Zarafa News

Looking for access & lifting solutions using monorails?

Fri, 10 Apr 2026 16:08:47 GMT

Zarafa are a leading provider of Monorail Systems for facade access and material lifting.

Visit our page dedicated to Cradle Monorail applications..........

Here you will find an explanation to what a monorail is. How a temporary monorail works and how it can be used?

There is also a comprehensive FAQs to answer any questions you may have around using monorails on your construction project.

If you are still looking for information, then please give our team a call on 01476 575400 .

Zarafa BMU wins Award!

Tue, 07 Oct 2025 11:57:05 GMT

Replacement BMU on Belfast City Hospital.

Congratulations to Team Flynn on winning Healthcare Infrastructure Project of the Year at the CEFAwards25 ��

The Zarafa team were proud to support this award-winning project — providing the design, manufacture, installation and commissioning of the new Building Maintenance Unit (BMU) atop Belfast City Hospital’s 80m tower.

A fantastic example of collaboration in engineering, delivering a safe and innovative façade access solution for one of Northern Ireland’s most important healthcare facilities.

Well done to everyone involved in the project!

Trafford Centre Gantry Replacement Completed

Fri, 26 Sep 2025 10:57:08 GMT

Facade Access solutions

Our engineering team have been working very hard delivering a complex gantry system onto the iconic Trafford Centre dome.

Project Management has been key to delivering this project, from initial design work and manufacturing to night time craneage and engineer commissioning.

Gantry replacement project delivered, safely and professionally — well done to all of the team.

Keep an eye out for some impressive video footage of the project!

Zarafa now service Power Climber Hoists

Wed, 21 May 2025 10:46:44 GMT

Purpose built facility now services Power Climber Titan hoists

At Zarafa, our maintenance facility has been trusted for over 30 years to provide expert servicing for man-riding hoists and safety devices across various industries. We're excited to announce that, in addition to our existing services, we are now an Approved Service Centre for Power Climber hoists including the Titan hoist used in wind turbine service lifts and BMU's.

What we offer:

- Trained workshop technicians with a focus on safety and reliability

- Full Testing & Certification

- Manufacturer-approved parts

- Prompt turnaround times

- UKAS ISO 9001 accreditation

Whether you're using man-riding hoists in wind turbines or permanent access systems, our skilled team ensures that your equipment stays compliant and operational.

Seb Mayer retraces the steps of 'Zarafa'

Thu, 02 May 2024 08:59:50 GMT

Puppeteer creates 'Zarafa' to retrace epic trek!

Zarafa have recently supported Seb Mayer, a puppeteer who has a link to our Zarafa name!

Seb has created a 3.4m high ‘Zarafa’ puppet which he has walked 1,000km through France, following in the footsteps of a real giraffe called Zarafa who did the same journey in 1827.

You can see more about the amazing ‘Zarafa Story’ here….

Seb has recently finished another trek across Lincolnshire to raise money for Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust. Zarafa’s main engineering facility is based in Grantham, Lincolnshire, so it was another reason to support Seb and his Zarafa in raising money for a local wildlife charity.

BMU Partner - Skygondola

Mon, 03 Jul 2023 20:21:30 GMT

Zarafa are pleased to announce the commencement of a UK distribution agreement with a leading European BMU manufacturer.

Following the withdrawal of Sky Climber from the UK BMU market, Zarafa have teamed up with Catalonia based Skygondola.

Skygondola have been manufacturing BMUs from their base outside Barcelona for over 20 years. They have a track record of delivering on high profile projects across 30 countries, including multiple projects in the UK.

Working closely with the experienced Skygondola team, we will continue to provide quality façade access solutions to the UK market.

As well as design, project management and installation, we continue to offer long term support for the equipment through our well established and experienced maintenance teams based in London, Manchester and Grantham. Zarafa will continue to distribute and support Sky Climber’s non BMU products which are unaffected by the withdrawal from the UK

BMU market.

