About Phoenix Safe Company

Phoenix is now the largest manufacturer of data safes in Europe with a broad range of products encompassing small domestic data protection products through to the largest Commercial and Banking storage requirements.

In parallel to the development of data protection, the growth of air travel and the consequent rise in Hotel rooms has led to the development of hotel room safes. This required that three conflicting interests were accommodated in a safe.

• The safe had to be aesthetically pleasing to the eye. This was done by laser cutting doors which became oval or elongated, curving the front of the safe and softening the touch.
• The safe had to be simple, convenient and easy to use. Ease of use was accommodated by a motorised locking mechanism, digital locks with credit card reader and self opening doors.
• The safe should compliment the room. As a furniture item the safes had to be coordinated to the particular brand of the hotel.

These three criteria had to be included into the design, with no loss of security for either guest or hotel management. An additional factor was the need for management control over a resource used by any number of different individuals and the potential for loss through unauthorised access. To this end the locks were given an audit trail function with the ability to record the date and time a particular lock was opened and record the code or credit card that opened the lock. This facility for the management to interrogate the lock and establish the method of opening completed the security circle and offered significant benefits to both guest and management.

The latest innovation to change the way we view security, is biometric technology which uses either fingerprint or iris recognition to take the place of key to open a lock. While this relatively new and sophisticated technology is in its infancy the costs may outweigh the benefits. However, increasing use will undoubtedly reduce this cost and at Phoenix we are proud to be able to announce a world first, our 2250 Series Excel Fire Filing Cabinets can be fitted with a Biometric Finger Print Recognition lock providing a design for the future.

1723 A group of migrant steel workers from the Toledo area of Spain were working their passage to the United States, with the intention to sail from Liverpool to New York. They joined Richmond Manufactory where their skills with steel were put to good use replacing the traditional wooden strongboxes with all steel reinforced strongboxes.

1799 The Richmond Safe Co was set up and was in the family ownership of John R Solomon. The Company supplied the maritime trade between England and the United States with iron banded or iron clad wooden strongboxes and seaman’s chests.

1850 The company name changed to Withy Grove Stores and was used for all three companies based in Liverpool, Manchester and
Leeds. We began to design and patent steel safes, strongboxes, fire safes and vaults many of which are still in use today.

1890 The patents were received for the first stitch bolt safe and double bitted lock.

1986 The tradition of patented and innovative security continued in 1986, when Phoenix Safe Co was formed from Withy Grove Stores Co Ltd and adopted one of the oldest names in the British safe industry, Phoenix. The aim was to design and manufacture advanced fire resistant safes to protect the wealth of data information being produced by the computer revolution.

1990 As electronics became more affordable to produce, Phoenix launched a range of electronic home safes to complement the already well established traditional key lock range.

1991 Sales office opens in Madrid, Spain

1993 Sales office opens in New York, USA

1994 Sales office opens in Nantes, France

1995 The innovation in design continues with the launch of a full range of commercial grade, high security safes; with a stand out advantage of a 50% reduction in weight, achieved with new construction and layered material design. This allowed safes to be positioned in many more locations which would have otherwise not be possible with traditional heavy commercial safes.

1996 Sales office opens in Koln, Germany

2001 Phoenix Safe USA launches with a head office in Indiana, to continue the growth in sales throughout the US market.

2006 European logistics and sales centre opens in Dusseldorf, Germany

2010 Sales office opens in Milan, Italy

Phoenix became the largest manufacturer of data safes in Europe with a broad range of products encompassing small domestic data protection products through to the largest Commercial and Banking storage requirements.

Regional sales and service centre opens in Verteuil sur Charente, France

2014 Original founding members of Phoenix Safe Co Ltd retire and a new management buyout team take control. A massive program of investment begins in product development and infrastructure. The American business is sold and further expansion of the European business begins.

2015 Phoenix joins ESSA – ECB.S association and gains the prestigious ECB.S certification on all its Security safes. In the same year Phoenix Joins EuroSafe UK (Now known as BSVTA), AIS – The Association of insurance surveyors and SBD – Secured By Design, the official Police Security initiative.

2016 Complete new range of innovative home safes launch with new high security anti bounce solenoid design.

2018 New range of commercial high security safes launch, with the added advantage of certified Fire resistance LFS 30P and ECB.S Security certification. The new modern design also used the very latest in materials to allow a safe with much thinner walls, providing increased internal capacity without a drop in security or fire protection.

2019 New range of Luxury Fire and Security safes launch, with cutting edge security, technology and design. Unique features include changeable colour panels for the door, hidden locking systems and customisable interiors.

2020 Phoenix launches a full range of steel storage including office storage, personal lockers and racking all available next day from our distribution centres across European.

2022 Phoenix continue its tradition of innovation by launching a new range of Battery Storage Safes. These new safes provide vital protection for Lithium-Ion Batteries, to prevent the devastating effects battery fires can have on domestic & commercial properties.

We are now established as a world leader in the manufacture and distribution of a range of state of the art safes to suit all requirements, ranging from residential home safes to commercial security and fire protection. We specialise in vital records protection for both paper and digital media forms. Our products are kept in stock and will normally ship within 24 – 48 hours from receipt of order. All of our fire resistant safes are independently tested to European and American standards. All fireproof safes and cabinets carry a life-time after-the-fire replacement warranty. We welcome the opportunity to help you secure your most important items!