About Clean Air
UK Fume Cupboard Manufacturers Advancing Sustainable Containment
Clean Air is a UK manufacturer of laboratory fume cupboards and fume extraction systems, with more than 30 years of experience in design, manufacture, installation and maintenance. We combine specialist containment expertise with sustainable engineering to protect people and help laboratories reduce their environmental impact.
Engineering a Cleaner Future
Today, we’re helping shape the future of sustainable fume containment. Our work brings together advanced airflow modelling, published research and British manufacturing to improve containment, reduce energy demand and challenge the use of environmentally damaging gases in testing.
From our base in Bolton, Greater Manchester, we supply laboratory fume cupboards and fume cabinets to schools, universities, life sciences, industry and specialist research facilities across the UK and internationally. Our comprehensive product portfolio is complemented by bespoke design expertise for individual applications and demanding laboratory environments.
What We Do
More than Manufacturing
From bespoke engineering to long-term support, we bring together the expertise needed to deliver effective laboratory containment solutions.
Bespoke Fume Cupboards
Bespoke Fume Cupboards for Specialist Applications and Awkward Spaces
Bespoke fume cupboard design is one of our core strengths. We design and manufacture custom fume cupboards and ventilated enclosures tailored to individual applications, specialist equipment, and spaces where conventional layouts won’t work.
We start with your process, the equipment you need to accommodate and the space available. From restricted laboratory footprints and awkward room layouts to complex containment requirements, our engineers develop a solution around the way you need to work. We consider dimensions, access, airflow, and extraction together, with safe containment guiding every design decision.
Our established product portfolio includes ducted, walk-in, accessible, and education fume cupboards, as well as recirculating fume cabinets. When your application calls for a different approach, our bespoke design capability lets you create a fume cupboard around your requirements.
Combining CFD analysis with practical manufacturing and installation expertise lets us explore demanding designs and turn them into workable laboratory solutions. Tell us what your application requires and where the challenges lie. We’ll help you resolve them.
Sustainable Engineering
Sustainable Fume Cupboards through Better Engineering
Fume cupboards perform an essential safety function, but their environmental impact deserves close attention. Extracting heated or cooled laboratory air creates demand for replacement air and the energy needed to condition it. Conventional containment testing also uses sulphur hexafluoride (SF6), a potent greenhouse gas.
We’re tackling both challenges through how we design, develop, and test our products. Aerodynamic design, Variable Air Volume (VAV) controls and automatic sash closure help customers reduce unnecessary extraction while maintaining safe containment. Our investment in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) lets us investigate and refine designs without the SF6 emissions associated with repeated physical development tests.
That same approach extends throughout a fume cupboard’s working life. Servicing, repair and appropriate upgrades help customers keep equipment operating safely, improve efficiency and avoid unnecessary replacement.
Lifetime Support
Fume Cupboard Installation, Servicing and Lifetime Support
Whether you choose from our established fume cupboard ranges or commission a bespoke fume hood, we support the complete project. Our expertise covers the cupboard and its laboratory extraction system, helping ensure the installation suits your application and environment.
Our designers, manufacturing technicians, project engineers, and service team bring the solution together, with clear advice and communication throughout design, manufacture, installation, and commissioning. Ongoing testing, servicing and maintenance provide support long after installation.
Talk to our team about your laboratory fume cupboard, bespoke containment or fume extraction requirements. We’ll help you find a solution that fits your application, space, and sustainability objectives.
Research & Innovation
Shaping the Future of Containment
Through scientific research, technical innovation, and industry collaboration, we’re helping advance safer, more sustainable fume containment approaches.
CFD Research
CFD Research Advancing Fume Cupboard Design
CFD lets us model how air and contaminants move inside and around a fume cupboard. We can investigate different extraction rates, sash positions and equipment arrangements, building a detailed understanding of performance before manufacture.
Through a Knowledge Transfer Partnership with Manchester Metropolitan University and Innovate UK, we’ve developed and validated our CFD methodology. Peer-reviewed scientific publications support this work and give our engineers the evidence to assess designs, understand complex airflow behaviour, and improve containment.
We’ve kept our CFD testing methodology unpatented and shared it through published research. Our ambition is to help the wider industry adopt effective, lower-impact approaches to fume cupboard development and testing.
Beyond SF6
Working Towards Fume Cupboard Testing Without SF6
We have the capability to carry out fume cupboard product development and assess containment through CFD without using SF6. Across our testing, research and development, and consultancy work, we estimate that this approach has avoided 939 tonnes of CO2e from SF6 emissions compared with equivalent physical testing between January 2022 and September 2026.
Our aspiration is to eliminate SF6 from fume cupboard product development and type-testing. Achieving that across the industry requires confidence in alternative methods, customer acceptance and progress in testing standards.
CFD is not yet recognised as a testing method within BS EN 14175. We retain our in-house physical testing facility and provide conventional testing wherever safety, standards or customer requirements call for it. Our team helps customers understand the available approaches and select the appropriate route for their project.
