Bring precision plate and sheet metal cutting in-house with machines designed, machined and commissioned by our own engineers in Nottingham — supported for the whole of their working life.
Every project starts with the same question: which process delivers the part you need at the lowest cost per hole, per metre and per hour? Compare our four core technologies below, then let our applications engineers validate the choice against your own drawings.
Most Popular The workhorse of modern fabrication. High-definition plasma delivers laser-like edge quality on structural plate at a fraction of the running cost — and cuts straight through rust, mill scale and paint.
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New When part accuracy, small holes and weld-ready edges drive the job, fibre laser wins. Premium European optics and drives, assembled and supported from our Nottingham facility.
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For heavy plate and repeat profiles, multi-head oxyfuel remains unbeaten on cost. Add a plasma station to the same gantry and cover the full thickness range with one machine.
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A route into CNC cutting with lower capital outlay. Each machine is dismantled, refinished, rebuilt and proven on real cut samples before it leaves our factory floor.
View used machinesDowndraught tables and matched industrial fume filtration systems that keep your workshop within workplace exposure limits.
Filtration solutions →Import DXF/DWG, nest automatically, apply proven cut charts and send verified code straight to the controller.
Explore software →Hypertherm nozzles, electrodes, shields and swirl rings held in UK stock to protect cut quality and uptime.
Consumables →XPR, MAXPRO and Powermax power sources integrated and commissioned by a principal UK OEM partner.
Cutting systems →The Photon LITE was engineered for the fabricator who has outgrown subcontract laser work but does not want the floor space, power infrastructure or capital cost of a full production cell. It delivers on-demand, weld-ready parts from the first shift.
Because it is assembled in Nottingham, the machine you see on the shop floor is the machine we service — no third-party layer between you and the engineer who built it.
Discover fibre laser cutting Our plasma platforms share the same heavy box-section frame, precision rack and pinion drives and serviceable design — then diverge to suit the plate you actually cut.
Lightning HD platform. For fabricators who need the tightest bevel-free edges, true-hole quality and repeatability across long production runs on mild and stainless steel — with running costs well below laser.
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Viper platform. Built for steel service centres and structural steelwork processing where plate is heavy, handling is rough and the machine must run three shifts without losing accuracy.
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Arrow platform. A small-footprint sheet metal plasma cutter developed for HVAC ductwork fabrication and light fabrication shops taking their first step into CNC cutting.
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The newest member of the Hypertherm XPR® family combines the most consistent cut quality with thicker capability and faster speeds than any comparable plasma system. Integrated on an Esprit gantry and commissioned by our own engineers, it becomes a single, warranted cutting cell.
Indicative guidance drawn from more than three decades of installations. Actual results depend on material grade, plate condition, gas selection and nesting strategy — which is exactly what we prove on your own parts before you commit.
| Process | Typical thickness | Edge quality | Best-fit materials | Where it pays back fastest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fibre laser | 0.5 – 25 mm | Highest — smallest kerf, minimal dross | Mild steel, stainless, aluminium, brass, copper | Small holes, tight tolerance parts, high-mix sheet work |
| High-definition plasma | 3 – 50 mm | Very high — near-laser on mid plate | Mild steel, stainless, aluminium | Structural profiles, brackets, base plates, long runs |
| Conventional / air plasma | 1 – 32 mm | Good — production fabrication standard | Mild steel, stainless, galvanised sheet | HVAC ductwork, light fabrication, general sheet metal |
| Oxyfuel flame | 10 – 300 mm | Good on heavy plate, machining-friendly | Mild steel and low-alloy carbon steel only | Thick plate metal cutting and multi-torch repeat parts |
Esprit Automation was founded in 1986 by two engineering graduates from the University of Nottingham. Since the first machine left the workshop, every gantry, every control cabinet and every cut chart has been developed in England by our own team.
That continuity matters to buyers. It means the engineer who answers your call understands the machine on your floor, spare parts remain available for legacy installations, and product development is driven by feedback from real production — not a catalogue refresh cycle.
With in-house CNC machining capability, welding and fabrication, electrical build, software development and a field service team under one roof, we control quality at every stage and remain accountable for the result.
From raw box section to a signed-off cut sample, follow a machine through the same building it will be supported from.
From single-machine workshops to multi-table cutting halls, our customers span general and precision sheet metal, fabrication, steel service centre cutting, HVAC ductwork and volume product manufacturing.
An Esprit Arrow installed at a UK HVAC manufacturer. The compact footprint and accessible price point brought modern CNC plasma cutting into a workshop that previously relied on subcontract profiles.
Read customer storiesSpecified with a Hypertherm HyPerformance power source and EDGE CNC, this Viper gave a steelwork contractor the smooth motion and reliability required for precision cuts on heavy plate.
