Ask three different suppliers to quote for a “heavy-duty steel stillage” and you’ll get three wildly different prices — not because one is trying to fleece you, but because each has quietly made its own assumptions about size, load, finish and certification. A vague enquiry produces a vague quote, and a vague quote almost always unravels later into revisions, delays and cost that nobody budgeted for.
At Lowe Stillages & Cages we manufacture bespoke steel stillages, cages, post pallets, collapsible metal pallets and trolleys in the UK, and the single biggest thing that separates a smooth project from a painful one is the quality of the information we receive at the start. This guide walks you through exactly what we need — and, just as importantly, why we need it — so you can get an accurate stillage quote the first time round, with no surprises down the line.
Why the detail matters before you buy
A bespoke stillage is a load-bearing steel structure that has to survive being lifted, stacked, forked, dragged, filled and emptied — often thousands of times, sometimes in harsh environments. It isn’t a shelf. Every dimension, every kilogram of load and every handling method feeds directly into the steel gauge we select, the way we brace the frame and the price we can offer.
When you provide complete information at enquiry stage, three good things happen:
- The price is real. We can cost the actual steel, labour, finishing and certification your job needs, rather than padding the figure to cover unknowns. A well-specified enquiry is almost always cheaper than a vague one.
- The design is right first time. Full detail lets us propose the most suitable solution up front — whether that’s a standard product, a modified version of one, or a genuinely bespoke build — instead of going through rounds of revisions.
- The timeline holds. Chasing missing information is the most common cause of quoting delays. The more you tell us now, the faster we can respond and the more reliably we can commit to a lead time.
Think of the list below as a briefing document. You won’t always have every answer, and that’s fine — we’d far rather you told us “not sure yet” than guessed. But the closer you can get, the sharper the quote.
1. The basics: who, what and how many
Your details and delivery point
We need a name, company, email and phone number so we can raise your quote and follow up. We also need the delivery postcode early — not at the end. Stillages are bulky, heavy items, and transport to a Highlands industrial estate is a very different cost from a delivery to the Midlands. A postcode also lets us flag any access constraints (curtain-sider vs. tail-lift, forklift availability on site) before they become a problem.
What the stillage is for
Tell us what you’ll actually be storing or moving. “Automotive body panels”, “1000-litre IBCs”, “aluminium extrusions up to 6m”, “compressed gas cylinders” — each of these points us straight to the right design language and often to an existing product family. The intended contents also drive safety-critical decisions: fragile parts need protection and separation; hazardous or pressurised contents bring their own regulatory requirements.
Quantities and order type
How many units do you need, and how many items go in each stillage? Just as important: is this a prototype, a pre-production batch, or a bulk order? Volume changes the economics considerably — tooling and setup that make no sense for a single unit are easily absorbed across fifty. Being clear about likely future repeat orders also helps us design something that scales sensibly. If you’re unsure how many you need, our guide on working out the right number of stillages is a useful starting point.
2. Dimensions and load — the numbers that shape the steel
This is where accuracy earns its keep. We work to millimetres, and small changes here can have a big effect on both design and price.
Stillage dimensions
Give us the external length, width and height you want, along with any hard limits. Common constraints include the internal dimensions of a shipping container, the clear height under a mezzanine, standard racking bay sizes, or the aperture of a doorway the unit must pass through. If there’s a footprint it absolutely must not exceed — a marked floor bay, for instance — tell us. Our guide to stillage measurement and dimensional requirements explains how to take these figures cleanly.
Load dimensions and weight
We need the length, width and height of the items going inside, and — critically — the load weight in kilograms. Understating the weight to keep the price down is a false economy: it results in an under-engineered structure that can fail in service, which is dangerous and far more expensive than getting it right. If loads vary, give us the heaviest realistic case. If items are stacked or nested inside, describe how, so we can account for the way weight is actually distributed across the base.
Stacking
Will your stillages need to stack — on one another, or on units you already own? Stacking is one of the most demanding requirements a stillage can have, because a unit at the bottom of a stack of four carries not just its own contents but the full weight of everything above it. If you’re stacking, we need to know the stack height and whether stacking happens loaded or empty. Our guidance on safe stacking and storage practices is worth a read alongside your enquiry.
3. Handling and access: how the stillage will be used
Lifting and forklift handling
How will the unit be moved? If it will be lifted by crane, hoist or gantry — either from the top or via a lifting frame — that changes everything about how we design and certify it (more on certification below). If it will be handled by forklift, tell us and we can integrate fork guides or fork pockets; please give us the fork dimensions and spacing you use so the guides actually fit your trucks.
Loading and unloading access
How do goods get in and out? Options include a half drop front, a full drop front, a hinged gate, removable panels, or open sides. Tell us whether items are placed by hand, by forklift, or with a lift-assist device, and from which direction. This shapes the whole front-face design and is far cheaper to get right at the drawing stage than to retrofit.
Mobility and castors
If the unit needs to be moved by hand, it likely needs castors — and the type matters. Let us know whether you need fixed, swivel or braked wheels, roughly what mix, and above all what surface they’ll run on. Smooth warehouse concrete, block paving, steel ship decking and rough external yards all call for different wheel materials and diameters. Our guide to choosing the right castors covers the trade-offs.
