At Kirkstall Precision, precision isn’t only a number on a drawing, it’s a promise to the people who depend on what we make. Every day our team designs, machines, assembles and validates surgical instruments, implants and critical components for medical and veterinary use. What sets us apart comes down to three simple ideas that guide every decision: care, collaboration and innovation.
Care: quality you’d trust for your own family
Care is more than bedside language. In our world it means doing the hard work up front so the result is safe, reliable and consistent. It shows up in the questions we ask. Would I trust this in theatre? Would I use this on my own family? And in the way we build processes that protect the answer.
That mindset reaches from first sketch to final clean. Our technicians run validated cleaning and passivation lines to ensure corrosion resistance and surface cleanliness. We develop “worst-case” validation parts with challenging geometries, mixed materials and difficult-to-reach features, then test against them so we know the process is robust for every product, not just the easy ones. Residual testing confirms no unwanted chemicals remain. It’s detailed work, but it’s the kind of work that turns a good part into a device you can count on.
Care also means context. We’ve invested years in understanding how devices are used, sterilised and maintained in real clinical settings. That awareness keeps quality first and keeps risk low. It’s why leading OEMs trust us with programs that have to be right, first time, every time.
Collaboration: turning intent into instrumentation
Great outcomes in medtech don’t happen in isolation. They happen when specialists sit on the same side of the table and solve the problem together.
From concept to production, our engineers work side-by-side with client teams to translate intent into repeatable manufacturing. Early, open design-for-manufacture reviews help avoid cost and complexity later. We co-create robust process flows and manufacturing instructions, agree the best method together, and then we stick to it, so the outcome is reliable, lot after lot.
That partnership-first approach reaches across our supply chain, too. Surface finishing, coatings, packaging, sterilisation, we coordinate the details so programs keep moving, even when the unexpected shows up. The result is momentum: faster approvals, cleaner transfers and fewer surprises on the shop floor.
Innovation: practical progress that ships
Innovation here isn’t a shiny word; it’s a daily habit. We’ve grown from manual milling and toolmaking to a modern, multi-axis capability precisely because we keep asking, What’s a better way?
Advanced CNC milling. Our 3-, 4- and 5-axis teams turn complex geometries into repeatable parts, from delicate surgical components to robust veterinary implants. Programming, fixturing and in-process verification are handled by true engineers—people who understand both the numbers and the material.
Validated cleaning and passivation. We continually strengthen our end-of-line processes, updating to the latest specifications and revalidating against worst-case conditions so devices enter the clinical world clean and ready.
Technical assembly and welding. Skilled assembly, laser and TIG welding, calibration and functional test bring machined components to life as finished instruments.
Prototyping to production. We support early concept work and scale it into stable, efficient manufacturing with lean, Six Sigma thinking built in.
Innovation also means keeping pace with the sector itself. In orthopaedics, for example, our clients are racing to create distinctive IP, porous surfaces, novel features, new material structures. Our job is to help them get there with processes that are capable, documented and economical.
A history of precision with a future in health.
Kirkstall’s medical roots run deep. In the early 1990s, our founder cut his teeth creating jigs and fixtures for major OEM production lines before moving into surgical instrumentation. That spirit, craft paired with curiosity, still drives the business. Over the last decade we’ve focused the company around healthcare, growing our medical revenue from half to the vast majority of what we do today. It’s deliberate: concentrate on the work that improves quality of life and do it to a world-class standard.
People first: character, craft and the will to learn
The best machines only matter in the hands of the right people. We hire for values, care, collaboration, innovation, and we train for skill. Character, drive and the will to learn count. Many of our newest team members chose Kirkstall because they believe a company our size can make a big difference in medtech. They’re right. When a device we helped to build restores movement to a patient, or gets a champion back competing, you can feel the impact on the shop floor. It’s why we do this.
Medical and veterinary, held to the same high bar
While most of our work is for human healthcare, much of what we do applies directly to veterinary care as well. The products are often similar, the expectations just as high. The best veterinary OEMs choose human-grade processes and fully certified devices for animal health, and we apply the same rigour to both. Because a life is a life, and the standard should reflect that.
If you want a precision engineering partner who thinks like you do about patients, animals and outcomes, let’s talk. We’ll bring the craft, the discipline and the momentum to help your next medical or veterinary device ship with quality without compromise.