Glassworks Services Handmade Supplying glass makers since 1987 - Part of the Simba Materials Ltd group - suppliers to hand made crafts

  Tel : 01709 770801

Co Reg No 5659119

   Fax : 01709 770803

enquiries@glassworksservices.co.uk  Simba Materials Limited t/a Glassworks Services Handmade  Unit 8 Broomhouse Lane Industrial Estate, Edlington, Doncaster DN12 1EQ

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Established in 1987 by Bill Simpson

Following 35 years as a glass maker, and as the technical director of a producer of glass making materials in the UK and in various countries in Europe, Bill set up his own company supplying materials to the glass melting industry.


Bill travelled all over the world meeting with other glassmakers, and helping improve melting at hundreds of small and very large well known factories in every continent. He became well known for his work at improving recipes and melting practices - container, crystal, flat and domestic ware - and for his published papers explaining how a more thorough understanding of the redox effect of each batch material will enable significant improvements to refining, colour and quality of the glass.


Additional work by Bill included : enabling quicker and more stable colour changes; creating more stable and predictable amber glasses taking into account sulphur retention capabilities of recipes based on more detailed understanding of the interaction between materials; and the relationship between colour and heat transmission enabling densely coloured glasses to more effectively, safely and controllably cool in the annealing lehrs.


Bill was made an Fellow of the Institute of Ceramics in 1975, a Fellow of the Society of Glass Technology in 1980, an Honorary Fellow in 2004, and a Member of the International Commission on Glass in 2000. He was also part of the team who established the European Society of Glass Technology.


Graeme Simpson joined the company in 1995 after a career in accountancy and treasury management (though he could probably write a glass recipe before he could walk), he studied for his MSc in Glass Technology at Sheffield and was made a Fellow of the Society of Glass Technology in 2008.

Since its inception Glassworks Services has been working in an industry in a state of continuous change: furnace size and machine speed changes, materials price fluctuations, material availability changes, legislation demands, environmental requirements  i.e. by products of other industries no longer available, change in export quotas from China, usage of materials needing to be reduced, thinner walled containers --- but the glass still needs to look and work the same.


So we constantly try to find new materials, or new forms of the same material, new combinations of materials, investigate old materials, or look for industries which create a similar by-product. What is thought of as too expensive now may be cost-effective in the future.


Our ability to find alternative materials led us to being asked many times for help by the handmade glass industry - so from the start of the century we started supplying metal oxides in small quantities, then in 2001 we stocked Kugler coloured glass rods and frits, followed by pre-made batches and pre-melted glass nuggets, polishing powders and tools from 2004 - gradually expanding the range of products. It is unlikely that much hand made glass in the UK does not at some point touch a product supplied by Glassworks Services Handmade.


In 2023 Glassworks Services Handmade became a division of Simba Materials Limited - being the company set up to operate CTM Potters Supplies. The original Glassworks Services Limited continues to supply full pallet lots of materials to the container glass industrybut the handmade glass market and ceramics craft market is looked after by Simba Materials Limited t/a Glassworks Services Handmade and t/a CTM Potters Supplies

Glassworks Services Handmade


Glassworks Services has operated a quality management system since 1996, meeting various new introduced standards over the years. It continues to operate its own internally audited system to ensure cost effective quality continuous improvement, and to monitor that the needs of all stakeholders are met.

Quality Management

CTM Potters Supplies

In early 2006, following many years working with CTM Supplies of Exeter - supplying metal oxides and in larger quantities to them, and they despatching in small lots for us - the family helped the owner to take semi-retirement and set up Simba Materials Limited t/as CTM Potters Supplies.


CTM had begun as a manufacturer of cobalt salts in Africa, and upon moving back to the UK, they supplied a wide variety of metal oxides to the ceramics industry. Their chemistry background led them to develop a range of glazes and underglazes, which we expanded when we became involved in the business.


We spent some time looking at health and safety, distribution and packaging changes and then started to expand the ranges of clays, tools, glazes, kilns, and wheels - some of which we bring in from Germany, USA, Taiwan etc.


Since taking over CTM we have probably supplied over 30,000 schools, studios and hobbyists .www.ctmpotterssupplies.co.uk