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A guide to the lifts in the U.K

Last updated - [19.08.2021]

Ben claims that the UK's lifts are ruined and that they're all crappy generics, this is not true. I honestly think that they're all Kone monospaces. This article goes over the different models of lifts in the UK and rates them on frequency and quality

Kone

Kones are very common in the UK, their lifts are very high quality and are very efficient. But the problem is that they're a bit too frequent, one time I was planning on doing a lift tour in Bracknell but I had to cancel due to the amount of monospaces there. Once you have a good thing for so long you kinda get bored by it. It's nice to have some variety. The kone maxispace is a rare lift that uses a non counterweight system, it is rather hard to maintain. The kone minispace is like the Kone monospace but it has a more powerful MR motor. The Kone TMS was Kone's first type of lift in the UK, it is well known for its classic chime and efficency

Frequency

  • Kone Monospace - 10/10

  • Kone Maxispace - 1/10

  • Kone Minispace - 2/10

  • Kone TMS lifts - 3/10

Quality

  • Kone Monospace - 8/10

  • Kone Maxispace - 7/10

  • Kone Minispace - 9/10

  • Kone TMS lifts - 10/10

Otis

Otis is another very common brand in the U.K (though not as common as kone), I don't really have much to say about otis other than the fact that the Otis 2000 and the Otis gen2 can have unique designs. Also they've been in the U.K market for a very, very long time. Their lifts are decent, and their newer lifts have intelligent levelling

Frequency

  • Otis Gen2 - 8/10

  • Otis 2000 - 4/10

  • Otis S1/Europa 2000 - 2/10

  • Old Otises - 3/10

Quality

  • Otis Gen2 - 6/10

  • Otis 2000 - 7/10

  • Otis S1/Europa 2000 - 9/10

  • Old Otises - 9/10

Orona

Orona are a relatively new company that started making lifts in the 2000s, their lifts are known for their voice and their unique button pannels. Orona has only made 3 types of lift in their entire lifetime.

Frequency

  • 1st gen Orona - 2/10

  • Orona 2G - 5/10

  • Orona 3G - 6/10

Quality

  • 1st gen Orona - I never went in one

  • Orona 2G - 5/10

  • Orona 3G - 6/10

Schindler

Schindler started making lifts in the UK sometime around the late '60s, however, schindler's most iconic lift comes from the '80, it is the M series design paired with the 16 bit Miconic V controller, this controller was very impressive for its time.  Another notable schindler lift is the eurolift, which is an MRL version of the Miconic V. However, the rarest lift is the Schindler mobile, which is a little bit like the kone maxispace mentioned earlier. The Schindler mobile is the rarest lift in the U.K as there is only 1 confirmed location. Schindler's modern lifts are way more boring, the Schindler 2400 is a stupid hydraulic, The 3300 is a worse version of the Otis gen2, and the 5500 is a deluxe version of the 3300

Frequency

  • Schindler 3300/5500 - 5/10

  • Schindler 2400 - 2/10

  • Schindler EuroLift - 5/10

  • Schindler Smart - 1/10

  • Schindler Mobile - 1/10

  • Miconic V lifts - 2/10

  • Pre miconic, and Miconic B lifts - 2/10

Quality

  • Schindler 3300 - 5/10

  • Schindler 5500 - 6/10

  • Schindler 2400 - 4/10

  • Schindler EuroLift - 9/10

  • Schindler Smart - 6/10

  • Schindler Mobile 3/10

  • Miconic V lifts - 10/10

  • Pre miconic and Miconic B lifts - 9/10

Thyssenkrupp

This brand isn't very common in the UK as their lifts have a bad reputation of breaking down. But they made a lift which has 2 lift cars

Frequency

  • 1-3/10

Quality

  • 2-6/10

Mitsubishi/Fujitech

These Japanese companies are very uncommon in the U.K. However, their lifts are very, very high quality

Frequency

  • 2/10

Quality

  • 8-10/10

Stannah/Pickerings

These companies used to make really high quality lifts, but in the '90s these companies started goin downhill by making low quality lifts.

Frequency

  • 3-5/10

Quality

  • 2-5/10

Mid range lifts

Ben calls these lifts "Dewhurst generics" even though I've seen other types of buttons on these lifts. These lifts are slightly better than the average Otis Gen2

Frequency

  • 9/10

Quality

  • 7/10

Low end lifts

Ben calls these lifts "Flatpack lifts" and I completely agree with him.  While these lifts aren't the most common in the U.K, they are the worst I've ever seen. Most of the times these lifts have a depressed sounding voice (if you're lucky, you would get the stentorgate voice) and really cheap and jerky motors

Frequency

  • 6/10

Quality

  • 1 - 3/10

Express (and other vintage lift companies)

Express used to be a brand for making high end lifts, but ever since they were bought out by otis, their lifts have went a bit downhill (but are still better than stannah). They now distribute some variants of the Gen2 and Kleeman lifts and make mid range lifts too. But their old lifts are classics, they were so well built and use completely original parts. Shame that they're not that frequent

Frequency

  • New lifts - 4/10

  • Old lifts - 3/10

Quality

  • New lifts - 4-7/10

  • Old lifts - 9/10

Thanks for reading

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