We are delighted to announce that IG Lintels has been shortlisted by Builders’ Merchants News (BMN) for its prestigious ‘Top 100 – Top 50 Companies Over 50’ award, a fitting milestone in the same year the brand celebrates 20 years as part of the Keystone Group.
Founded in 1958, IG Lintels has grown from a specialist steel fabricator into the most recognised name in steel lintels sold exclusively through builders’ merchants. The business has a genuine claim to having shaped the industry by inventing the ‘Top Hat’ lintel profile in 1967, a design that still underpins steel lintel manufacturing today.
A series of industry firsts followed including the first BBA approved steel lintel in 1976, the first insulated lintel in 1984, and the first ISO 14001 certified lintel manufacturer in 2010. As part of the Keystone Group, IG Lintels added Hi-Therm+, the first truly thermally efficient lintel, to that list. In 2025, the business completed the circle by reintroducing steel fabrication services and giving merchants a seamless one-stop-shop for lintels and structural steel, 67 years on from where it all began.
Commenting, Derrick McFarland, Managing Director said: “IG Lintels represents everything we value as a Group – heritage, innovation and an absolute dedication to the merchant community. We are incredibly proud to celebrate 20 years of IG Lintels being part of the Keystone Group family, and this recognition makes that milestone even more special.”
Beyond the product
IG Lintels has maintained an exclusive merchant-only trading model throughout its history, ensuring its partners retain full ownership of the customer relationship. Backed by a respected technical team offering free specification and on-site guidance, and sustained investment in CPD, BIM resources and digital tools, the business has consistently added value beyond the product itself. Through the Keystone Group’s Keyskills initiative, IG Lintels also supports apprenticeships, early career engineers and industry training programmes, helping to secure the future of the sector it has served for more than six decades.
“This shortlisting is a wonderful acknowledgement of the people who have driven this business forward for more than six decades. Our heritage is something we are immensely proud of, but we are equally focused on the future and on the merchants we support every single day,”
The BMN Top 100 awards are among the most respected accolades in the builders’ merchant sector. The ‘Top 50 Companies Over 50’ category celebrates businesses that have demonstrated enduring excellence, and with 67 years of innovation, merchant loyalty and product leadership behind it, IG Lintels is a worthy contender.
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