Window and Door Industry Continues Growth

Former Hollyoaks star, Will Mellor (right) helped to celebrate the launch of Warmlight’s new showroom

Warmlight, an authorised partner installer of Rehau windows and doors, has opened a brand-new showroom in Leigh, Lancashire. The company reportedly converted its warehouse into a ‘state-of-the-art’ showroom in just three months. Its grand opening was held on 22 April, with former Hollyoaks actor, Will Mellor, on hand to do the official ribbon cut.

The new showroom village is said to provide a ‘welcoming space’ for trade and retail customers to get hands on with products, which are displayed in individual room sets with 3D images as back drops in order to give an accurate picture of how the windows and doors may look when installed.

Susan Foxwell, co-owner at family-business Warmlight, said: “We had outgrown our existing showroom in Atherton, and wanted a bigger display area to better showcase the range of options we could deliver for our customers. My husband Glenn and I had a vision to convert our existing warehouse in Leigh and we are both so pleased with what we’ve achieved. It has been well received by customers too – in fact, we sold two full sets of house windows and six doors on the opening day. I also want to thank everyone for their continued support.”

Matt Janicki, from Rehau said: “We love what Warmlight have done with the showroom. They have found a relaxed and innovative way of presenting our products to potential customers and we hope this approach results in a profitable year for their business.”

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Picture above:  Left to Right – Stefan Seidel – Kommerling, Zoe and Paul Hardcastle – Thermal

KÖMMERLING took advantage at the FIT Show to celebrate its 10-year relationship with Barnsley-based, Thermal Window & Conservatory Roof Systems Limited.

Paul Hardcastle, Thermal Window & Conservatory Roof Systems, managing director and wife Zoe, met with KÖMMERLING staff and managing director, Stefan Seidel on the stand to be presented with the 10-year award. The couple were also handed a complimentary bottle of champagne, gifts and invited to join the team for an evening of entertainment at the FIT Show Gala Dinner.

Commenting on the presentation, Paul advised: “Working with KÖMMERLING over the last 10-years has been a good experience. We have seen many changes in the marketplace over this time and we have always been pleased with how they have adapted to the trends.

“Producing quality windows and doors are an important aspect to our business and in this competitive market it is great to be associated to a profile manufacture who can provided a product and service which makes it easy for us to achieve this.” Paul added.

Stefan Seidel, managing director for KÖMMERLING, who presented the award, commented: “It is always good to meet new customers at the FIT Show, but being able to showcase a long-term relationship is a great testimonial to our business and the goals we strive for between us and our customers.

“We always value the feedback given by customers when developing services and products and having a business on board like Thermal is priceless to help us achieve this.” Stefan said.

KÖMMERLING showcased several new product enhancements on its stand at the show including the PremiSlide patio door system and its range of C70 Gold and O70 Gold® window systems, all available in a range of colours and finishes.

Family run, Thermal Window & Conservatory Roof Systems provide a range of KÖMMERLING door and window products for trade customers and has recently made substantial investment through its website and marketing activities to help promote its product range.

For more information visit, www.thermaltradeframes.co.uk or www.kommerling.co.uk

In the past eighteen months, Distinction Doors has invested over £750,000 in its production facilities at its 86,000 square feet headquarters in South Yorkshire. Gareth Williams, Operations Director, commented: “The investment we have made in our production facilities helps us to be more efficient across the board and gives us benefits we can pass on to our customers.”

The investment Distinction has made includes two new CNC machines, which has doubled its capacity. Alongside this, Distinction now has two edge banders so all elements of the production facility have expanded. Rollers and transfer trollies have been installed in the preparation areas to improve organisation and the flow of doors through the department. Further investment is expected and the company is currently looking at automated manual handling systems and conveyors between machines to improve the flow and cut down on manual handling where possible. It all means the company can continue to offer exceptional lead times even as it continues its expansion over the next few years to cement its position at the top of the market.

The production facility is also benefiting from a new extraction unit. The unit includes an extraction-on-demand system, which constantly monitors machine use and only powers up when machines are running, rather than operating continuously. Gareth comments: “The extraction-on-demand installation will help us make significant energy savings – in fact, we believe we will have recovered its cost in less than 18 months, not to mention helping us meet our environmental commitment.”

