Charterbrae start with only the finest steel - in angle, tube, flat or mesh form. This basic steel angle arrives in standard packs so the first task is to trim to bed specific lengths by cropping.

The trimmed pieces are then individually bent/shaped, by hand, on specialised machines to retain their angle strength - yet form the required basic bed frameworks. All standard accessories, such as the under-bed storage lockers and the more decorative head mouldings are also fashioned in-house from the same raw steel - as well as all legs, leg joints and the angle connectors necessary in the construction of each Charterbrae bed.

Steel angle, cylinder or box tubing are all reconstructed - using a myriad of specialist dies/clamps/mouldings/connectors that are themselves purpose built for the job.

Charterbrae also make their own mesh platforms. Steel wire is fed from drums to produce lengths of shaped mesh 'spring'.. These shaped pieces can then be 'knitted' into a larger cross-mesh framework, that is itself welded/attached to the base platform, providing a rigid span across the basic rectangular frame.

With the Charterbrae bed now existing in what could be considered 'kit' form, a bay of specialist welders then start to assemble the sections using highly refined traditional 'Black Country' welding techniques before the growing components are ready for the Paint Shop.

Charterbrae use an in-house Ballard spray paint station - capable of painting a dozen components a minute... Bed platforms, leg sections or angle connectors are hung on a continuous revolving belt that passes through the spray station for manual spray painting. and automatically through the 30 degree drying area.

In the spray paint section spray paint is applied in one of 10 lead-free colours, against a backdrop of continuous tumbling water to catch any excess, ensuring even distribution of 75 microns across all areas of all bed sections.

While technically dry within 30 minutes, each section is allowed to dry naturally for a further 24 hours before the newly coloured components are passed back for the final stages of assembly.

Legs are attached to frames on the basic models, while the larger Sussex folding bed is carefully jointed and the Neptune double/treble bunks at last takes shape - all the more impressive for now being in vivid colour. Accessories such as the under-storage locker are attached and the newly constructed bed is almost complete.

After passing strict quality control checks the completed beds are then moved out of the production sequence and along the line, where they are stacked ready for individual packing and shipping.

A typical Charterbrae university order may well be furnishing a full housing block of dormitory beds, so the 'stack' may be impressively high before loading on the wagon(s) for delivery.