A Star DecoratorsCall

Commercial decorating · live & occupied sites

Commercial decorating contractors who work while you stay open.

Right now we're on Primark and Tesco stores for R.G. Carter and Morris & Spottiswood. Mostly nights, always around trading. Retail refurbishments, fit-outs and planned maintenance, with full RAMS and the brand spec followed.

Request a site surveyCall 077 6178 1304

Live site

You keep trading

Brand colours

Matched to your spec

CHAS

Accredited delivery

UK-wide

South of England base

Working with

Uplands RetailR.G. CarterMorris & Spottiswood

In environments

PrimarkTescoM&SMorrisons

What you get

H&S compliance firstPhoto handoverNo-snag policyDirector-led

What you get on Monday morning

  • Variations priced before you ask. Paperwork on the day it's due. Certificates clean.
  • Health and safety run to the highest standard of compliance. Supervisor on site every morning. Photo handover per zone.
  • No-snag handover: every zone inspected before sign-off.

We are not the cheapest decorator on your list. We are the one with a no-snag handover policy and paperwork that lands on the day it is due.

Quick answers

Straight answers, before you enquire.

Who are the best commercial decorators in the UK?
The right pick depends on whether you need scale or discipline. Bagnalls and Novus win on national branch coverage. A Star wins on operational discipline at the scheme level: RAMS, photo handover, a no-snag handover policy and programme-move absorption. See /compare/a-star-vs-bagnalls and /compare/a-star-vs-novus for a lever-by-lever comparison.
Can a commercial decorator work while the shop stays open?
Yes. Live trading delivery is standard for an experienced commercial decorator, and A Star phases by zone around your operating hours. We absorb late variations and overnight handovers without a programme slip. This is the dominant theme in our QS feedback.
How much does commercial decorating cost?
It depends on spec, access and how the site trades, so we price every scheme from a survey rather than a rate card. Multi-store rollouts price per phase, not per visit. We show prelims as a separate line, never bundled, and annotate the quote so you can see what each rate covers. See /insights/capability-statement for the one-page proof stack and /insights/clean-quote for the quote format.
How quickly can a commercial decorator mobilise?
Two weeks from acceptance is a serious lead time for a planned commercial scheme, faster only when operatives are closing a nearby job. The programme then moves into a phased rolling-weekend pattern for retail rollouts. The RAMS pack is issued no later than five working days before mobilisation.

01 / service

When the shop has to keep trading, and the decorator is the trade that gets squeezed when everyone else runs late.

  • The site needs to stay open through the works.
  • Multiple trades are on the same programme and your decorator will be the one absorbing slippage.
  • Brand colour has to be consistent across the estate.
  • The main contractor needs RAMS, COSHH and a clean handover record before sign-off.

02 / why it matters

Where commercial decorating goes wrong.

On a live commercial site the finish is the easy part. The risk is in the programme, the brand spec and the handover.

01

Downtime

A decorator who can't work nights forces closures the business can't afford. Out-of-hours delivery is built into how we price and programme.

02

Brand drift

An eyeballed colour ages differently across an estate. We work to the brand specification and a confirmed dry film thickness.

03

Trade slippage

When other trades run late, the decorator absorbs it. We hold the programme and flag impacts in writing before it becomes a problem.

04

Late snagging

Snags found at handover kill the programme. Our site supervisor maintains the snag list live, room by room. Nothing sits until the last day.

03 / process

How we run an occupied site.

01

Survey

Walk the scope with the PC. Moisture readings on suspect substrates, cross-hatch adhesion test on existing finishes, photo log of every elevation. Programme overlay with other trades captured on the day.

02

Specification

Dulux Trade primers + Diamond Matt or Sheen 4-coat system as standard. Sheen level per area, colour matched to the brand, dry film thickness specified per coat.

03

RAMS

RAMS pack written for the project with COSHH for every product, dust-curtaining strategy, out-of-hours method and PPE matrix. Signed off by site management before mobilisation.

04

Delivery

Phase by phase: masking goes up before paint comes out of the kettle. Daily clean-down. Snag list maintained live by the site supervisor.

05

Handover

Walk-the-line with the PC, photo handover record, no-snag handover, paint touch-up kit left on site, decant labels on any leftover product.

04 / sectors

Commercial decorating in the sectors that can't go dark.

Retail & estates

Store refurbishments and rolling estate programmes for Primark, Tesco and M&S via R.G. Carter and Morris & Spottiswood. Delivered around trading hours.

Offices & workplace

Repaints, refurbishments and dilapidations phased around occupied floors, evenings and weekends.

Education & healthcare

Low-disruption decorating around term times and operating hours, to the compliance standards these sectors require.

Heritage & logistics

Sympathetic finishes on period buildings through to high-bay warehouses and distribution centres.

Scope · included

  • RAMS written for the project, COSHH and method statements
  • Out-of-hours and phased shift delivery
  • Colour specifications matched to the brand
  • Live snag list and photo handover record

Scope · not included

  • Structural alterations
  • M&E works
  • Permanent signage manufacture

Recent work

Primark · Hammersmith

Commercial decorating delivered on a live Primark store under a main-contractor framework, phased around trading, finished to the brand specification throughout, and handed over to programme.

Read the case study →

Frequently asked

Answers before the survey, not after the quote.

What sectors do you cover?
Retail, office, education, healthcare, heritage and logistics. Most of our programme is repeat work: Primark, Tesco and M&S via R.G. Carter and Morris & Spottiswood.
Can you work out-of-hours?
Yes. Night shifts, early starts and phased shifts are built into how we deliver around live trading. The programme is agreed before mobilisation, not improvised on site.
Do you produce RAMS?
A RAMS pack written for your project ships before mobilisation, with COSHH assessments for every product. PC sign-off is required before works start.
What accreditations do you hold?
CHAS and CITB Site Safety Plus. Dulux Academy trained. RAMS and COSHH authored in-house. Certificates available on request.
How do you cost variations?
Variations are priced as we go, agreed in writing before delivery, and shown line-item on the application for payment.

“RAMS in our hands 48 hours before mobilisation, supervisor on site every morning, and the snag list closed within a working week. That's the loop we expect from a tier-1 and rarely get from a decorator at this scale.”

Estate Manager · Multi-store retail estate · Active framework

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Tell us about the site.

Location, scope, programme dates and the main contractor if there is one. We typically reply within one working day with a site-survey window.

077 6178 1304 · mobileoffice@astardecorators.com
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