Virtual planning
Put together your individual van racking system.
Fitting is the trade, not just the racking
The centre's engineers work across a wide product range, including:
- Polypropylene van linings
- Roof bars and roof racks
- Pipe carriers
- bott vario3 racking
- Lighting, including beacons and interior lighting
- Electrical accessories, such as inverters for 240v power on site
- Towbars
- Security products, including hooklocks and security shields
- Chapter 8 chevrons for high visibility
- Decals and vinyl graphics
- Tool stores and security boxes
- Pickup canopies and hardtops
Some of these jobs take a full day. Others take an hour. What they share is a fitter who knows the vehicle, knows the product, and knows how the two need to come together so nothing works loose three months down the line.
That distinction matters more than it sounds. A van fitted out well by a trained professional behaves differently from one where accessories have been bolted on by somebody who isn't 100% confident. Cable runs are routed away from moving parts. Roof loads are calculated, not guessed. Security fittings go through the parts of the panel actually designed to take the strain. None of this shows up in a photo of a finished van, but it shows up in whether that van is still rattle-free and secure two years later.
The centre's engineers work across a wide product range, including:
- Polypropylene van linings
- Roof bars and roof racks
- Pipe carriers
- bott vario3 racking
- Lighting, including beacons and interior lighting
- Electrical accessories, such as inverters for 240v power on site
- Towbars
- Security products, including hooklocks and security shields
- Chapter 8 chevrons for high visibility
- Decals and vinyl graphics
- Tool stores and security boxes
- Pickup canopies and hardtops
Some of these jobs take a full day. Others take an hour. What they share is a fitter who knows the vehicle, knows the product, and knows how the two need to come together so nothing works loose three months down the line.
That distinction matters more than it sounds. A van fitted out well by a trained professional behaves differently from one where accessories have been bolted on by somebody who isn't 100% confident. Cable runs are routed away from moving parts. Roof loads are calculated, not guessed. Security fittings go through the parts of the panel actually designed to take the strain. None of this shows up in a photo of a finished van, but it shows up in whether that van is still rattle-free and secure two years later.
No two trades fit out the same way
Part of what that range of work is really for is customisation to the trade doing the job. An electrician's van and a gas engineer's van might look similar from the outside, but what they need bolted inside couldn't be more different. The electrician needs cable storage that keeps drums and reels organised and accessible without a fixed racking unit getting in the way. The engineer needs a securely fitted gas bottle holder that keeps cylinders upright, restrained and compliant, in a totally different part of the van.
That's the real value of a fitting centre that covers this many product categories under one roof. A joiner might want bott vario3 racking paired with a strengthened roof rack for sheet materials. A security contractor might need hooklocks and shields fitted alongside interior lighting for early starts. Because Exeter's fitters aren't limited to one product line, they can build a spec around the trade rather than fitting a generic package and leaving the customer to work around it.
Part of what that range of work is really for is customisation to the trade doing the job. An electrician's van and a gas engineer's van might look similar from the outside, but what they need bolted inside couldn't be more different. The electrician needs cable storage that keeps drums and reels organised and accessible without a fixed racking unit getting in the way. The engineer needs a securely fitted gas bottle holder that keeps cylinders upright, restrained and compliant, in a totally different part of the van.
That's the real value of a fitting centre that covers this many product categories under one roof. A joiner might want bott vario3 racking paired with a strengthened roof rack for sheet materials. A security contractor might need hooklocks and shields fitted alongside interior lighting for early starts. Because Exeter's fitters aren't limited to one product line, they can build a spec around the trade rather than fitting a generic package and leaving the customer to work around it.
The smaller jobs that make or break a working day
Take roof bars and roof racks. On paper, it's a straightforward accessory. In practice, the right load-rated system, correctly matched to the roof profile and torqued to spec, is the difference between a ladder that stays put on the motorway and one that doesn't. Get it wrong and you're either damaging the roof skin over time or carrying a legal and safety risk every time the van moves.
Security products are another category people underrate until the morning their van's been broken into. Hooklocks and security shields aren't glamorous, but they're often the single change that stops a tool theft from happening in the first place. Fitted properly, they reinforce the door mechanism itself rather than sitting as an afterthought on top of it. It's a job that takes a fraction of the time a racking install does, and the return on it, in terms of tools and livelihood protected, is hard to match.
With bott recently acquiring Van Guard, we’re able to provide a complete, secure solution to your fit outs. Manufactured in Britain to the highest standards, Van Guard's specialist locks create an independent locking point that works alongside the vehicle's factory central locking system, providing an additional layer of protection against the growing threat of tool and van theft.
Van linings sit in the same bracket. Polypropylene lining isn't just about keeping the load bay tidy. It protects the van's original bodywork from scratches and dents that would otherwise hit the vehicle's resale value, and it gives a cleaner, more professional impression to any customer who glances in the back. For a trade business, that's part of the brand, whether the owner thinks of it that way or not.
