maybe better than some. But you need to do your financial due diligence and satisfy yourself you're happy doing business with a supplier with this rather unorthodox structure.

I feel for the guy, having been through similar myself. This is a very difficult industry in which to pick one’s self up from, and restart, as you have to ask people to entrust a lot of money up front, and only your trading history and client references can perpetuate this.

 

When little fish get knocked by big fish, it causes irreparable, or sadly often terminal amounts of damage.  

 

They seem to be genuine, and if so I wish them the best in reestablishing their business (and reputation).

 

Thanks for taking the effort to post these details, a lot of people read them.

[Great_scot_selfbuild]

On 20/07/2026 at 20:06, Jeremyw said:

Are you able to provide a bit more insight on the responses you received i.e. the detail or lack there of?

 

Also, how did you structure your tender document and what sort of information did you include on your inquiry?

I’ll try to dig out the tender doc I sent. I went through a bit of evolution in how tenders were written / structured. ChatGPT can be a great help, but in general I found less is more - if you send out to much then it may not even get a response (even if it does contain the detail they would need). Here’s one of the examples of what I sent:

 

***********************

Hi [name - I always made a point of contacting them by phone first],

 

We spoke the other week about our self-build project. Would you please quote for the attached design. [included the BR designs by our architectural technician; once we selected our TF supplier, then the detail of the construction drawings were developed, and any BR drawings were updated at the end]

 

House:

0.6ACPH (to quote for assuring this value once windows installed - to be done by EcoHaus; UK based and experienced at meeting passive-level performance).

U=0.11 walls & roof

Roof insulated and built up to the point of roof finish (standing seam) to be installed.

Internal service void of 50mm.

Floor - not required, will be beam & block (by others).

Wall insulation preferred = blown cellulose e.g. warmcell/steico.

Include for steel as required for spans. 

Include structural calculations as required for the timber frame. 

Include for plant / lifting equipment as required, noting access constraints (attached doc). 

Include internal walls, with 100mm stud thickness to allow for sound insulation (by others). 

 

Kind regards,

 

*******************

Hope this helps

Sent from Outlook for iOS

[Jeremyw]

@Great_scot_selfbuild Thanks for coming back to me. Certainly doesn’t look too onerous to me.  Good to get an insight of structure and content though. 
 

We’re early stages of design but trying to get ahead and be as prepared and organised as possible!