The SuperMetal Story
A Short Road to the Start
It was 2003, and we (the founders Byron, Steve and Greg) started a business selling rims with the help of a Prince’s Trust loan. A year later we were in our first unit, it wasn’t the largest space at 1000 square feet, but big enough to setup the office, fitting line and stock. In that year we had become the UK distributor for some of Europe’s largest German wheel manufacturers. We began to stock wheels from both Ronal and Borbet, both these wheel manufacturers were leading the way in quality and testing, it would be this, nine years later that gave us the idea behind SuperMetal.
It was a cold January morning in 2013 when we decided that we were going to launch our own wheel brand. We wanted every wheel we produced to be special, to fit a vehicle like an original wheel, to originate new designs and technology, they had to have full TÜV approval and ABE for sale in Germany, oh… and they had to look better than anything else.
January 2012
A long time in the making
Becoming a wheel manufacturer was a long time in the making, we had design and engineering capability and found technical partners through contacts in our now 11 years in the industry. These partners were the worlds best, who held the same values about wheel production and testing. We needed the best factories to produce our wheels, to the best standard. After a lot of research, sample analysis and credential checking we established the best supply chain in the business. We found a group of factories, with locations around the world who would help us develop our own technologies, who held the most sort-after approvals and accreditation in the market including TÜV approval.
December 2013
A year long battle
In anything we produced, TÜV testing and approval was key. Along side type approval – it’s the only notable European approval that could certify our wheels suitable for a given vehicle within EU regulations, and it would become one of our USPs. It seemed impossible to begin with, a British wheel company had never been a German type approval holder from a UK office and it was going to be a year long battle before we achieved type approval holder status. We quickly found out that TÜV testing and approval COSTS. After the brand level approval, each wheel would need significant investment not only in the tooling and design phase, but also in the approval process. It didn’t matter – we knew what we wanted our wheels to be.
January 2015
Wheel Approval
In Jan 2015 we got our first full wheel approval from TÜV and KBA, we could now demonstrate to the world that our wheels are the highest standard. It’s a common problem that wheel producers in the UK can stamp any load capacity on a wheel without any 3rd party testing, often using generic terms like “Load Rated” or “Van Rated”. So, along with other European brands, we could now provide solid TÜV tested load ratings and vehicle approvals for our wheels.
January 2016
A New Age
With the rapid production of more designs, we aimed for more innovative and technological advancements in the wheel industry. We started with our ecoFEA process which still continues to develop today. Engineering and simulation processes refine the spoke profile to deliver the greatest weight savings and strength meaning maximised efficiency. Further innovations commenced in finishing included our Multelox process, where our wheels were subjected to multiple electrophoresis treatments, applying difference colour with each treatment to produce multi-coloured wheels. This advancement lead us to our Bi-forming process, which like a forged wheel, has design elements crafted by CNC machine to produce the final result.
February 2016
Designer Wheels
As news of our capability in design and engineering spread, we were commissioned for several design only projects where we designed and sometimes prototyped a wheel for a special vehicle or manufacturer requirement.
March 2016
SVP
We began to attract interest from specialist areas of the market, with requirements from military vehicles to luxury cars. Developing wheels for extreme load capacity, and producing wheels for the highest end and specialist vehicles utilised our technologies and flexible service.
April 2016
Original Equipment
Now with a range of approved wheels, many in original fit including one ECE wheel, we started selling our wheels in Germany and all over Europe. German consumers and wholesalers alike could scarcely believe that they could offer British wheels with the German approval. We were becoming more and more noticed by vehicle manufacturers in the UK and in Europe, with our wheels offering everything that their vehicle type-approval needed. We began to sell our wheels to motorhome manufacturers, vehicle manufacturers and builders. We now produce and supply some of the UK’s largest vehicle manufacturers with original and accessory options. In 2019 our Trident wheel became the first 20″ wheel available from VW UK for the Volkswagen Transporter.