Read customer storiesFour double-length Lightning HD machines running side by side. High-definition plasma delivered the cut quality this manufacturer required in a heavy-duty environment, at a total cost well below laser.
Read customer storiesHaving dealt with Esprit for 8 years now we have purchased 2 CNC cutting machines from them and found them to be extremely well built. The cut quality is excellent from the thinnest to the thickest plates. From sales and management to technical and service all of their team are knowledgeable, helpful and dependable. They have helped us to grow and as such, we would always recommend Esprit.
John ReadyOperations Manager, Eggleston Steel Ltd Thanks to our four Esprit Lightning HD 1500 × 6.5 m machines the quality and quantity of BM catalysts being produced have increased exponentially.
Toby MasseyManaging Director, BM Catalysts Ltd Your machine has revolutionised our business. It's just coming up to the 2 year anniversary of the installation and already the machine has paid for itself. I cannot fault Esprit in the slightest for the after-sales service. I am in the process of putting up a new unit on the site and Esprit will get my business again.
Barry CaulkettDirector, BA Caulkett Ltd A cutting machine earns its keep in the years after commissioning. Our engineering team has optimised every model to exploit current plasma, laser and oxyfuel technology while keeping the machine straightforward to maintain, calibrate and upgrade on site.
Continuous UK manufacturing since 1986 with machines supported across three decades of installations.
Table size, torch count, power source, extraction and software chosen against your real nesting mix.
Hypertherm power sources, European drives, guides and optics — specified for long service life.
Speak to engineers who build the machines — with remote controller diagnostics as a first response.
Critical wear items and consumables held in Nottingham for same-day or next-day dispatch.
Nesting, cut charts and controller developed together, so programmed parameters match cut reality.
OEM-level integration, training and warranty cover on XPR, MAXPRO and Powermax systems.
Commissioned and serviced in more than thirty countries with trained regional partners.
Buying the machine is one decision. Running it profitably for ten years is a series of them — these are the resources we put behind every installation.
Planned maintenance, breakdown response, calibration and operator refresher training from our own engineers.
Service & maintenance →Practical guidance on cut quality, consumable life, gas selection, nesting efficiency and machine care.
Technical library →Bring your own drawings and watch your parts cut on a production machine in our Nottingham showroom.
Arrange a demo →See nesting, tooling and cut-chart management applied to a live job before you specify a system.
Software walkthrough →Structured funding options that align machine payments with the productive capacity it releases.
Finance options →We are a British engineering employer — apprentices, machinists, controls engineers and field service.
Current vacancies →Fibre laser is the most efficient route for mild steel, stainless and aluminium up to roughly 20–25 mm where edge tolerance and clean kerf matter most. High-definition plasma is the best cost-per-part solution from about 3 mm to 50 mm on mild and stainless steel, including painted or rusted plate. Oxyfuel flame cutting remains the economic choice above 50 mm mild steel and for multi-torch production of identical heavy profiles. Many of our customers run two processes side by side and nest to whichever is cheaper for the part.
Capacity is set by the plasma power source specified rather than the gantry. Air plasma systems typically pierce up to 25–32 mm; high-definition systems such as the Hypertherm XPR family deliver production piercing to 50 mm with severance capability beyond that. Our applications team validates amperage, gas mix and consumable set against your plate schedule before quotation, so the quoted capacity is the capacity you achieve in production.
Yes. Esprit machines are installed in more than thirty countries. Support is delivered by our in-house engineering team in Nottingham, through remote diagnostics on the CNC controller, and by trained regional partners for on-site attendance. Spare parts and consumables for supported systems are held in UK stock for rapid dispatch.
In almost all cases, yes. Plasma and laser cutting generate respirable metal fume regulated under UK and EU workplace exposure legislation. We supply downdraught tables with zoned extraction and correctly sized industrial fume filtration systems so the installation is compliant, quiet and efficient from the first cut — rather than retrofitted later at greater cost.
A standard single-table plasma or fibre laser installation is normally installed, commissioned and handed over within three to five working days on a prepared foundation, followed by operator and programming training delivered on your own parts. Multi-table cutting halls and rail-based flame machines are programmed against an agreed project schedule.
Hourly cost is dominated by three variables: consumable life, gas consumption and electrical load. Correct pierce height, cut height and gas pressures routinely double consumable life compared with poorly maintained parameters, which is why our commissioning includes proven cut charts and operator training. We are happy to model an indicative cost per metre against your actual part mix during a demonstration.
Send us a drawing, a plate schedule or simply a description of what you need to produce. We will tell you honestly which process fits, what it will cost to run, and whether an Esprit machine is the right answer.