For further information or support on a façade access

project please contact the Zarafa team.

New Zarafa Facility opens

Wed, 01 Mar 2023 12:24:07 GMT

Purpose built facility located in the middle of the UK with fast links to key cities.

Continuing our long term investment in the Suspended Access and Fall Protection market, we have recently completed the construction of our facility in Lincolnshire. Grantham has been the home of Zarafa Height Solutions for the past 10 years. Land was acquired to build a bespoke building suited to the nature of our services. Located minutes from both the A1M and Grantham station and the main east coast line, it offers a great base to London and the North to support customer projects.

The building includes high quality workshop facilities, high level testing beams, equipment storage, training facilities and a modern office space for our engineering, fall protection and operational teams.

Fall Protection services

Sun, 01 Jan 2023 13:45:03 GMT

Creation of new dedicated division to the fall protection market

Zarafa have been providing fall protection services and equipment for many years through various parts of the Group. From January a new entity has been established to continue building on the excellent development that has occurred over the past few years.

Whether it is maintenance of existing equipment, repair or installation of height safety equipment, Zarafa's dedicated fall protection team are available to support your building's safety needs.

For further information, please call the team on 01476 330029 or email fallprotection@zarafagroup.com

Abseil system in London

Thu, 06 May 2021 15:02:02 GMT

Zarafa have recently installed a powered abseil system in central London.

The Zarafa team carried out the design, supply and installation of a bespoke abseil system on a residential tower in central London.

Please visit the Case Study page for further information on this recent project.

BMU Installation Video

Thu, 06 May 2021 14:41:47 GMT

Check out our BMU installation video featuring drone footage.

Please visit the Case Study page for further information.

Telescopic BMU installed in Manchester

Tue, 13 Oct 2020 19:18:36 GMT

Zarafa have recently installed a another BMU to the Manchester skyline.

The Zarafa team carried out the design, supply and installation of the telescopic BMU to the Circle Square project in Central Manchester.

Please visit the Case Study page for further information and a video covering this installation.

Follow a Giraffe Research Project

Fri, 21 Aug 2020 18:52:40 GMT

An insight into the social behaviour of the giraffe

Zarafa are supporting a research project into the social networks of the giraffe, being carried out by Wendy Thorogood, who is currently studying a Masters degree at Anglia Ruskin University. The analysis of social connections between giraffe contributes to determining the best course of action for conservation management. Species of giraffe have been undergoing what is called a 'silent extinction' with overall numbers dropping by 40% in just three generations.

Updates on the research project will follow as Wendy carries out her research into this beautiful animal, supporting the global effort to aid its survival.

For further information on the project, please click here .

Another Zarafa BMU

Thu, 05 Sep 2019 14:45:17 GMT

Zarafa have recently installed a BMU on the CIS Tower in Manchester

The Zarafa team carried out the design, supply and installation of a machine to replace the existing equipment on the 29th floor of this iconic Manchester building.

Please visit the Case Study page for further information and a video covering this installation.

Westminster Project

Mon, 05 Aug 2019 16:05:15 GMT

Suspended Access solution for Houses of Parliament

Giraffe Access were selected to design and install a number of bespoke temporary suspended cradle systems to provide access to carry out works on the iconic Palace of Westminster.

The Palace which contains the Houses of Parliament is undergoing a significant restoration and we are proud to be involved in such a significant project.

For further information, please visit the Case Study .

Whitby Pier

Sat, 03 Aug 2019 23:00:00 GMT

Bespoke temporary access to iconic pier wall

Giraffe Access have designed and installed a bespoke temporary suspended cradle system to provide access to carry out works on the historic pier wall in Whitby harbour.

As a company with roots in North Yorkshire, we are proud to be involved in protecting this iconic Grade II listed structure.

For further information, please visit the Case Study .

Zarafa support School in a Bag

Thu, 13 Dec 2018 16:36:20 GMT

Zarafa are proud to be supporting a great charity based in Somerset that delivers rucksacks full of stationery & resources to poor, orphan, vulnerable and disaster-affected children around the world. An education for these children could be their passport to a life out of hardship and poverty.

