Shoppers schlepping their way down London’s Regent Street this Christmastime might not realise it, but their festive cheer will be fuelled in part thanks to the work of a boutique agency based in Ashington.

The 32 aluminium angels which will soar above one of London’s most famous shopping streets were fabricated by Alum Creations by a team of six workers.

Alum Creations won the work in June, but the process began around Eastertime when contracts director Fleur Dunbar and partner Sinisa Lukic were on holiday in their homeland of Malta. ‘We got an email to give them the first quote,’ Fleur explains. ‘They asked us down for a meeting in London, and in June we got the confirmation for the whole job.’

Crafting 32 separate structures out of aluminium, each with a seven-metre wing span, is not an easy job. ‘The first one took about three weeks to make,’ Fleur says. ‘You get quicker with each one, but the first one, just to get the shape of the body, took two-and-a-half weeks. Then we spent a couple of days in the workshop of London-based James Glancy Design to get the arms in just the right position. It’s what we take pride in doing: working with designers to get it exactly as they want it.’

Timeliness is also important for Alum Creations. ‘Christmas is not something you can say you’re going to be a week late in delivering,’ Fleur jokes.

The Christmas decorations are the company’s biggest single-item project, but it has history in fabricating festive decorations for shopping centres around the country. The firm’s biggest project overall is its installation at intu Metrocentre – a selection of mistletoe, angels, snowflakes and a large metal tree draped with lights – completed in the company’s first year of business in 2013.

Most people would revel in the prestige of working on one of the most popular Christmas displays in the country, but Fleur and her partner won’t be in London for the grand unveiling of their labour on 17th November. Christmas is a busy time for the firm, she explains: ‘We’ve got another installation down in Peterborough that we have to do on the 18th.’