Alimak Hek Ltd Celebrates 50th Anniversary

Alimak Hek was founded in Sweden, in 1948 by engineer and technical inventor Mr. Alvar Lindmark (1917-1975). It was soon after this, in 1962, that the development of the very first rack and pinion driven construction hoist would undoubtedly change the construction industry forever. Alvar Lindmark was fascinated by the biblical story of Jacob's ladder, which stretched right up to the kingdom of heaven. With this idea in mind, he sought the technical solution for building lifts closest to this vision. By letting the basket climb a towered mast, he created a simple, flexible and cost-effective lift.

Over the last 50 years in the UK, Alimak Hek’s construction hoists, work platforms and transport platforms have been used on many notable applications, such as the Channel Tunnel, Queensferry, Mersey and Severn Crossings, most of the structures on Canary Wharf, The Shard, Big Ben, Anfield, White Hart Lane and Wembley stadium (home of the English National team) and Heathrow Terminal 5.

Alimak Hek’s industrial range of lifts are found on many of the UK’s Industrial facilities including power stations, ports, cement plants and refineries, as well as offshore units on oil production vessels. In addition to these standard Industrial applications, they have also provided many diverse and interesting lifts, including the Glasgow Science Centre, with two rack & pinon lifts enabling visitors to travel 110m to the top of the observation tower, the Royal Opera House, where an impressive, specially designed ‘Get-In’ lift with a capacity of 24 tonnes and a floor area of over 85m² allows a lorry containing the stage scenery to be transported inside the building, and inclined cliff lifts for the RNLI, to provide access for equipment, personnel and casualties.

As well as providing vertical access solutions to the UK for the last 50 years, Alimak Hek Ltd also provide a range of after sales services, which include IPAF approved training, service, installation, spare parts, upgrades and refurbishments.

Based in Northamptonshire, Alimak Hek Ltd’s head office houses a dedicated workforce who contribute to its ongoing successes, plus the hardworking engineers based around the UK. The team are headed up by Country Manager, Russell Bates who has worked for Alimak Hek for 43 years!