npd Studio has relocated to a new home at Two Acres, Samlesbury – a bigger, better-equipped base that reflects where the business is heading.
This one has been a long time coming. We’ve relocated to Two Acres on the A59 in Samlesbury – a significantly larger studio and workshop space just off junction 31 of the M6. It’s a move that’s been driven by the work, not by ambition for its own sake.
“Our last studio was great, but it wasn’t adequate for what we wanted to do and the projects we’re taking on,” says Nathan. “We’re getting a lot of enquiries now – not just to design products, but to build them, manufacture them, assemble them, and sell them back to the customer. We needed somewhere that could actually support that.”
The new studio has a dedicated workshop floor, a clean design studio, partitioned space for confidential client meetings, and a purpose-built 3D printing suite with 25 large-format printers across FDM and SLA technologies. It’s gated, CCTV-monitored, and there’s no shared tenancy – which matters more than it might sound when you’re working on the kinds of programmes we’re working on.
Growing into defence
The relocation comes at a moment of real expansion for npd – most notably into defence and security. We’re now an active supplier to BAE Systems’ Typhoon programme, having delivered a complex avionics interface project in three months – a timeline that would typically take considerably longer through conventional product development routes.
That work has opened doors. We hold JOSCAR registration, Cyber Essentials certification, and NPSA Secure Innovation Exemplar status – the accreditations that regulated defence primes require from their supply chain. We’re members of Make UK Defence and the ADS Group, and we’re actively deepening relationships with Tier 1 contractors across the UK.
The security setup at Two Acres wasn’t an afterthought. It was a deliberate part of the brief.
More than a design consultancy
The studio move is part of a broader shift in how we work. We’ve evolved from a product design consultancy into a full-lifecycle partner – staying embedded through design, manufacture, and market launch, rather than handing off at the prototype stage. Clients aren’t just asking us to design products anymore. They want us to build them, make them, and hand them back ready to sell.
Our current portfolio reflects that. We’re working across avionics for the Typhoon programme, a portable medical device for corneal diagnostics (Ocuwell), a smart city multi-sensor surveillance system (Terminus Technologies), and Arc Master – our own investment product, a golf putting training aid validated with biomechanics specialists Science and Motion and showcased at the PGA Show in Florida.
The team is growing too. Lloyd Potter recently joined us as a product design engineer, bringing consumer electronics manufacturing expertise from his time at SharkNinja.
What comes next
The new studio is already operational and we’re not slowing down. We’re advancing conversations across defence, health technology, and sports innovation – and for the first time, we have the physical capability to fully match the ambition.
“We needed somewhere that could actually do what we’re being asked to do,” says Nathan. “Now we have it.”
We’re marking the move with a private opening event in May. Those interested in attending should get in touch with georgina@npd.studio.
npd Studio | Two Acres, Preston New Road, Samlesbury, Preston, PR5 0UL | npd.studio
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