Our History

The Original Tote Pan Company is a trading name of Simon & Dean Limited - the UK's number one manufacture of Tote Pans.

In 1948, Tom was employed at a local turning company in Redditch, Worcestershire, but was disillusioned when he was passed by for a promised promotion.

After returning home after work from his day job - Tom went straight into the pigsty at the rear of his Parent's house in Crabbs Cross to develop a steel pan.

After raising the roof so he could initially get two hand presses in. He got hold of an existing pan from a competitor, and started to work out how it was made, and more importantly - to see how he could make it better and more economically.

Tom answered an advert that he saw in the Birmingham Evening News, from Welconstruct - who were an established business, supplying storage solutions to local industry. The advert requested someone to make metal boxes. He forged a friendship with Welconstruct's owner Pat Welch, who generously gave some money upfront to buy material to allow Tom to start production on his own.

As production and interest in the initial 'tote pan' grew, Tom discussed his plans for increased production with Fred Dean, who did maintenance for factories in Redditch.

Fred and Tom put £60 each into the business, and Fred also put in his box of tools from a motorbike and side car. Tom continued to make all of the steel boxes by hand, and Fred set up welding racks for customers to store their boxes. By this time, they had moved into the hayloft and stables adjoining the pigsty, and welded a DIY metal staircase to get to the upstairs.

A small workforce was established, and machines were added. The buildings weren't large enough to accommodate the growing business, and so some machines were placed outside. When it rained, the men would place blue tarpaulins over their heads and machines, which looked like waves in the sea as they bobbed around operating fly-presses underneath.
Tom also employed his mum and dad in the production process, his dad working on a newly acquired spot-welding machine - which would regularly cause powder cuts in the local area if used on too high a setting. Tom's mother would bend up the wire to form the handles for the pans.

In the early days, the handles of the pans were spot-welded in place, but in time were riveted in place. The design of the handles, the same as used to this day, was developed by Tom, after he saw a folding handle on the back of his mother's Belling electric fire.

As demand for the tote pans increased, it was clear that Tom and Fred needed a larger location for their growing business. They bought a strip of land from a local scrap metal dealer James Watton. From sales of the tote pans, they were able pay cash for some bricks from Studley Brickworks, which was located next door. Part of the roof structure came from an old picture house in Redditch, and a photo was shown in the local newspaper of Tom and Fred erecting the steelwork to the building, which is still currently used for production of the pans.

The machinery was moved from Crabbs Cross in an old Ford Popular van, which they had converted into a pick-up truck. The van was far too small for the weight of the machines, and as a result the wheels bounced off the ground as they drove the two miles from Crabbs cross to Studley - fortunately much of which was downhill.

Overtime, and as production continued to increase, additional land and buildings were
purchased to house new machinery and a growing workforce. Tom was advised to convert the business into a limited company, and Simon and Dean td. was first incorporated in March 1962.

Tom continued to oversee the tote pan part of the business. His strategy in those early years was to work on a very low profit margin, which resulted in Simon and Dean Ltd being the only UK manufacturer of the tote pans. There had previously been another pan maker in the Black Country, and Tom made several incognito visits to their factory, walking up and down the street to catch glimpses of how they were making pans without the need for any welding in their construction.

With the help of Reg Harper, a tool maker from Birmingham, they developed the 'V'
tools for lock forming the sides of the pan onto the main body. This led to a small range of standard sized tote pans. Much of the tooling and production methods are still used to this day.

Establishing themselves as the only manufacturer of the product in the UK, additional hand presses (fly-presses) were purchased, along with some power presses to increase the speed of production.

At the peak of demand for tote pans, up to 30 people were solely on the production of the pans, all paid piece work - which was regarded at that time as the fairest way of rewarding someone for their output. While those days are gone, the past and present owners of Simon and Dean gratefully acknowledge that many people have worked very hard in the factory over the years.

Tom and Fred officially brought their sons into the business, although they had unofficially been helping out for several years earlier. Michael remembers being give a free range on the shop floor without any experience, and along with getting his fingers pinched in the presses as he experimented, ventured into making galvanised drip trays that he sold to local garages.

Michael and Tony increased the range of products significantly. As they had been welding steel racks for the tote pans for several years, they were able to diversify the range of products to include steel pallets, trucks and trolleys, clothes lockers, bar and sheet storage, and steel workbenches.

These initially started as a standard range for each, but as the business continued to grow in size as well as the number of different products made, Simon and Dean became known for manufacturing just about anything that could be welded together from mild steel.

That continues to the present day, where more modern machinery and processes sit alongside several of the original hand presses from the pigsty days.

Now under new ownership, the photos of Tom, Fred, Michael and Tony are still on display the reception. There is a photo of Pat Welch next to Tom and Fred's in a nod to the significant hand that Pat played in the early stages of the businesses, and to the importance of Pat's Company (Welconstruct) in the growth of Simon and Dean Ltd over the years.

Tote pans are still manufactured much the same way. Many, if not most, factories all over the UK and some further afield, will have Simon and Dean Tote Pans in use. We get enquiries for pans from new businesses, as well as those that have been around for several generations.

From visiting customers, we still see some pans in daily use that were made several decades ago - evident from pre-dating an improvement to the stacking bracket, approximately 50 years ago!

Until 2024, we only sold tote pans to businesses. In 2025, we started The Original Tote Pan Company - and for the first time, Simon & Dean opened our doors directly to sell directly to customers. 

When you buy from this website, your products are shipped directly from the Simon & Dean factory floor to your location - without any of the added markup or margin that you would pay if you purchase from a distributor.