Chalkboards UK and handmade burger Co.

It's a dull, wet Thursday morning at The Bull Ring in Birmingham. Matt and I have arrived at handmade burger Co. to take some photos of our products in use at their restaurant just outside Selfridges. We are immediately made to feel very welcome by the Manager and her staff, who show us around the premises and where our products can be found.

Chalkboards UK has been working with handmade burger Co. for nearly 5 years, supplying them with a number of off-the-shelf products and some items designed specifically for their restaurants.

As you walk towards the restaurant, you'll notice one of our WC171 A1 A-Frame Poster Holders used to promote footfall from passers-by. In the window by the front door, hangs a double-sided poster holder we developed especially for handmade burger Co. The window display repeats the message in the A-Frame and highlight what you can expect when you sit down to eat.

Inside the restaurant, you'll find off-the-shelf products like our condiments holders, bar caddies, wall-mounted poster holders and cutlery holders (although these are used to hold crayons for the kids' colouring sheets). The bespoke items include the window hanging display, table number holders and Maître D' plinths.

All of the products we supply fit in well with the restaurant, complimenting the rustic and 'handmade' ambience handmade burger Co. has created - see the pics below. 

The photo shoot is over and it's nearly lunchtime, so where better to have some lunch?! We're treated to a fantastic peppered beef burger, thick-cut rosemary fries and some Cajun onion rings, all washed down with a glass of ice cold Brooklyn Lager. I can honestly say that it's the best burger I've ever tasted - it made my son very jealous when I showed him this picture, so I guess I'll have to take him there soon!

If you would like any more information on our off-the-shelf products, please visit our website. If you'd like us to develop bespoke chalkboard or wooden products for your restaurants, pubs, bars, shops or a promotional campaign, please do not hesitate to contact us on 01384 445844 and ask for Sales.

Mark Denison
Communications Director - Chalkboards UK


A little bit about handmade burger Co.

One day, whilst sitting in his kitchen, where he has most of his best ideas, our owner Chris decided that he would like to open a burger restaurant with a difference… Chris wanted a burger restaurant that made everything by hand, using only the freshest and finest ingredients. In 2006, along with his two brothers, Chris found the perfect location for their first family-run restaurant at Brindleyplace, in his hometown of Birmingham, and so handmade burger Co. was born... to read on CLICK HERE

To Chalk Pen, or not to Chalk Pen?...

At Chalkboards UK, we manufacture a wide range of blackboard products from various materials for different applications.

When we first started manufacturing chalkboards, over a decade ago, all our outdoor products were made using 6mm water-resistant MDF, painted with blackboard paint. These products worked well with stick chalk, which we still sell today.

We then started selling a limited range of liquid chalk pens - packs of white or assorted colours in 2 different nib sizes. We quickly realised that these pens caused a problem on the painted MDF. The liquid chalk applies very easily, can create some very vivid and impactful chalkboard messages, doesn't wash off in the rain; but, even using professional chalkboard cleaners, the liquid chalk leaves a ghosted image. Over time, this ghosting builds up and detracts from any new chalked messages.

We tried extra coats of blackboard paint, new cleaning materials and even supplying tins of blackboard paint, but none of the solutions we found were ideal.

After a great deal of research and tests with materials such as Foamex, we discovered a blackboard high pressure laminate (HPL), which was ideal for a whole range of our products - and the liquid chalk pens wipe off leaving no ghost image. The HPL has to be imported and is a very expensive material, so we decided to offer a choice between painted MDF and HPL, depending on the customer's requirements - but always advising to use stick chalk only with MDF.

We are now able to supply most of our products in a choice of painted MDF, Foamex, HPL and a new mid-price MDF product with an 'Easy to Clean' surface laminated onto both sides.

NEW Chalk Pen Range
On top of that, we've just expanded the chalk pen range to include some great new colours - CLICK HERE to visit the Chalk Pens Section.

Info Pages
There's more information on the website, with dedicated pages for Chalkboard Care and Chalkboard Surfaces.

If you would like any more information about these products and their application, please do not hesitate to contact us on 01384 445844 or e-mail sales@chalkboardsuk.co.uk

... but please don't forget - ONLY USE STICK CHALK on painted MDF!