Industry Leadership
Expertise Shaping Fume Cupboard Standards
Our expertise extends to developing the standards that guide laboratory safety. Our Technical Director, Dr Andrew Manning, contributes to UK, European, and international standards work through BSI, CEN, and ISO committees covering laboratory furniture, fume cupboards, and associated ventilation.
Alongside this work, we’re engaging with government and policymakers to support the transition away from avoidable SF6 use. We also share knowledge through accredited CPD, helping laboratory professionals, architects and specifiers make informed decisions about safety and sustainability.
Our innovation has received national recognition, including Best Sustainable Innovation at Lab Innovations 2024 and Best Sustainability Initiative at the Labmate Awards 2025.
Assuring Quality, Safety and Compliance
Our ISO certifications prove to our clients that we are committed to quality and to continuous improvement. They show we have been assessed by an independent third party and can evidence processes and systems designed to improve our business. They demonstrate that we comply with internationally recognised frameworks of management.
ISO 9001 QMS
Clean Air’s ISO 9001 Quality Management System (QMS) makes us focus on key areas of our business and continuously improve efficiency and effectiveness. It demonstrates our ability to consistently provide products and services that meet customer, stakeholder and regulatory requirements.
ISO 14001 EMS
Clean Air’s ISO 14001 Environmental Management System EMS demonstrates our commitment to minimising our environmental impact. It actively supports our efforts to reduce our carbon footprint.
ISO 45001:2018 OH&S
Clean Air’s ISO 45001:2018 Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) Management System enables us to proactively improve our OH&S performance. It demonstrates to our clients we are committed to providing safe and healthy workplaces by preventing work-related injury and ill-health.
Contructionline & SSIP
Clean Air also has VIP Verified Constructionline Gold and SSIP accreditations. Together these registers show our H&S, Environmental Management, Equality and Diversity, Quality Management, and legislative compliance are stringently reviewed.
UKSPA
Clean Air’s UKSPA Membership – We’re an active member of the UK Science Park Association (UKSPA), reflecting our commitment to supporting innovation and excellence within commercial laboratories. This membership underscores our dedication to providing cutting-edge environmental solutions that meet the rigorous standards of the scientific community.
I2SL
Clean Air’s I2SL Membership – Clean Air is a founding member of the UK chapter of the International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories (I2SL), demonstrating our commitment to sustainability in laboratory design and operation. Through this membership, we support the fume cupboard industry in leading the transition towards greener, more energy-efficient laboratories worldwide.
Cyber Essentials Certified
Clean Air has achieved Cyber Essentials accreditation, a UK government-backed certification that demonstrates our commitment to protecting client and business data from common cyber threats. It confirms that essential security controls are in place to defend against risks such as phishing and ransomware, while supporting GDPR compliance and strengthening trust with customers, partners, and stakeholders.
The Clean Air Team
The Clean Air team is comprised of experienced fume extract system specialists. We also have an eye on the future, bringing fresh talent into our company and never standing still. What we all have in common is a passion for keeping you safe, delivering technical excellence, and giving you an outstanding customer experience.
Louise Barnes
Marketing Manager
Tim Dixon
Design Manager
Alan Tattersall
Technical Sales Manager
Sarah Lennon
Sales Estimator
Pam Wright
Service & Maintenance Administrator
Nev Doel
Test & Maintenance Engineer
Dave Watts
Test & Maintenance Engineer
Lyndsey Caloe
Fume Cupboard Designer
Paul Westwell
Fume Cupboard Designer
Mark Harrison
Contracts Manager
Eddie Philpott
Contracts Engineer
Phil Miller
Contracts Engineer
Callum Green
Trainee Contracts Engineer
Sam Gouldin
Finance Analyst
Debra Davies
Contracts Administrator
Anthony Black
Team Leader
Scott Dickson
Fume Cupboard Engineer
Jason Small
Fume Cupboard Engineer
Paul Morris
Fabricator
Peter Roberts
Fabricator
Health, Safety and Energy Efficiency
Here at Clean Air, we pride ourselves on health, safety and energy efficiency. We are firmly committed to these principles.
Health & Safety
Safety is our business, and we take the health and safety of our staff, clients and communities seriously. Our fume cupboards are designed to meet BS EN 14175 and our recirculating fume cabinets BS EN 17242, with testing and certification available. We follow rigorous procedures, take a zero-tolerance approach to breaches and are certified to ISO 45001:2018.
Energy Efficiency
We are committed to improving energy efficiency whilst maintaining excellent levels of containment. We can reduce the amount of heated and conditioned air extracted through our fume cupboards by up to 66% through innovative low volume designs, Variable Air Volume (VAV) controls and autosash closure systems.
Recycling
We’re working with our waste contractors to better understand how our waste is managed, including how much is recycled and how much is used for energy recovery. This will help us identify practical ways to reduce waste and improve recycling across our operations.
Environment
Since 2017 we have reduced our Scope 1 & 2 carbon footprint – which includes SF6 – by 55% even though turnover has increased during the same period. Among our initiatives, we’ve installed solar panels on our factory roof.