Growing panes: Empire Glass
If you’ve driven around Canterbury, chances are you’ve spotted them, the silver vans with unmistakable orange frails… but do you know the story behind them?
“Are those your vans?” people often ask Empire Glass owner, Nathan Cadman. “The ones with the orange frails?”
He always laughs. “Yep, that’s us.” Now, he says, it’s time locals knew the story – and the name – behind the vans they see everywhere.
Empire Glass didn’t start with a big workshop, a fleet of vans, or a large team. It began with Nathan, one van, and a 40ft shipping container parked on the front lawn of his family home. “When you don’t have the resources, you get inventive,” he laughs. And he proved it, transforming that container into a workshop, often working late into the night after the kids were asleep.
Before long, the work grew and the little container that had once felt enormous suddenly didn’t feel big enough. Nathan brought on extra hands. The team shifted into a larger setup, this time a sublet section of a Burnside factory, complete with a makeshift office, squeezed between racks of glass and tools. Then the economy wobbled. Construction slowed, and the phones weren’t ringing like they used to.
“We did everything we could to keep going and keep our staff,” Nathan recalls. “It wasn’t easy. But we held on.”
Slowly, steadily, the work returned. The team grew again, and Empire Glass began to evolve into something bigger. Today, Empire Glass operates from its own dedicated premises in Bromley, a far cry from the old lawn container days.
What started as a one man, one van venture has grown over a decade into a thriving business with a team of 16 skilled professionals and seven vans on the road (yes, more orange frails). “Our growth has been organic,” Nathan says. “It’s been driven by word of mouth, strong relationships, and doing things right the first time.”
The name Empire captured Nathan’s ambition to create something bigger than a business, something built to grow, evolve, and stand tall in the industry. This year marks another milestone for the company, with the purchase of a new glass sucker bank – heavy lifting equipment that opens the door to larger and more complex projects.
“It’s exciting,” Nathan says. “As we’ve evolved, so has our ambition. Today, Empire Glass is more than a glazing company; we’re a trusted partner in commercial and residential projects, known for our reliability, responsiveness, and results. We take pride in being a company that’s easy to work with and hard to forget.”
