Thomas Lane
Managing Director
Runs TCI Group and sets the direction for all five brands. On larger or unusual projects, Thomas is usually part of the conversation.
Part of TCI Group · UK design, UK manufacturing capability, since 2019
One workshop. Every stage of your silicone tooling.
TCI Mouldings is a silicone tooling business in Bidford-on-Avon, Warwickshire, established in 2019. It is the division the rest of the group grew out of. Design, pattern making, mould making and moulded parts all happen in one unit, under one set of names.
Our people
The people behind every TCI mould.
The same small team works across all five TCI brands, so the person who quotes your job is never far from the person who builds it.
George Preston
Design & Project Manager
Turns your drawing, sketch or sample into a mould design, then keeps the project moving from first idea to sign-off.
Kelly Ballinger
Head of Partnerships
Looks after the businesses we work with over the long term, from the first enquiry through to repeat orders.
Jim Anderton
Production Manager
Runs the workshop floor, plans each build and makes sure every mould is checked before it leaves us.
Theodore
Employee Welfare
Our cocker spaniel. Keeps spirits up in the office and gives every delivery a thorough sniff.
Who we are
We started as a tooling business. That is still what we are.
TCI Mouldings was established in 2019 to make silicone tooling for people who could not buy what they needed from a catalogue. That has not changed. The company is bigger, and the ways we work have grown from hand-poured moulds to pressed and injected parts. But the job remains the same: you have a part, and it needs a mould built round it.
We are the founding division of TCI Group and operate as a division of Techcraft Industries Mouldings Ltd, company number 15795140. Our team of between eleven and fifty people works from one unit on Waterloo Park in Bidford-on-Avon, Warwickshire.
There is no separate sales department from the workshop. The people who quote for your job are the same people who will design and make the tool. So, rather than sending you a figure on its own, we usually come back with a few questions to make sure we understand exactly what you need.
That is deliberate, although it can occasionally be annoying. It is also why we do not often make a mould twice.
On purpose
Four things that are deliberate.
The early decisions we've stood by, even when they cost us work.
Everything under one roof
For this work, CAD, master patterns, scanning, mould making, pressing and inspection all stay in the same unit. Nothing is subcontracted out and returned with a fault that nobody can trace.
Compare cost per part, not just tooling price
We work out the tooling cost across the run and show you what each piece will cost. That gives you an honest comparison between routes and sometimes shows that the job is not worth tooling at all.
We explain what each route is less suited to
Every route we sell has a failure mode - a way it can fail - and we explain it before you commit. When you know the limits from the outset, you know what to expect and can move forward without coming back angry.
We only share figures we can stand behind
We do not publish tolerances, claim accreditation we do not hold, or present a material claim that belongs to the supplier as our own. Where a figure matters to you, we will provide it in writing, with the source attached.
The group
One company. Five names on the door.
TCI Group brings together four divisions, each focused on a different type of buyer: mould making and tooling, food and culinary work, construction and architectural products, and finished consumer products. They share the same ownership and site, while each has its own paperwork and specialist team.
TCI Mouldings is our tooling division, so this website focuses solely on tooling. If your job needs food declarations or a construction product rather than a mould, we'll hand it to the division that handles it properly. We won't pretend those areas are our specialism.
For you, the practical benefit is specific but real: a mould with a food-contact declaration attached is handled once, in one place, with one record. For us, it means nobody in this workshop needs to be an expert in four industries.
Inside the job
How your first tool moves through the workshop
Whether you need one mould or the front end of a repeat programme, you get the same order every time.
Your part gets a closer look
A sample, a photograph or CAD gives a mould maker what they need to start. They check it for draft, undercuts, surface and how it will release, then ask about anything missing. This is where most of the value is added, even though you cannot see it.
Choosing the route and material
The quantity, cast material, level of detail and the person demoulding your part determine which of the five routes and material families will suit it. We explain why, not just what we recommend.
Design first, then make a master if needed
We settle the split line, wall thickness, venting and registration in CAD. If there is no master, we make one and finish it properly, so your parts inherit that surface for years.
The tool is built
Depending on the route, your tool may be poured, brushed, degassed or machined. We record the material grade and batch against your order as work progresses.
First-off checked before the run
We check the mould and first part against what they were meant to be. We also physically check that the part demoulds without a fight. If something is out, we will tell you before it ships.
The team
We're a small team, so you'll speak to the same people each time.
A team of between eleven and fifty people covers design, pattern making, mould making, pressing and inspection. It's small enough for the person who quoted your tool to remember your job when you call about the third order.
We are also small enough to be honest about our capacity. We prefer to turn a job down rather than take it on and leave it waiting behind other work. If your project is better suited to someone with different kit, we will tell you.
The trade-off is that we are not a call centre. Ring during office hours and you will speak to someone who knows what a split line is. That is the point, but there is nobody sitting there overnight.
