Our Company and Expertise
Austen Instant Tapes Ltd has been supplying industrial adhesive solutions to UK manufacturers since 1965 — over 60 years. We hold manufacturer partnerships with tesa, which is unusual: most distributors align with one manufacturer. We do not. That independence is the basis of everything we do — we specify what is right for your application, not what we have a commercial incentive to sell.
We are a small, specialist company. The directors are the technical team. When you call us, you speak to someone with decades of hands-on experience in industrial adhesives — not a call centre. Our consultative approach reflects that directly.
Where We Came From
Austen Instant Tapes Ltd is the result of a 2013 merger between two companies that had been operating — separately but in parallel — since 1965. Both were founded in the same year by people who saw, early, that industrial adhesives were going to become a serious engineering discipline rather than a convenience product.
Austen Tapes Ltd
Founded 1965 by Sid Austen
Built around 3M adhesive technologies from the outset. Over nearly five decades, the business developed deep technical knowledge of 3M’s full industrial range — not just the catalogue, but the application science behind it.
Instantapes Limited
Founded 1965 by Eric Cox
Built around tesa® adhesives. tesa is one of the top ten adhesive manufacturers worldwide and a genuine innovator in tape technology — Instantapes developed equivalent depth of expertise on that platform over the same period.
2013: Merger Creates Austen Instant Tapes Ltd
When the two businesses merged, the result was something that does not otherwise exist in the UK market: a single company holding nearly 60 years of accumulated knowledge across both major adhesive technology platforms. No other UK distributor we are aware of has that combination. The merged entity retained the technical depth of both founding companies and added the commercial advantage of being able to specify across the full range without brand constraint.
Who You Will Be Dealing With
There are three directors. All three are active in the business day to day. There is no layer of account managers between you and the people with the technical knowledge.
Neil Howie — Managing Director
Neil manages the strategic and financial direction of the business, alongside IT infrastructure and quality and safety systems. He also writes and thinks directly about adhesive applications — his view is that the engineering case for adhesive tape over mechanical fasteners is still underappreciated, and that most manufacturers who investigate it properly switch. That perspective shapes how the business approaches customer conversations.
Joe Dimarino — Operations Director
Joe has over 37 years of experience in the adhesive industry. He runs internal operations and customer service, and is typically the first person you speak to when you call the office. That is not by accident — having someone with 37 years of product and application knowledge as your first point of contact is a deliberate choice. Joe knows the answers to most questions without needing to escalate them.
Mark Knee — Technical Sales Director
Mark leads technical sales and handles product evaluation and testing. He visits customer sites regularly to assess applications directly, and works closely with both 3M and tesa technical teams on more complex or non-standard bonding challenges. If your application requires on-site evaluation or a technical trial, Mark will typically run it.
Why Dual Authorisation Matters
Most industrial adhesive distributors in the UK are aligned to one manufacturer. That is not a criticism — it is simply how the market is structured. The consequence is that their product recommendation will, almost inevitably, come from the range they stock.
We Have No Brand Preference
We hold full manufacturer partnerships with tesa and Advance. Our technical team knows the tesa, Advance and 3M ranges in depth. When we recommend a product, it is because it is the right product for the application — not because it is the one we have a commercial incentive to move.
Direct Access to the tesa Technical Team
Our tesa Platinum Distributor Partner status gives us direct access to the tesa application engineering team. On complex applications, that means we can involve the manufacturer’s own engineers — not just draw on our own knowledge.
Full Range, No Gaps
Some applications are clearly better served by 3M technology. Others by tesa. Some require both. We can specify across the full industrial range of both manufacturers without needing to work around gaps in our own offering.
What This Means in Practice
If you come to us with a bonding challenge, we will assess the substrate, the environment, the load requirements, and the production method before we suggest anything. We might recommend a tesa® ACXplus structural tape, a 3M™ VHB™ acrylic foam tape, a structural adhesive, or something else entirely. The recommendation depends on the application — not the catalogue. Our full adhesive product range has its own dedicated section if you want to explore it independently.
Our Manufacturer Partners
Related Pages
The Austen Approach
How we assess applications, specify solutions, and support implementation — our consultative process from first contact to on-site assistance.
Manufacturer partnerships
What our tesa distributor status means in practice — and why it matters when choosing an adhesive supply partner.
Why Partner With Us
The practical case for working with Austen Instant Tapes as your adhesive supply partner — from technical support to sample trials.
Replacing Traditional Fasteners
A technical guide to adhesive tape and structural adhesives as alternatives to screws, rivets, welds, and mechanical fixings.
Talk to Us Directly
If you are evaluating Austen Instant Tapes as a potential supplier — whether for a specific project or an ongoing adhesive requirement — the most useful thing you can do is call us. You will speak to someone with real technical knowledge, and we will give you a straight answer about whether we can help and what that looks like in practice.