Gareth concludes: “Delivering a top quality door efficiently is at the heart of our offering to customers. Our investment means we can continue to do this not only now but in the future too.” Distinction Doors’ set up is state-of-the-art, as you’d expect from the tried, tested and trusted industry leader.

www.distinctiondoors.co.uk

Hybrid windows and doors aren’t going away. In fact, after visiting the FIT Show at the end of May, it became even more apparent that they’re going to play a bigger part in our industry as we move forward. There was quite a few timber/ali systems on show this year, both existing and new. All of them looked the part.

But even within the niche that is hybrids, there are two halves to this mini-industry: timber/ali and ali/PVCu. A sign of just how fierce the competition has become in our industry. Even before a niche has been allowed to turn into a full blown sub-sector of fenestration it’s already splitting off into different directions.

Hybrids are here to stay, and you’re going to want to pick a side sooner rather than later.

Synseal expands the WarmCore range

Whilst at the FIT Show I was invited to the launch of a new range of products being announced by Synseal. That was a brand new WarmCore patio slider, a range of foiled wood grains on aluminium profile, and an expansion of their Stratus roof range.

For me, the patio slider was the stand out product, along with the foiled wood grain finishes. Patio sliders were already a clear theme of the show by this point, with many higher end companies showing off crazy sized patio sliders that in reality no typical installer would even get the chance to sell. But, I wanted to see if their new patio slider would match the high quality of the existing WarmCore bi-folds and windows. It does.

We already know what makes the product, aluminium outside, PVCu inside. Synseal aims this directly at the aluminium market, designed to be at a price point above PVCu but below full blown aluminium. This is where the WarmCore slider will sit at. And it’s a smart move by the company too. They have spotted the very clear rise in popularity of patio sliders with home owners, so wish to capitalise on this revived trend.

The product has a couple of nifty premium features to sit alongside it’s other USPs. It has a soft-close mechanism. This stuff has been around forever on kitchen drawers and household furniture, but everyone still loves that novelty. It was the same for the WarmCore slider. They had on display quite a big example of the product, but it’s movement and then the soft-close for such a big unit felt high quality. Also, the handle also incorporates the locking function. Not separately. It’s a nifty little thing. I’m not doing it justice really, you’ll have to see it for yourself.

Although it takes aim at the aluminium sector and targets the price point below it, for many it will remain a hybrid and not a full aluminium product. But that is OK. There is a flourishing hybrid market taking place, and this is one of the leading products in this new and expanding niche. For the home owner, they get the best looks of aluminium, the best thermal performance PVCu brings, whilst paying a bit more than PVCu but less than aluminium. This is where hybrids could carve out a decent chunk of market space.

The timber/ali factor

If you went to the FIT Show, did you see the Prefix Systems stand? The amount of products these guys do now is staggering. No longer can they be called “just a roof fabricator”. This is a company set up for the long hall and out-diversifying everyone.

Specifically for me though, and the focus of this post, it was their OPUS range which pointed the hybrid market in another direction.

For those who are not aware, OPUS is a timber/ali hybrid range, where Smarts aluminium is used externally, and rich hardwood is used internally and is available in three different finished. The aluminium externally can be done in any of the finishes Smarts do. It really does look superb, and bridges the gap nicely for home owners who want a traditional look, feel and even smell internally, but something a bit more striking externally. OPUS is available as windows, doors, lanterns, glazed roofs, French doors and probably even more now too. It’s the full suite, and for me is one of the leading hybrid systems out there, of any configuration.

This for me is where I think the hybrid market is going to progress the most and quickest. I was shown an offering from Kommerling on the Thursday of the show which looked very cool also. These new innovations are coming from the top down. They will bed in, and sales of hybrid products will rise too.

There seems to be lots of room to expand and innovate on the timber/ali side of the coin. I believe that this part of the hybrid market will see the most new entrants to the sector as more and more fabricators look to see what they can garner from this lucrative niche.

The battle of the hybrids has already started however. Suppliers will not be clambering onto the bandwagon in an attempt to catch up on the likes of Prefix and Synseal before a large proportion of the new market share is snapped up. The question is, which way will home owners swing? Will they prefer a mix of timber and aluminium? Or would they prefer an all aluminium look with the benefits that PVCu brings internally? And from an installers perspective, would it just be easier to supply both types of products and then all bases are covered?

Exova, the testing, calibration and advisory services provider, marked the official opening of a new 50,000ft2 supersite in Wednesbury, recently.