Where we are
Waterloo Park, Bidford-on-Avon.
You'll find us at Unit 15, Waterloo Park, Bidford-on-Avon, Warwickshire, B50 4JG. We're ten minutes off the A46 and reachable in a morning from Birmingham, Bristol, Oxford or the M40 corridor.
Being in Warwickshire matters more than it may seem. If you can drive to the workshop, put your part on the bench and discuss the split line in person, you'll get a better tool than if you spend a fortnight exchanging emails. Plenty of jobs get settled that way.
The phone number is 01789 224228, and the office is open Monday to Friday, 08:30 to 17:00. If you would like to see the work, please arrange your visit in advance so someone is available to show you around.
Reach
At some point, you've probably eaten something made using one of our moulds.
You may never see most of what we make. A mould leaves our door and becomes the shape of something on a supermarket shelf, a candle in a gift shop, a moulded pad inside a headset, or a stone detail on a building that was repaired rather than replaced.
We describe our customers by sector rather than by name, because customer relationships in tooling are usually confidential. The shapes are theirs, not ours. We regularly work with candle and wax, soap and bath, resin homeware and giftware, bakery, patisserie and confectionery, precast concrete and architectural restoration, wearables and electricals, as well as design studios and prop makers.
If you want evidence rather than a list, our project write-ups give you the honest version: six jobs, each explaining what went wrong.
Details
The practical details, explained plainly.
All the facts your procurement form asks for, in one place.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Trading name | TCI Mouldings |
| Legal entity | A division of Techcraft Industries Mouldings Ltd |
| Company number | 15795140 |
| Established | 2019 |
| Address | Unit 15, Waterloo Park, Bidford-on-Avon, Warwickshire, B50 4JG, GB |
| Telephone | 01789 224228 |
| Opening hours | Monday to Friday, 08:30 to 17:00 |
| Size | 11 to 50 people |
| Group | Founding division of TCI Group |
We do not hold or claim any ISO registration. BRCGS certification is being pursued through the group's food division and has not yet been awarded.
Consistency
What stays the same between orders
The record
We record the material grade, batch and specification against your order, and retain the master. When you reorder, you get the tool you approved, not a fresh interpretation of the same drawing.
The check
We check every mould and every first-off part against what it is meant to be, including a physical demould test. That means any problems reach you from us, not from your production line.
The same people
When you ring about your job, the person who quoted it is in the building. Your questions are not relayed by an account handler to a workshop they have never stood in.
Designed and developed in the UK, with UK manufacturing capabilities.
Every job is drawn, specified and engineered at our own facility in Bidford-on-Avon, Warwickshire. We hold the moulding capability here too: hand-made, cast, vacuum cast, compression and injection, with tool making, inspection and finishing in the same building. On some programmes we place part of the production with partners we have used for years. We will tell you which route your job is taking before you order, and how that works is set out on our About page.
One group, four specialisms
TCI Mouldings is part of TCI Group.
You benefit from shared engineering, one workshop and four specialisms. The tooling knowledge behind a precast yard is also available to a chandler with one product.
MouldingsTCI MouldingsCustom silicone and polyurethane moulds for decorative, culinary and industrial casting.You are hereCulinaryTCI CulinaryFood-safe, PFAS-free, audit-ready moulds for bakeries, chocolatiers and food manufacturers.ConstructionTCI ConstructionConcrete, GRC, plaster, resin and architectural restoration tooling.ProductsTCI ProductsHigh-volume manufacture of moulded silicone products for retail and industry.GroupTCI GroupFour specialist divisions, one Warwickshire workshop.
Come and look
You are welcome to visit the workshop.
Bring the part along. An hour at the bench, with the object in front of us, will settle questions that a month of emails will not. You'll leave knowing what your tooling is going to be and why.
Please arrange it first, so someone who can answer your questions properly is free rather than mid-pour. Ring 01789 224228 or email the partnership team, and we will find a morning.
At a glance
The idea in a picture.
Which route suits your quantity
Swipe to see the whole diagram
Ready to start?
Tell us what you need to make, and we'll show you how to mould it.
Send us a drawing, photograph or sample. We'll come back to you with a mould strategy, a material recommendation and a price.
Real people, a real workshop
You deal with the people who make it.
No call centre and no middlemen. When you contact TCI Mouldings, you speak to the team who design, build and check your mould.
- A real Warwickshire workshopUnit 15, Waterloo Park, Bidford-on-Avon, Alcester B50 4JG.
- Real people on the phoneCall the team on 01789 224228, Monday to Friday.
- The same team on every jobDesign, production and aftercare come from the people you see here.
- Part of TCI GroupFive specialist brands, one engineering team. Visit TCI Group.
- Thomas LaneManaging Director
- George PrestonDesign & Project Manager
- Kelly BallingerHead of Partnerships
- Jim AndertonProduction Manager
- TheodoreEmployee Welfare