The company behind the gates
Mr Gates is a trading brand of Mr Gates Fabrication Specialists Ltd, company number 06883838, based in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire and founded in 2009. We design, manufacture, install and maintain automated gates, traffic barriers, bollards, access control, fencing and railings for commercial sites, homes and public estates.
How it started, which was not according to plan
The founder did not come into metalwork. He read Economics and Politics, went into tax, then into property development. Building his own house needed an architectural metalwork package, he got involved in designing and installing it, and he came out the other side thinking there was a business in it.
So he set one up with an experienced fabricator, specialising in bespoke gates and railings. Three months later the fabricator left.
What was left was a growing order book, from family, friends, local architects, churches, temples and word of mouth, and nobody to make any of it. It was sink or swim. He learned fabrication, engineering, automation, electronics and installation because the alternative was letting people down.
The workshops
The first one was on a farm in Nettleden, at premises owned by Blaine's Trailers. Around 2009 to 2010 the business moved to Bourne End Industrial Estate and eventually took three units there.
2014, and the building
The business consolidated into its own premises in Berkhamsted, bought from Paul Tuffin, who wanted the building to pass to a successful local metalworking business rather than to whoever bid highest. Offices and capability have been added to it since. It is still where everything is made.
The early years, honestly
The first van came from the founder's godfather for 850 pounds and ran for about four years. A Kia Picanto bought new under the scrappage scheme stayed in the business until it was retired in 2026. It was funded on credit cards and everything went back in. Vehicles have been leased since 2012, which felt like a considerable step up at the time.
The family
The company was founded by a brother and sister. The sister joined full time in 2012. In 2021 Daryl Griffiths, the Contracts Manager, who had come up through the business, became Managing Director, which let the founder step back to the commercial and finance side.
Where it went
MG Group grew out of these foundations, and Mr Gates remains a core part of it. A 2014 contract with Dacorum Borough Council accelerated the move into the commercial sector. Early light commercial work included a project in Antibes, in the South of France, which is not a sentence most gate companies in Berkhamsted get to write.
In the last two years, labour partnerships alongside our own team have extended our reach nationally. You can see the shape of that on the work we do.
Timeline
| Year | What happened |
|---|---|
| 2009 | Mr Gates Fabrication Specialists Ltd incorporated in April. First workshop on a farm in Nettleden, then Bourne End Industrial Estate |
| 2012 | The founder's sister joins the business full time |
| 2014 | Own premises purchased in Berkhamsted. Contract with Dacorum Borough Council begins, and the move into commercial work accelerates |
| 2021 | Daryl Griffiths, the Contracts Manager who came up through the business, is appointed Managing Director |
| Recent years | Labour partnerships and our own team extend the reach nationally, including work for Biffa in Cornwall and Gilbert-Ash in Manchester and Scotland |
The service and reactive team
The people who answer the phone and turn up have been doing it for a long time, which in this trade is unusual and worth saying.
Sunil
Head of Department
With us since 2009Maria
Service and Reactive Manager
With us since 2019Jason
Service and Reactive Engineer
With us since 2019Jonathan
Service and Reactive Engineer
With us since 2019They are the team behind gate servicing and repairs.
Mr Gates and MG Group
Mr Gates and MG Group are two brands of one company, Mr Gates Fabrication Specialists Ltd, company number 06883838. Not a group of separate businesses, and not a parent and a subsidiary: the same people, the same workshop, the same accreditations.
Mr Gates covers gates, barriers, bollards, access control, fencing, railings and all the servicing. MG Group covers the architectural and structural metalwork side: balustrades, staircases, cladding and structural steel.
Reviews
MG Group is rated 4.1 out of 5 from 24 Google reviews.
That rating belongs to MG Group, the group brand, not to Mr Gates. Mr Gates does not yet have its own Google Business Profile, and we would rather tell you that than borrow a score.
Working here
We are always keen to hear from experienced gate and access control engineers. Vacancies across the business are listed on the group site: current vacancies at MG Group.
Made in Berkhamsted