As in 2017, we have funded school bags that will be delivered to children in Tanzania.

Please visit their website – www.schoolinabag.org and find out more about the great work they do for school children across the world.

Zarafa install BMU

Fri, 30 Nov 2018 16:31:48 GMT

Facade Access in Manchester

Zarafa have recently installed a replacement BMU on CIS Tower in Manchester. The Zarafa team carried out the design, supply and installation of a machine to replace the existing equipment on the iconic Manchester building.

Please visit the Case Study page for further information.

Recent Guardrail Projects

Thu, 29 Nov 2018 16:29:41 GMT

Guardrail Installation by Zarafa

The Zarafa Fall Protection team have recently installed a range of fall protection products on sites across London and the South East. The photo examples included here are of a freestanding (non fixed) and a fixed guardrail system used to provide collective protection on the two building roofs.

Both of these particular projects also included the installation of wire systems and step units.

Zarafa Fall Protection can install and maintain a whole range of roof based safety and access products including eyebolts, wire systems, guardrails, abseil davits and step systems. Contact Zarafa for further information.

Double Deck Access

Wed, 28 Nov 2018 16:26:57 GMT

Bespoke double access platform for 35 storey residential property

Giraffe Access have designed and installed 12 double deck cradles to provide full access to enable cladding works on a 35 storey building in central London. The double deck platforms make handling the large cladding panels much easier and therefore speeding up the required works on site.

Celtic Park Access

Sun, 25 Nov 2018 16:24:25 GMT

Temporary Access Solution at the home of the Scottish Champions

Giraffe Access have provided multiple suspended cradles to provide access for maintenance works on Celtic Park stadium in Glasgow. Cradles offered a solution to overcome load bearing issues on a low level roof as well as being more economical compared to other forms of access.

Crossrail Projects

Sun, 18 Nov 2018 16:19:13 GMT

Zarafa Support Crossrail Project

Zarafa Group businesses have provided a range of services on the Crossrail project in London. This includes temporary suspended access systems on Liverpool Street Station and Moorgate, as well as a bespoke permanent access system on another underground station.

Crossrail is the new high frequency, high capacity railway for London and the South East. The Crossrail Project is building the Elizabeth line to link Reading and Heathrow in the west with Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east, via new 21km tunnels under central London. This new link will increase London’s rail capacity, reduce passenger journey times across the city, encourage regeneration and generate significant employment opportunities.

It is the biggest civil construction project in Europe today.

Zarafa are proud to be involved in such a significant project for the city of London.

Zarafa Trolley Install

Sun, 11 Nov 2018 16:15:57 GMT

Replacement BMU in Liverpool

Zarafa have recently completed the design, supply and installation of a replacement trolley on the Tate Gallery in Liverpool to provide a comprehensive facade access solution

Please visit the Case Study page for further information.

Constructionline

Sun, 04 Nov 2018 16:11:34 GMT

Giraffe Access awarded Constructionline Gold Accreditation

Giraffe Access have recently been awarded Gold membership of Constructionline.

Constructionline is a register for pre-qualified contractors and consultants used by the construction industry of the United Kingdom.

Well done to the Giraffe Access team for securing the gold membership.

Supporting the Giraffes

Sun, 28 Oct 2018 16:08:50 GMT

Supporting Chester Zoo and their wonderful work for the Giraffe

Zarafa are proud to announce that we are supporters of the giraffe herd at the UK’s most popular zoo.

For over 40 years Zarafa Group businesses have used a giraffe as its logo, so we thought it was time to do our bit to help this beautiful and endangered animal.

By supporting Chester Zoo and their active Giraffe conservation projects, we hope our support will go some way to helping this amazing species to grow its numbers. With only a few hundred left in the wild, Chester Zoo have a thriving herd of Rothschild’s giraffes, which are the world’s second rarest kind of giraffe.

