Our History

Building Reputations Since 1928

As a company, the future is definitely on the up, with our work focusing on structural steelwork and architectural metalwork packages for the construction industry.

But Allister Welding can trace its roots back to the 1930's and industrial maintenance work and, most famously, at sea where we designed and built the modern steelwork on Brighton’s iconic Palace Pier.

Built on steel
From early roots in Greengate Street, Plaistow, where George McAllister founded the company in 1928, Allister Welding have always been a solid, family firm that have looked to future technologies for the quality steelwork solutions our clients need.

Allister Welding were one of the first companies to develop arc welding as a mainstream technique for the industrial maintenance work that helped to develop the company initially.

Fast forward to the 1960s, and the company has built new plant in Canning Town and invested heavily in plate rolling and forming equipment.

It’s now 1975, and Peter McAllister has joined and will become Managing Director in 1985, after the retirement of Douglas McAllister. The company is establishing a solid reputation by designing and fabricating complex process plant and mooring and navigation buoys for the British and American navies.

Onwards and upwards
Having achieved ISO 9001:2000 accreditation in 1992, Allister Welding started gearing up for a ‘sea change’ of our own, a determined move into the construction industry. While this meant a move into a new sector, Allister Welding were taking with them a host of eminently transferable fabrication and high finish metal working skills – and a solid reputation based on customer loyalty and quality work.

A move to larger premises provided much-needed space to expand our production, to trial build complex architectural structures and handle the largest steel sections.

Through a number of site moves and a deliberate progression into the construction industry, Allister Welding have remained true to our roots, and the core values that have transformed a family concern into a thoroughly modern and industry-respected company.