Ask three shutter companies for a price and you can easily get three very different numbers, which makes it hard to know if you are being looked after or taken for a ride. The honest answer is that a shop front shutter is priced by width, slat type, motor and how awkward the fixing is. Here is how those factors stack up, using the sort of figures we see across Birmingham and the wider West Midlands.
For a standard single unit shop front of roughly 3m wide by 2.5m high, a manual aluminium lath shutter usually lands somewhere between £900 and £1,600 supplied and fitted. Add an electric tubular motor with a key switch or remote and you are generally looking at £1,400 to £2,400 for the same opening.
Once you go up to a double frontage of 5m or more, or you need a heavier galvanised steel curtain for a unit that has been targeted before, prices commonly sit in the £2,500 to £4,500 range. Insulated foam filled slats, perforated or punched laths for window display visibility, and powder coating to a specific RAL colour all push the figure higher again.
These are genuine ranges rather than quotes. A site survey is the only way to be accurate, because two shops on the same parade can differ by hundreds of pounds depending on what is above the opening.
Width matters more than height. Every extra metre of curtain adds weight, which means a bigger barrel, heavier end plates and a stronger motor, so costs rise in steps rather than smoothly.
The other big variable is the fixing. If there is a decent concrete or brick lintel and clear reveals, installation is straightforward. If the shutter has to be face fixed to a tired Victorian frontage with rendered brickwork, or if we need to build a steel angle to carry the load, that survey will add labour and materials.
Access and timing also feed in. Many units on Birmingham high streets and around the Jewellery Quarter can only be worked on outside trading hours or need a pavement licence from the council, and early or evening fitting is charged differently from a normal weekday slot.
This catches a lot of shop owners out. In many conservation areas across Birmingham, and on any listed building, an external roller shutter box and guides count as a material change to the frontage and will need consent. Built in shutters that sit behind the glass line, or open lattice and perforated curtains, tend to be received far better than a solid external box.
Application fees, drawings and the possibility of a refusal are real costs. It is worth checking with the local planning team before committing to a solid shutter, because switching to a behind glass installation late in the day usually changes the specification and the price.
A shutter is not a fit and forget item. An electric shop front shutter used twice a day is doing well over 700 cycles a year, and bearings, bottom rails and motor limits all wear. Annual servicing typically runs £90 to £180 per shutter, and it is cheaper than a seized motor on a Saturday morning.
A proper written quote should name the slat type and thickness, the motor make and whether there is a manual override for power cuts, the finish, the guide fixing method, removal and disposal of any old shutter, and the warranty split between the curtain and the motor. If a price arrives as a single line with no specification, ask for the detail before comparing it with anyone else.
For daily use, yes. Manual shutters are fine for a lock up or a rarely used rear door, but staff opening a heavy curtain by hand twice a day will wear it out faster and risk injury, and the motor cost is usually recovered in reduced servicing and damage.
It can, but only if it meets the standard your insurer specifies, so check whether they want a particular security rating before you order. Always get the requirement in writing from your insurer first, because a shutter fitted to the wrong specification will not count.
Most single shop front shutters are fitted in a day, with electrical connection either the same day or shortly after by a qualified electrician. Larger double frontages, or jobs needing steelwork above the opening, usually run to two days.