Securing and separating the load
How are the contents held in place, especially in transit? Do parts need to be separated to prevent damage, or kept apart for process reasons? Features such as fixed or removable internal partitions, dividers, dunnage and protective inserts all need to be specified now, as they’re integral to the structure rather than bolt-on extras. For fragile or high-value items, see our advice on designing stillages for fragile items.
Collapsibility and returns logistics
If empty stillages have to travel back to you — a common reality in returnable-transit-packaging loops — the cost of shipping fresh air quickly dwarfs the price of the units. A collapsible metal pallet or a post pallet with removable posts can fold down to a fraction of its erected height, so you get far more empties on a return trailer. If space or return transport is a concern, flag it and we’ll factor collapsibility into the design.
4. Certification, testing and compliance
This is the area customers most often overlook, and it can have the biggest bearing on both price and legality. In 2026, the UK framework you need to be aware of is straightforward once explained.
UKCA marking
For products placed on the market in Great Britain, UKCA (UK Conformity Assessed) marking is the relevant conformity route where a stillage falls within scope of the applicable regulations. We manufacture to UKCA requirements and can supply the accompanying certificates, test information and declarations. If your goods will also move into the EU, tell us, as CE marking may be relevant there too — but for the GB market, UKCA is the starting point. Our explainer on what UKCA certification is and why it matters goes into more depth.
LOLER — for anything that gets lifted
If your stillage will be lifted with its load inside — by crane, hoist or lifting frame — it becomes lifting equipment, and the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER) apply. That means it must be designed for the task, proof-load tested and supplied with the appropriate documentation, and it will need periodic thorough examination in service. Our certified lifting stillages are built and tested specifically for this, and we cover the detail in our guide to stillage load capacity under LOLER. If there’s any chance the unit will be hoisted, tell us at enquiry stage — retro-certifying a stillage that wasn’t designed for lifting is rarely possible.
PUWER — for equipment used at work
The Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 (PUWER) apply to work equipment more broadly, requiring that it’s suitable for its intended use, maintained and safe to operate. It’s worth understanding how PUWER applies to stillages so you can specify features that keep you compliant.
Load testing
Beyond LOLER-mandated testing, you may want proof-load testing for peace of mind, insurance or customer requirements. Tell us if testing is required and to what capacity, and we’ll build it into the quote. Our article on why load testing is carried out explains what it involves.
5. Finish, environment and special requirements
Colour and coating
If colour matters — for corporate branding, zoning or client specification — please give us the RAL colour code rather than a description, so there’s no ambiguity between “grey” and “grey”. Equally important is the coating type. Wet spray paint, powder coating, hot-dip galvanising and electroplating each offer a different balance of durability, corrosion resistance and cost. For anything living outdoors, in a wash-down area or in a corrosive atmosphere, the right finish is a functional decision, not a cosmetic one — our guide to protective finishes helps you choose.
The operating environment
Tell us where and how the stillage will live and work. Outdoor storage, marine or coastal exposure, high-hygiene food or pharmaceutical settings, extreme temperatures, or clean-room and contamination-controlled areas all impose specific material, finish and design requirements. Sector context helps too — we have dedicated experience across nuclear, defence and other regulated industries, each with their own conventions.
Anything else that’s unique to you
Surface-contamination limits, static-dissipative requirements, tamper-evidence or security locking, RFID/labelling provision, compatibility with automated handling (AMR/AGV) — if it’s a constraint in your world, it’s relevant to ours. There’s no such thing as too much context.
6. Drawings, designs and design support
You don’t need engineering drawings to get a quote — a clear description and dimensions are enough to start. But if you have them, they help enormously. Anything you can share speeds things up and reduces the risk of misunderstanding:
- CAD models or STEP files of the stillage or the items it will carry
- Engineering drawings or dimensioned sketches, even hand-drawn ones
- Photographs of an existing unit you want copied, improved or replaced
- A sample part, if you can send one
If you don’t have a design, that’s exactly what our in-house team is for. We offer CAD and 3D-printing support, and for structurally demanding or safety-critical work we can run Finite Element Analysis (FEA) to verify a design’s strength before we ever cut steel. That’s particularly valuable for hoisted items and heavily loaded frames, where it’s far better to prove the design on screen than to discover a weakness in the yard.
A quick pre-enquiry checklist
Before you get in touch, it’s worth having these to hand — even partial answers move the quote forward:
- Contact details and delivery postcode
- What you’re storing or moving, and the load weight in kg
- Stillage dimensions and any hard size limits
- Quantity, and whether it’s a prototype, batch or bulk order
- How it’s handled: forklift, crane/hoist, or castors — and on what surface
- How goods are loaded and unloaded
- Whether units need to stack or collapse
- Certification and testing needs (UKCA, LOLER lifting, load test capacity)
- Finish and RAL colour, plus any environmental or special requirements
- Any drawings, photos or samples you can share
Don’t worry if there are gaps — that’s precisely what a conversation with our team is for. Even avoiding the most common pitfalls goes a long way, and our guide to the mistakes to avoid when buying stillages is a good companion read.
Ready to get an accurate quote?
The more you tell us, the sharper and faster your quote — and the more likely your stillages are right first time. If you’d like to browse before you enquire, take a look at our range of standard steel stillages and bespoke stillage solutions; many customers find a standard product they can simply have modified to suit.
When you’re ready, get a quote using our enquiry form or contact the Lowe team directly. Send us as much detail as you have, and we’ll turn it into a clear, competitive and properly engineered proposal — designed and manufactured right here in the UK.