Caltech Lifts turns 40 but foodbank gets gift – a vital new van

Caltech Lifts founder Howard Renwick (3rd right) hands over the keys for the new van to Dundee Foodbank Warehouse Coordinator, Michael Calder, watched by (from left) Murdo Macintosh, Andrew Renwick and Fraser Renwick.

Scotland’s leading independent lift company, Caltech Lifts, has chosen its 40th birthday celebrations as the moment to help Dundee’s hard-pressed foodbank by donating one if its vans to replace one beyond economic repair.

The family firm, founded in Dundee in 1978 by engineer Howard Renwick and now run by his sons Andrew and Fraser, first heard in June of the problem Dundee Foodbank had with its van.

On June 1 the van, which was donated by a local businessman in 2013 and had been used to collect food donations and move them between its Dunsinane Avenue warehouse and its four centres, came to a grinding halt. An inspection revealed a new clutch and gearbox costing at least £1,000 would be needed to fix it.

Saving £250 a week

After the foodbank’s trustees issued an appeal to local firms for a replacement, Caltech Lifts Managing Director Andrew Renwick offered to loan them one of the vans they keep spare to cover for ones out of use. The foodbank gratefully accepted and has been using it since, saving the £250 a week hire cost of an alternative.

Now, to mark the 40th birthday of the company, the Renwick family have given a Caltech Lifts van permanently to Dundee Foodbank.

Free servicing

They also approached Murdo Macintosh, owner of MM Auto Services, which maintains their vehicles, and asked if he could help. He immediately agreed to service the van and carry out all future servicing and MoTs on it free of charge.

Caltech Lifts is one of the UK’s leading suppliers and maintainers of lifting equipment, including passenger lifts, goods lifts, disabled access lifts and stairlifts to the Public and Private Sectors including local government as well as the health, construction, oil/energy, renewables and property sectors. It maintains more than 1,000 lifts maintained across the UK after the acquisition of Scotlifts in July.

It was founded by Howard Renwick in 1978 as Instrument and Control Engineering, calibrating, repairing and testing items such as boiler pressure gauges. Around 1985 Howard started working with a lift industry contact and realised his lifelong passion for precision engineering was ideally suited for this type of equipment. So he changed the name of his firm to Caltech Ltd — it stands for Calibration and Technology – and the rest is history. His son Andrew took over as Managing Director when Howard retired in 2013.

Rooted in the community

Speaking about the donation, Andrew Renwick said: “When I saw the foodbank’s Facebook post I was more than happy to help because I’d heard a lot about the great work they do. I’m delighted we’ve not only been able to solve their transport problem permanently but also get MM Auto Services to donate future servicing and MoTs. Thanks to Murdo for that great gesture.

“We see Caltech Lifts as rooted in the community its based in and regularly help  out where we can

Speaking about the generous donation, Dundee Foodbank Warehouse Co-ordinator, Michael Calder, said: “We’re very grateful to Andrew and Caltech Lifts for the donation of this van and to Murdo for the future maintenance.

Save £5,250

“Lending us a van since June saved us £5,250 and allowed us to continue our work as Scotland’s busiest Trussell Trust foodbank – distributing 80 tonnes of food a year to people in desperate need. Caltech’s van will keep our essential service going.”

Murdo Macintosh, owner of MM Auto Services said: ”I’m delighted to be able to help keep Dundee Foodbank on the road. They do great work and deserved every support you can give.”

To offer your own help to Dundee Foodbank email [email protected] or call (01382) 698020.

Sandra Cole
Sandra Cole
05/08/2022
I would like to say a huge thank you to your team for the excellent customer service you have provided to my parents in Dundee. You have gone way beyond providing a service. My mum is disabled and cannot function at home without her stairlift. She is by all accounts housebound. The support you have given them is quite frankly unbelievable and it is blatantly apparent how much you care. I cannot recommend your company highly enough. My parents are my world and I have no words to explain just how well you have looked after them. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. You are amazing. Sandra Cole.
Lynn N
Lynn N
14/02/2022
Quoted and fitted a stairlift for my parents at short notice and at a significantly lower price than all the national competitors. Happy to support a local company, and we were delighted with the service - from sales staff to the guy who performed the installation.
kev
kev
08/06/2021
We (Alpha Projects) have worked with Caltech Lifts on several projects and would not hesitate to highly recommend the company. We have always found Caltech to offer a friendly, personable service and carry out their works in an efficient, safe and timely manner.
John Fort
John Fort
07/05/2021
Cannot thank Caltech enough for swift service in getting our lift back up and running in time when we urgently needed it most, could not have got this service any where else top job guys - Thank you again - The Fort Hotel Broughty Ferry Dundee
Jason Sellars
Jason Sellars
18/12/2020
An absolute pleasure to deal with. Having discussed my requirements Caltech were able to provide a stairlift that matched my criteria and budget perfectly. Very impressed by their clear, friendly and fast communication as well as punctuality . Installation work by engineer Tony is impeccable, and was carried out very efficiently with no disruption at all. He also gave excellent step by step instructions on using the lift (we all observed Covid awareness throughout). This stairlift has helped to lift my mum out of what has been a very difficult time for her, and I'm so pleased to have supported such a well deserving local company. Thanks again Murray, Graeme and Tony!
Robert Sloan
Robert Sloan
13/12/2020
I would highly recommend Caltech Lifts as just installed a stair lift into my mothers home. From start to finish all those involved have been very professional, efficient, keeping us informed throughout the whole process. The installation was carried out to a high standard. Special thanks to Graeme and Tony
Henry Donaldson
Henry Donaldson
19/07/2020
We recently had a problem with the lift in the care home myself and my wife run - our current service provider said we were going to have to spend £20,000 to upgrade the equipment so naturally I got a second price. To my absolute delight Caltech sent an engineer out to take details but also to spend a little time on the lift to which they managed to resolve the intermittent fault and it has now been running perfectly for 6 weeks!! Can't thank the team enough.
Brian J Kidd
Brian J Kidd
03/07/2017
Super helpful. Great service and staff, highly recommend