Uriah Designs was founded in mid 2000 and began life in a small shared factory space in Link Close, Montagu Gardens, Cape Town. We owned just one vehicle – a Ford Bantam bakkie – as well as a laptop and had three staff members. The business gradually grew and very soon we needed more space. Eventually we moved into the ground floor of a very old, run-down building in Maitland. The South African economy reached its peak during this period and we were blessed with loads of great clients who helped us to continue growing, whilst upgrading the building and expanding our machinery, our staff complement and our fleet of vehicles.
Within only a few years, we had outgrown that old factory in Maitland and it was time to find a new space. This would come in the form of our current building in Beacon Way, Parow, which we bought in 2009. Being that we now owned our building, right from the start we were able to customise it to suit our needs. We installed custom-designed and built spray booths and a custom dust-extraction system for the factory. Modern offices were installed throughout and services were upgraded where necessary. Our staff were handed a space that allowed them to operate efficiently and comfortably.
Fast forward to today and we are amazed by how far we have come, despite all the challenges of the South African economy. We have a bouquet of regular clients and we are always meeting new, exciting companies and individuals who want to work with us. As we get ready to celebrate our 20th anniversary in 2020, we already look forward to the next 20 years of operation.
Uriah Designs is a proudly independent family business and we are self-funded and owner-operated. Our staff are extremely important to us and they enjoy a variety of benefits such as assistance with school fees and school stationery costs. We make a habit of encouraging our staff to better themselves, so those who show interest in new roles and responsibilities are provided with those opportunities to grow wherever possible. For those reasons and more, we enjoy significant staff retention rates, with various employees having been with us for well over 10 years and a few having been with us almost since inception.
The company contributes to a variety of social causes including an orphanage, the NSRI and several other causes thanks to our philosophy which is to uplift our staff and their communities.