Two questions separate every option on this list
Every route to a machined part in the UK answers two questions differently. Who do you hold a contract with? And who pays when the parts arrive wrong?
On a marketplace, you contract with the platform and it routes your order into a network of workshops you usually never meet. On a sourcing network or directory, you contract with the machine shop directly and the platform steps out. With a coordinator, you contract with one firm that buys the parts in its own name and carries the defect liability itself.
Price, lead time and instant quoting get all the attention. Contract and liability decide how bad your worst week gets. Ask both questions before you upload a drawing anywhere, including to us.
One declaration before the comparison: TrueNorth Engineering is one of the options below. We have tried to be straight about where the others beat us.
The seven routes at a glance
| Route | Model | You contract with | Who carries defect risk | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Xometry | Global instant-quote marketplace | The platform | Platform quality policy; check the terms for your order | Prototypes and one-offs where speed beats provenance |
| Geomiq | UK-based marketplace, instant or 24-hour quotes | The platform | Platform quality policy; ISO 9001 and ISO 13485 accredited | Prototypes across many processes, including 3D printing and moulding |
| Fractory | Manchester-based cloud manufacturing platform | The platform | Platform quality policy | Laser cutting, folding and sheet metal work at volume |
| Qimtek | Sourcing network; free for buyers, funded by supplier membership | The supplier you choose | That supplier | Finding UK shops and building your own supplier base |
| Manufacturers Hub | Open UK manufacturing directory | The supplier you choose | That supplier | Researching who exists before you send an RFQ anywhere |
| SupplyForge | Controlled RFQ platform with vetted capability profiles | The supplier you choose | That supplier; the platform structures the process | Managing a structured RFQ on drawings you need to protect |
| Direct to a machine shop | Traditional subcontract relationship | The shop | The shop | Single-process parts at steady volume, with time to manage it |
| TrueNorth (coordinator) | Engineering-led managed supply through a vetted UK network | TrueNorth, one contract | TrueNorth; non-conforming parts replaced at our cost | Multi-process critical parts, small buying teams, no-drawing and obsolete parts |
The platforms: Xometry, Geomiq and Fractory
Xometry is the biggest name in online manufacturing and the reason this page exists. Upload a CAD file, get an instant price, order in minutes. Its network runs to thousands of partner workshops worldwide, backed by its own quality team and ISO 9001 accreditation. The strength is speed and capacity. The trade-off is distance: your part can be made anywhere in that network, and the workshop that made it is not someone you can ring.
Geomiq is the strongest UK-headquartered equivalent. It quotes instantly on simpler parts and within 24 hours on complex ones, shows you a best-of-three price, and covers CNC machining, sheet metal, 3D printing and injection moulding. It holds ISO 9001 and ISO 13485, which matters if you buy medical parts. Like Xometry, it is a marketplace: the platform manages the workshops and you manage the platform.
Fractory started in laser cutting and it shows, in a good way. Instant quotes on laser cut and folded sheet metal are genuinely instant, and the Manchester head office puts an engineer on anything the algorithm cannot price. For flat and folded steel work at volume it is hard to beat on convenience. CNC machining is offered but it is the younger part of the service.
All three suit the same buyer: you have clean CAD, the part is a prototype or has no downstream dependency, and you value speed over knowing who made it. For that job they are a good buy. We say the same on our main buyer guide.
The find-your-own-supplier routes: Qimtek, Manufacturers Hub and SupplyForge
Qimtek is not a marketplace. It is a sourcing network, free for buyers and funded by supplier membership fees. You post a project, Qimtek's team matches it to UK supplier members with the right kit, and those shops quote you directly. You pick one and the relationship is yours from then on, with no commission on the work. If your goal is to build an approved supplier list rather than place one order, this is the honest tool for it. The trade-off: you do the vetting, the chasing and the quality management yourself.
Manufacturers Hub is an open directory of UK manufacturers, built by two engineers, free to browse with paid visibility tiers for the listed companies. It does not process transactions and its founders say plainly that a listing wins nobody an order. Use it the way you would use a map: to find out who exists near you or in a process niche, before you send an RFQ anywhere.
SupplyForge sits between a directory and a marketplace. You build an RFQ once, release it to matched suppliers from a curated network, and the platform enforces confidentiality acceptance before anyone downloads your drawings. Quotes come back normalised so you can compare them, and the sourcing record is kept as evidence. RFQ creation is free, with a managed option for sensitive work. You still contract with the supplier you choose, so the liability question lands the same way as Qimtek.
These three suit a buying team that wants control and has the hours to use it. None of them stands behind the parts. That is not a criticism. It is the model.
Going direct to a machine shop or fabricator
The oldest route is still the right one for a lot of work. A good UK machine shop or fabrication business, bought from directly, will usually beat every platform on unit price for a single-process part at steady volume. You know who made your part. You can walk the floor. Over years, the shop learns your parts and the relationship compounds.
The route has two known failure modes, and we wrote a nine-part guide series on them. First, communication: the most common complaint in UK subcontract machining is a supplier going quiet when a date slips. Second, coordination: the moment your part needs machining, then plating or painting, then inspection, someone has to own the handovers between three firms. If that someone is you, budget the hours honestly.
Pick a shop on planning discipline rather than price. Ask how they schedule work in, when you get an order acknowledgement, and who tells you when a date is at risk. The best-machining shop is not always the best supplier.
The coordinator route, which is where we sit
TrueNorth Engineering is an engineering-led coordinator based in Manchester. The model is different from everything above in one structural way: we buy the parts in our own name. You hold one contract, with us. We select the shops from a vetted UK network, own the handovers between machining, fabrication, finishing and inspection, and carry the defect liability ourselves. Non-conforming parts are replaced at our cost, not argued about.
The practical terms: a manufacturability review before we quote, quotes inside 48 hours, valid for 14 days, prices held firm unless raw material moves more than 10 percent. Typical lead time is three weeks with a one-week rush route where the job justifies it. Every order ships with dimensional inspection and a material traceability pack, including EN 10204 3.1 certificates where specified. ISO 9001 accreditation is in progress, and we say that plainly rather than implying otherwise.
Two jobs where this model earns its margin. Multi-process parts for sectors that audit their supply chain, such as rail, energy infrastructure and oil and gas, where a missed handover costs far more than the part. And parts that platforms cannot even quote: a worn sample with no drawing, or an obsolete component whose original maker is gone. We scan the part, verify it on a CMM, produce a full drawing set and machining model through our contracting team, and manufacture from that.
Where we are the wrong choice: a one-off prototype you need in five days, a bulk order of simple laser-cut blanks, or a buyer who wants to own the shop relationship directly. Use a platform, Fractory, or Qimtek for those, in that order.
How to choose, by the job in front of you
- Prototype with clean CAD, nothing downstream depends on it. Xometry or Geomiq. Speed wins, provenance does not matter yet.
- Flat or folded sheet metal at volume. Fractory first, or a UK fabricator direct if the volume is steady enough to carry a relationship.
- Building an approved supplier list for the long term. Qimtek to source candidates, Manufacturers Hub to research the map, SupplyForge to run the RFQ in a controlled way.
- Single-process part, steady volume, you have time to manage it. Direct to a machine shop, selected on planning discipline.
- Multi-process critical part, small buying team, late delivery costs more than the part. A coordinator. One contract, one liable party, inspection before dispatch.
- No drawing, obsolete part, or a sample in your hand. A coordinator with reverse engineering capability. Platforms need CAD; this job starts before CAD exists.
If you are honest about which row you are in, the choice mostly makes itself.