According to Exova, the new testing site serves the needs of national and international customers in the automotive, door, window and hardware industries and is said to represent a further significant long term commitment to the provision of technically demanding testing services from the UK. The facility, which will conduct more than 10,000 tests annually, was opened by Paul Forrest, director at the West Midlands Economic Forum and Ian El-Mokadem, CEO of Exova.

Exova says the multi-million pound investment will allow it to expand both its capabilities and its capacity in the provision of testing services for the built environment and the automotive sector. The company also says that customers will benefit from a greater range of technically demanding services delivered from a modern facility which will be able to support both today’s demands and the expected future growth in the sectors it serves. As a result, Exova’s highly skilled engineers and technicians will be able to continue to support their customers by playing a key role in their product development processes and improving speed to market.

Ian El-Mokadem, CEO of Exova, commented: “This is an important milestone in the growth of our automotive and building products testing businesses, which work for some of the world’s leading household names. Bringing these testing services together, close to our key customers, will enable us to increase efficiency and turnaround times, and give greater access to Exova’s global expertise.”

Work undertaken at the site will include: testing for the built environment – security, durability and weather testing of doors, windows and hardware; as well as the testing of automotive trim, components and full vehicles for corrosion, UV weathering, environmental ageing, flammability, vibration and emissions.

The site will initially employ 32 people, a figure which is expected to rise in the first two years as Exova’s development plans are realised. It will offer testing to British, European, international and OEM standards.

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SafeGuard has been confirmed as glass supplier for the second phase of refurbishment work being carried out on the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.

Having already successfully partnered with Roofglaze on the supply of over 700m² of glass for the first phase of the refurbishment project, Steve Vowles, Flatglass Commercial Manager at Roofglaze, explains why SafeGuard was the obvious choice to continue with the project: “We have worked with SafeGuard for the past 14 years and have always received great products and service and have built up a strong relationship with them.  Obviously a project like the Victoria & Albert Museum is high profile, so when we were awarded the contract for Phase One, we knew exactly who we could rely on to deliver what we needed, when we needed it – and we weren’t disappointed.  Things went really well and as we embark on Phase Two we’re delighted it will include another 700m² of 6mm toughened and heat soak tested Guardian Sunguard High Selective Super Neutral 70/37, backed with 6.8mm laminated clear glass, supplied by SafeGuard.

“SafeGuard is a great company to work with.  Over the years we have built a strong relationship and we know we can rely on them to deliver, which is why they are our preferred glass supplier, who we would always use where the project specifications allow.”

Nick Welsh, Managing Director of SafeGuard concludes: “We are delighted to partner with Roofglaze for the second phase at the Victoria & Albert Museum.  They are a great customer of ours who supply superb products and whether that be to a domestic customer or main contractor they always take the same amount of care and attention to detail.  There are a lot of parallels in the way we work and what we want to achieve for our customers, which is why I believe we’ve built such a strong relationship over the years – and we look forward to many more ahead.”

For more information on the work carried out by Roofglaze at the Victoria & Albert Museum project, log on to https://www.roofglaze.co.uk/portfolio/rooflight-solutions-in-museums/

For more information on SafeGuard or its product offering call 01780 751442 or visit www.safe-guard.co.uk

Epwin Window Systems has announced that over 100 businesses had signed up to its new Excellence as Standard (EAS) installer programme by the end of the recent FIT Show, with even more ‘taking the pledge’ since.

Sharn Samra, Epwin Window Systems’ marketing director, said: “Excellence as Standard is so much more than a conventional registered installer programme and the reaction from both installers and fabricators shows that it is just what the industry needs.”

The programme encompasses Epwin Window Systems’ brands Spectus, Profile 22 and Swish and advocates ‘excellence’ at every stage of the project from manufacturing through to installation in a consumer’s home.

In order to obtain and preserve EAS Chartered Installer status, Epwin says that installers will need to demonstrate that they adhere to a 12 point charter that shows they are committed to raising standards across the industry and delivering an outstanding customer experience.

In return, they will have access to support and benefits including; effective lead generation, quality products, the EAS Academy, marketing support, partner benefits and the support team, that are designed to drive quality and sales.

The programme is being run in partnership with Fensa and members will receive a card branded with both Fensa and Excellence as Standard that demonstrates the connection.

Sharn concluded: “We believe Excellence as Standard will re-define the benchmark in the home improvement industry and the sign up rate to date proves there’s a real appetite for quality. I would urge any installer who shares our commitment to driving standards and success to take the pledge and join us today for the start of a very exciting journey.”

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