Second fix carpentry
Doors, ironmongery, trim, panelling and finish joinery, including FD30 and FD60 fire door sets in commercial premises.
Commercial carpentry
Shopfitting and commercial fit-out
Shopfitting contractors for retail units, drive-thrus, restaurants, offices and industrial conversions, working to brand drawings and fixed opening dates. Send the plan and the programme and you get a priced package.
Scope
Empty unit to opening date.
Shopfitting has one deadline that does not move: the opening date. Everything else on the job is negotiable, that is not. AJB Group works to brand drawings and fixed handover dates, taking a unit from stripped shell through structure, frontage and interior to the point where the fit-out specialists and the equipment installers walk in.
The scope covers shop fronts and glazing frames, temporary hoarding while works are under way, stud and ply frontages, false pillars and feature build-ups, drive-thru structures and windows, remedial and flat roof works to get a building water tight before first fix begins, internal partitions, counters and back-of-house joinery, and office fit-outs inside industrial units.
Working to a brand's own design is routine. At Hemsworth the exterior of a new Costa was clad to Costa's 2022 design, including British red cedar to the drive-thru section, which was fiddly work and looked it when it was finished. At Northampton an old disused nightclub was turned into a KFC and Taco Bell: the existing windows, doors and signage display were taken out, temporary hoarding went up, and the front was rebuilt to plan with false pillars and an entirely new stud and ply frontage ready for opening the following week.
Fit-out contracts are priced from the plan and the programme, supply and fit or labour only, and are covered by CHAS accreditation, SMSTS certification and project-specific RAMS.
Fit-out capability
- Frontage
- Shop fronts, glazing frames, stud and ply fronts, false pillars
- Security
- Temporary hoarding during works
- Weathering
- GRP flat roofs, warm roofs, Celotex boarding, remedial roof works
- Interior
- Partitions, counters, back-of-house joinery, ceilings
- Drive-thru
- Structures, service windows, clad elevations
- Office
- Office fit-outs inside industrial units, canteens, dividing walls
- Design
- In-house 3D renders before work starts
- Compliance
- CHAS, SMSTS, project RAMS
Evidence
Fit-outs already delivered.
Drive-thru and restaurant. A Costa and KFC retail park build at Hemsworth, with the Costa exterior clad to the brand's 2022 design and British red cedar to the drive-thru section. At Northampton town centre, a disused nightclub converted into a KFC and Taco Bell: a GRP flat roof across the back to get the building water tight for first fix, a second warm roof boarded in Celotex and GRP, then a full rip out and rebuild of the frontage to plan with false pillars, new stud and ply and temporary hoarding. Further work has followed for the same private client at Costa Coffee in Leeds, Taco Bell in Tottenham, a six-storey apartment block in Tottenham, and a Starbucks in Wales converted from a disused Little Chef with remedial roof works and a flat roof section for the new drive-thru window.
Retail and town centre. At 17-19 High Street in Grantham for Probus Construction, the package included new shop front windows and hoarding, a full timber window frontage craned in with a unique half moon head, and a pharmacy shop fit-out alongside the nine apartments above.
Industrial and office. Fleet Hargate took full office fit-outs across 8 industrial units with a further 3 in Spalding, 11 units in total, following 11 joist sets. Office refits at two industrial units in Crowland were run as a full supply and fit with in-house 3D renders produced first. In Gainsborough a warehouse was framed out for a meal prep company, 14 hours on the saw in a day. In Boston an old gym was converted into a prep kitchen supplying school meals across Lincolnshire, the second unit converted for M Yould & Sons. The carpentry tender for a new Tente Castors industrial unit in Peterborough was won from Probus Construction. Office refits in staff cabins were carried out at the HS2 concrete plant in Nottingham, and a canteen fit-out for Floorspan Contracts.
Brands and clients built for
- Food and drink
- Costa, KFC, Taco Bell, Starbucks
- Industrial
- Tente Castors, M Yould & Sons, Floorspan Contracts
- Main contractors
- Probus Construction
- Locations
- Northampton, Hemsworth, Tottenham, Leeds, Wales, Nottingham
Related packages
What usually comes with a fit-out.
Most fit-outs need structure before they need finish. These are the packages that sit alongside.
1st fix carpentry
Framing out a unit, stud partitions, structural floors and the timber that gets a commercial shell to plasterable.
Full carpentry packages
The whole carpentry scope on a scheme under one appointment, priced from drawings with one point of responsibility.
Back to commercial carpentry · Case study: Costa and KFC drive-thru fit-outs
Pricing, programme and access
Send the brand drawings or the architect's plan, the programme and the opening date. What comes back is a package price with the scope broken out, plus a view on what has to happen first: on conversions the honest answer is usually roof and weathering before anything else, because there is no point starting first fix in a building that leaks.
Trading environments are dealt with as they come. Temporary hoarding, out-of-hours working and phased access are all normal on retail and town centre work, and the crane lift for a full timber window frontage at Grantham was booked bright and early to clear the town centre before the street filled up.
AJB Group is CHAS accredited and SMSTS certified with a retained health and safety consultant and project-specific RAMS. Work is taken supply and fit or labour only.
Smaller commercial premises
Not every fit-out is a national brand. Dividing walls to split offices from a workshop, a canteen fit-out, a swim spa fit-out, a dental or salon interior: the same team does these, priced the same way. If you run a small business and want a unit turned around, ask for a site visit and a written estimate rather than a tender pack.
Common questions
Shopfitting, answered
What kinds of shopfitting and fit-out do you take on?
Shop fronts and hoarding, drive-thru builds, retail and restaurant interiors, office fit-outs inside industrial units, and full unit conversions. We have built to brand drawings for Costa, KFC, Taco Bell and Starbucks, and converted warehouses and an old gym into commercial kitchens.
Can you work to a brand's own design and drawings?
Yes. At Hemsworth retail park the exterior of a new Costa was clad to Costa's 2022 design, including British red cedar to the drive-thru section. At Northampton the old nightclub frontage was rebuilt to plan with false pillars and a new stud and ply front for KFC and Taco Bell.
Do you deal with hoarding and keeping a unit secure during the works?
Yes. Temporary hoarding was installed at Northampton while the existing windows, doors and signage display were taken out and the frontage rebuilt, and new shop front windows and hoarding formed part of the Grantham package.
Can you get a unit water tight before fit-out starts?
Yes, and it is often the first task. At the Northampton KFC and Taco Bell conversion the first job was fitting a GRP flat roof across the back to get the building water tight so first fix could begin, followed by a second warm roof boarded in Celotex and GRP.
Do you fit out offices inside industrial units?
Regularly. At Fleet Hargate the package covered full office fit-outs across 8 industrial units plus 3 more in Spalding, 11 units in total. Office refits at two industrial units in Crowland were managed as a full supply and fit with in-house 3D renders produced first so the client could see the result before work started.
How far do you travel for fit-out work?
Fit-out contracts have taken us to Northampton, Hemsworth, Tottenham, Leeds and Wales, as well as Nottingham for office refits in staff cabins at the HS2 concrete plant. Accommodation is covered for working away, so distance is a programme question rather than a limit.
Got a unit and an opening date?
Send the plan and the programme and we will price the fit-out.