Recently Steelmate Investments has opened their fourth and newest branch at 706 Gleneagles Road in Willowvale near the junction with High Glen Road. If you’re driving along Gleneagles, it’s very clearly visible. It’s an imposing double storey building painted in a dramatic dark grey colour, similar to the grey Chromadek sheeting used for their warehouse. There are bright orange frames around the doors and windows that really help to identify the building and make it stand out from the surroundings. The main building accommodates the reception, sales, management and administration offices.

Adjacent to the main building, and also clearly visible from the road, is their huge dark grey coloured warehouse with a high double peaked roof. The
warehouse also has a big ‘Steelmate’ logo outlined in orange that includes their trademark icon of a man carrying a steel bar. The roof peaks of the warehouse are even higher than main building so you really can’t miss it.

The new branch is their fourth outlet in Harare. Their first branch was opened at Gate no 8, Magaba Home Industries, in Mbare in 2015. It proved so successful that two years later they opened a second branch, also in Mbare, at 1 Esterman Place, Magaba. As the company continued to expand and grow Steelmate found that their existing premises were too small to allow them to serve their customers’ needs and in addition access for bigger collection and delivery trucks was a little awkward having to deal with the traffic congestion in the area.

Initially supplying steel products to the home industries, through friendly service, sound technical advice for their customers, and the most
competitive prices, Steelmate Investments soon became the preferred steel suppliers for a wide and diverse customer base. Their clients now include consumers from various sectors of the economy including the agricultural sector, mining, engineering, manufacturing, construction and even other steel retailers.

However, at all their branches, they continue to supply smaller quantities for individual customers. Following on from the remarkable success
of their first two branches, and in order to serve their customers better, they opened their third branch at 346 Affirmative Way in Willowvale in 2020. The branch at Affirmative Way is conveniently situated close to a number of major industries in the surrounding area.

The o ffices and warehouse were custom designed to suit their needs and the design proved to work so well that they’ve more or less duplicated it for their new branch. The Gleneagles branch provides easier access for some customers asit’s along a main road, while the other
branches are not so easy or convenient to get to.

The additional warehouse at Gleneagles has enabled Steelmate to vastly increase the amount of stock that they carry as well as to accommodate more machinery for rolling roof sheets and for cutting and bending. They now carry over 400 different lines including flat bars, square bars, deformed bars, angles, pipes and tubes, sheets, plates and expanded metal, as well as a variety of wire and mesh – in fact just about every type of steel you could ever need. Of particular interest is their range of Q-tiles which are becoming increasing popular with architects, designers and home owners. Q-tiles are manufactured on site to the customer’s requirements and are basically Chromadek or IBR sheets designed to look like conventional roofing tiles. The
advantage is that they look good but are much lighter and more durable than
traditional roof tiles.

So from fairly humble beginnings in 2015 in just 8 years Steelmate has rapidly grown to become leading suppliers in the steel business and they now employ over 100 people across their four branches. The new branch has ample, safe parking for customers and the paved forecourt also provides easy access for bigger vehicles. The warehouse has two large roller shutter doors for easy loading and unloading. There are large roof covers over the loading bay doors so goods can be loaded or unloaded in any weather. In addition there are two 5 tonne overhead cranes to make loading even easier and quicker. Inside the warehouse the high roof has numerous skylights so there’s loads of natural light making it feel bright, airy, clean and well organised.

Apart from selling steel Steelmate offers customers expert advice on what materials are best suited for their particular job, ensuring that you always get the right product, whether for engineering, manufacturing or construction. Steelmate Investments pride themselves on the fact that for them no order is too small or too big, and every customer receives the best possible service.

Steelmate Investments is a wholly Zimbabwean owned company led by Mr. Clive Chisenye and Mr. Edmond Chiduro who between them have more than 20 years of shared experience in the steel retailing business.

No doubt Steelmate will continue to expand and grow in the near future to bring even better service to their valued customers.

To contact the new branch:

Visit: 706 Gleneagles Road, Willowvale.

Email: sales3@steelmate.co.zw marketing@steelmate.cozw
salesmanager@steelmate.co.zw
Tel: +263 242 893308, +242 893312/314/316/324/336
Mobile: 0788 930 560/61 or 0788 697 199

-text by Michael Nott
-photos by Fotohaus