Manual, lift-assist and fully automatic steel bollards — supplied, set in concrete and drained properly, so the car physically cannot be driven off. We advise on site and only fit the system your driveway actually needs.
The right bollard depends on three simple factors: how often you'll use it, the value of the vehicle you're protecting, and who will be operating it. Every option below is priced, fitted and drained by us — no subcontractors, no system you don't need.
The simplest physical deterrent. The post either folds flat to the ground or lifts clean out with a key, so it's ideal for a second space, shared access, a rental, or anywhere you want the option to open the space fully. Surface-mounted or socket-set into the drive, and usually fitted in a single visit.
Sits flush with the driveway when down — nothing to trip over, nothing to steer around, and no eyesore outside your front door — then lifts and locks in seconds when you're home. The casing is set deep in concrete with a gravel soakaway beneath it so it drains and keeps working through Devon winters. This is what we fit on most driveways.
Full-height commercial steel for the heaviest protection, with an internal gas strut that removes roughly 70% of the lifting weight — so a 15–25kg anti-ram post doesn't become a chore twice a day. Set on a reinforced concrete foundation for genuine ram resistance, not just deterrence.
The post drops on command from a fob, keypad or remote — so nobody has to get out of the car in the rain. Supplied on an armoured cable with safety-loop sensors and its own protected circuit, installed by a Part P registered electrician working to BS 7671, with the certificate and Building Control sign-off issued to you.
Anyone can bolt a post to a driveway. Under load, that post levers straight out. The protection is in the part you never see — the depth, the concrete and the drainage. It's the difference between a deterrent and a barrier that physically ends the theft.
The casing is anchored in high-strength concrete, not fixed to the surface — so it resists being pulled or rammed out.
Water drains away instead of sitting in the sleeve, so the mechanism keeps moving freely through wet Devon winters.
Just enough to shed water off the top, flush enough that there's nothing to trip on or catch a mower.
Every job runs through the same four stages. National suppliers and large gate specialists commonly quote three to six weeks just to get a surveyor to the door — we survey, fit and finish inside a week of your call.
Ground conditions, buried utilities and drainage are all checked before any excavation begins. You get one clear written price — no visit charge, no obligation.
The surface is cut cleanly with a diamond blade, the core is excavated, and a proper gravel soakaway is installed to prevent water sitting and future problems.
The casing is levelled precisely and fixed with high-strength concrete for long-term performance, with the rim finished just proud of the surface.
Block paving, resin and tarmac are relaid and pointed on the day, the site is left clean, and you're handed keys or fobs with operating instructions.
Devon and Cornwall's coastline is beautiful and brutal on hardware. Galvanised posts that are fine inland start weeping rust within a couple of seasons near the sea. On coastal properties we fit 316 grade stainless as standard — the same grade specified for harbour and fittings — so the bollard still looks and works right years later.
Running a new outdoor circuit from your consumer unit is notifiable work under Part P of the Building Regulations. We don't cut corners on it — the electrical side of every automatic bollard is completed by a Part P registered electrician working to BS 7671, and signed off on paper.
A new outdoor circuit run in armoured cable from your consumer unit to the bollard, protected and buried to spec.
Its own 30mA RCD or RCBO protection so a fault trips only the bollard, not the rest of the house.
Loop and photocell sensors so the post never rises under a vehicle — safe for daily family use.
You receive an Electrical Installation Certificate and Building Control sign-off — proof the work is legal and safe.
A quick side-by-side. We'll confirm the right choice for your surface, exposure and who's operating it when we survey — we don't push a system you don't need.
| Type | Operation | Effort | Foundation | Coastal 316 | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fold-down & removable | Manual key | Low | Surface / socket | Optional | Second & shared spaces |
| Telescopic retractable | Manual lift | Medium | Concrete 850–1000mm | Available | Most family driveways |
| Lift-assist anti-ram | Gas-strut lift | Low–Medium | Reinforced concrete | Available | Heavy / exposed frontages |
| Electric rising | Fob / keypad | Button | Concrete + circuit | Available | Daily use & accessibility |
If your question isn't here, ring us — we'd rather talk it through than send a brochure.
No. Blocks are lifted with a splitter and cut back cleanly with an angle grinder; resin and tarmac get neat diamond-blade cuts. Everything is relaid and pointed on the day. Intricate paving takes longer, and we tell you that at survey rather than after.
Installation is typically completed within seven days of your survey — quickly, professionally and including full drainage. National suppliers and large gate specialists commonly quote three to six weeks just to get a surveyor to the door.
A Part P registered electrician working to BS 7671. Running a new outdoor circuit from your consumer unit is notifiable work, so you receive an Electrical Installation Certificate and Building Control sign-off.
Yes. A full-height steel post can weigh 15–25kg, which gets tiring twice a day, so we usually recommend a gas-strut lift-assist model that takes out around 70% of the effort. If that's still too much, an automatic bollard reduces it to a button.
Only if every person in the house uses it every single night. A Faraday pouch also does nothing against a direct OBD-port attack, or against a thief who breaks in for the keys. A bollard is a physical barrier that works whether or not anyone remembered.
Not always — but salt air carries a surprising way inland. We assess the exposure at your specific address on the survey and recommend 316 grade where it's genuinely needed, rather than charging for it as a blanket upsell.
We'll look at the surface, the drainage and where the post needs to sit, then give you one clear written price. No visit charge, no obligation, and no salesperson waiting in the car.