Decals and vinyl graphics do a similar job from the outside. A well-fitted wrap or sign, properly aligned and bubble-free, is often a business's most visible piece of marketing. It's also, technically, one of the more demanding jobs on the list: getting graphics to sit flat over panel lines and curves takes a steady hand and a fitter who's done it enough times to know where it'll catch.
Take roof bars and roof racks. On paper, it's a straightforward accessory. In practice, the right load-rated system, correctly matched to the roof profile and torqued to spec, is the difference between a ladder that stays put on the motorway and one that doesn't. Get it wrong and you're either damaging the roof skin over time or carrying a legal and safety risk every time the van moves.
Security products are another category people underrate until the morning their van's been broken into. Hooklocks and security shields aren't glamorous, but they're often the single change that stops a tool theft from happening in the first place. Fitted properly, they reinforce the door mechanism itself rather than sitting as an afterthought on top of it. It's a job that takes a fraction of the time a racking install does, and the return on it, in terms of tools and livelihood protected, is hard to match.
With bott recently acquiring Van Guard, we’re able to provide a complete, secure solution to your fit outs. Manufactured in Britain to the highest standards, Van Guard's specialist locks create an independent locking point that works alongside the vehicle's factory central locking system, providing an additional layer of protection against the growing threat of tool and van theft.
Van linings sit in the same bracket. Polypropylene lining isn't just about keeping the load bay tidy. It protects the van's original bodywork from scratches and dents that would otherwise hit the vehicle's resale value, and it gives a cleaner, more professional impression to any customer who glances in the back. For a trade business, that's part of the brand, whether the owner thinks of it that way or not.
Decals and vinyl graphics do a similar job from the outside. A well-fitted wrap or sign, properly aligned and bubble-free, is often a business's most visible piece of marketing. It's also, technically, one of the more demanding jobs on the list: getting graphics to sit flat over panel lines and curves takes a steady hand and a fitter who's done it enough times to know where it'll catch.
Electrical, lighting and the rest
Beyond those categories, the Exeter team spends plenty of time on less-discussed work too: inverters that let a tradesperson run tools, charge equipment or work from a laptop with proper 240v power on site; beacons and interior lighting for vans that need to be seen or need better visibility inside the load area; towbars fitted to the vehicle's actual towing capacity rather than a generic bracket; and canopies and hardtops for pickups doing double duty as both a work vehicle and weather protection for the load.
Speaking further on the electrical fit out work, all of our electrical solutions are focused on enabling tradespeople to get reliable power into their vehicles - as well as the ability to create a safer environment with lighting. We are an NICEIC approved contractor, all of our electrotechnical installations are in line with current standards and legislation.
Beyond those categories, the Exeter team spends plenty of time on less-discussed work too: inverters that let a tradesperson run tools, charge equipment or work from a laptop with proper 240v power on site; beacons and interior lighting for vans that need to be seen or need better visibility inside the load area; towbars fitted to the vehicle's actual towing capacity rather than a generic bracket; and canopies and hardtops for pickups doing double duty as both a work vehicle and weather protection for the load.
Speaking further on the electrical fit out work, all of our electrical solutions are focused on enabling tradespeople to get reliable power into their vehicles - as well as the ability to create a safer environment with lighting. We are an NICEIC approved contractor, all of our electrotechnical installations are in line with current standards and legislation.
What the range of work actually shows
Look across the work coming through the centre and the pattern isn't "big racking jobs with the odd small extra". It's a steady flow of both, with the smaller fittings just as central to the job as the bott vario3 installs, and just as tailored to the trade behind the wheel. A trade professional’s van is their workplace, and it’s shaped by everything: how the vehicle is secured, how it’s loaded, how it looks on the road, and how well it protects the tools and time that keep the business moving.
For the Exeter centre, it’s not about doing one type of job - it’s about delivering the full spectrum of fitting work a working van actually needs. Every setup is specified to the trade and carried out by people who know how to do the whole job properly, end to end.
More on the Exeter site and what it offers is available on the bott Exeter page.
Look across the work coming through the centre and the pattern isn't "big racking jobs with the odd small extra". It's a steady flow of both, with the smaller fittings just as central to the job as the bott vario3 installs, and just as tailored to the trade behind the wheel. A trade professional’s van is their workplace, and it’s shaped by everything: how the vehicle is secured, how it’s loaded, how it looks on the road, and how well it protects the tools and time that keep the business moving.
For the Exeter centre, it’s not about doing one type of job - it’s about delivering the full spectrum of fitting work a working van actually needs. Every setup is specified to the trade and carried out by people who know how to do the whole job properly, end to end.
More on the Exeter site and what it offers is available on the bott Exeter page.