Please visit Chester Zoo Giraffe pages for further information on the giraffes at Chester Zoo and the great work they do to help save giraffe’s from extinction.

We hope to bring news of the giraffe’s in Chester and the Zoo’s conservation projects in coming months.

Cathedral Access system

Fri, 26 Oct 2018 23:00:00 GMT

Zarafa design access system for Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral

The Zarafa team have designed and installed a bespoke access system for Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral. Two self-powered cradles are suspended from a rail around the top of the Cathedral, providing access to the stunning stained glass windows and roof space.

School in a Bag

Wed, 20 Dec 2017 13:48:46 GMT

Zarafa support School in a bag

As in previous years, rather than sending Christmas cards, Zarafa Group have made a donation to charity. This year we have supported ‘School in a Bag’.

Based in Somerset, School in a Bag was created to help poor, orphan, vulnerable and disaster affected children throughout the world. Each School Bag is filled with stationery, learning resources and eating utensils that will enable a child to write, draw, colour, calculate, express themselves and above all learn. An education for these children could be their passport to a life out of hardship and poverty.

Our contribution went direct to children at Iguluba and Makadupa Primary Schools in Tanzania.

Please visit their website – www.schoolinabag.org and find out more about the great work they do for school children around the world.

Call of Duty

Sun, 10 Dec 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Call of Duty Access in Liverpool City Centre

Giraffe Access provided temporary cradle access in Liverpool city centre to enable our customer to create a huge art work on the side of the Holiday Inn for the recent launch of Call of Duty.

Our suspended access cradles provide a safe and versatile working platform for the operatives to carry out their painting works.

Visit our Case Study for further images of the project.

London Station Facade Access

Sun, 03 Dec 2017 00:00:00 GMT

London Station Cradle System

The Zarafa Height Solutions team have recently designed and supplied two permanent Cradle units to be used to provide access at a London railway/underground station.

The platforms will operate from a monorail system and have been fitted with Sky Climber's LNX 300 hoists, along with internal wire winders.

The Zarafa design and engineering team provide bespoke solutions to many access problems experienced across a wide range of structures from buildings, stadia and power stations to bridges, wind turbines and oil platforms.

Please contact the team for any projects with access requirements.

Edge Protection Project

Thu, 30 Nov 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Freestanding edge protection

Zarafa Fall Protection have recently completed a project to supply full edge protection to an office premises on the Green Park Business Park in Reading.

Our customer required freestanding edge protection and access gates to be installed around the existing roof layout. This flexible system offered a safe, quick and cost effective solution to the customer's edge safety problem.

Monorail Next Phase

Wed, 29 Nov 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Temporary Facade Access solution

Giraffe Access have moved to the next phase of a monorail project in Manchester. The bespoke access system offers flexible working platforms on a number of building facades.

For bespoke access solutions, look for the giraffe.

Media City BMU Installed

Tue, 31 Oct 2017 12:00:45 GMT

Facade Access solution for residential tower

The Zarafa team based in Manchester have recently completed the installation of a Sky Climber BMU on a residential tower situated at Media City.

The Zarafa design team worked closely with the customer and the Sky Climber manufacturing team to deliver a permanent access solution. Our local experienced maintenance teams will seamlessly provide routine maintenance services on the new BMU system.

Cradle Project in Liverpool

Mon, 30 Oct 2017 00:00:00 GMT

Temporary facade access solution

Giraffe Access have installed several temporary cradles to provide access for maintenance works on the Unity Building in Liverpool. Our suspended access cradles provide a safe and versatile working platform for the operatives to carry out their required tasks.

Suspended Platforms for The Platform

Sat, 28 Oct 2017 23:00:00 GMT

Cradle Access on Platform - Leeds

Giraffe Access have provided all round access to the Platform building (formerly City House) in Leeds for the past 18 months. Our skilled rigging teams have installed temporary suspended access platforms to allow our customer to carry out a major refurbishment of the building overlooking Leeds railway station.

Click here for further information on this project

Monorail Access

Sat, 14 Oct 2017 23:00:00 GMT

Temporary facade access using a monorail and cradle solution

Giraffe Access have designed and installed a temporary monorail and cradle system on a construction project in Manchester to provide all around access.

For further details on the project, please visit All around Monorail solution .

If you require suspended access.......look for the giraffe.

Beetham Tower Access

Sat, 14 Oct 2017 23:00:00 GMT

Bespoke facade access solution in Birmingham

The Giraffe Access team in Birmingham have recently installed an innovative temporary cradle solution on Beetham Tower in Birmingham. Our in house design and engineering team created a solution to deal with the challenging facade of the building to provide access for our customer to carry out their works.

For further information, visit the case study .

If you require suspended access.......look for the giraffe.

Another Skyclimber BMU Installed

Sat, 07 Oct 2017 23:00:00 GMT

Facade access solution designed by Zarafa

The Zarafa team in Manchester have recently designed, supplied and installed a tracked BMU system, from Sky Climber. The system was installed on a new 27 storey residential tower in Manchester.

Our engineering team worked closely with the customer and the globally renowned manufacturer, Sky Climber, to provide a bespoke solution to provide access to all areas of the new building.

The experienced Zarafa team carried out the installation prior to carrying out commissioning and user training for the end user.

Curved Cradle Access

Sat, 30 Sep 2017 23:00:00 GMT

Bespoke temporary facade access solution on luxury apartments

Giraffe Access have recently provided a range of cradles to support a customer's cladding requirements on a luxury apartment block in central London. Giraffe designed and installed a number of temporary access cradles including a curved cradle platform designed to provide effective access to the curved balcony areas of the building. Additional standard platforms were also provided to cover other parts of the building. Operator training was also provided to the customer.

If you require suspended access.......look for the giraffe.

Roof Safety Package Install

Sat, 30 Sep 2017 23:00:00 GMT

Multi product installation on London hotel

Wire systems, davits and eyebolts all installed by the Zarafa fall protection team in London.

Our installation team have recently completed an installation of key access and safety equipment to a new hotel in London. The system was specified, installed and tested in advance of the building hand over, with ongoing inspection and testing services performed by Zarafa's maintenance engineers.

Temporary Cradles Project

Thu, 28 Sep 2017 23:00:00 GMT

Temporary facade access solution

Giraffe Access have recently designed and installed 13 temporary cradle systems on a building just outside London to provide access to allow facade repairs. This flexible method of access allows full coverage of the building to carry out glass and facade works.

If you require suspended access.......look for the giraffe.

BMU Cradle Refurbishment

Sat, 23 Sep 2017 23:00:00 GMT

Zarafa Refurbish BMU Cradle in Manchester

The Zarafa Cradle Maintenance team in Manchester have recently completed the refurbishment of a cradle on a prominent shopping centre in central Manchester. Using our in house maintenance facilities, we carried out a number of repairs to the cradle before returning it to site and bringing the system back into use for the customer. The quick turnaround using our own engineering resource allowed the cradle to be back into use in advance of the critical Christmas shopping period.

For further information and photos of this project, please visit the case study.

Sky Climber BMU Installation

Mon, 18 Sep 2017 13:52:36 GMT

Zarafa install replacement BMU

Zarafa have recently installed a Sky Climber BMU manufactured in their new facility in Spain. Our customer's existing BMU was beyond its useful life and a new machine was sourced, installed and commissioned on the existing track in a short period by our engineering team.

For further photos, please visit the Case Study.

Zarafa Cradle Maintenance move into new premises

Sat, 16 Sep 2017 23:00:00 GMT

New long term base in Basildon

After 30 years in Brentwood, Zarafa Carter Cradle Maintenance have relocated a few miles down the road to Basildon. The new facility has been designed specifically to support the growth of the business with a workshop facility, spares stores and a training room.

For further information on Zarafa Cradle Maintenance, click here.