Door Industry Journal - Summer 2014

Also online at: www.dijonline.co.uk industry news 9 THE door industry journal summer 2014 DOOR COMPANY TAKES ROBUST VIEW ON FUTURE SUCCESS Door & Hardware Federation member Robust UK is gearing up for further sales success as demand for its wide range of industrial and commercial steel doors continues to grow. Since it launched in the UK in 1997, its annual turnover has grown from less than £500,000 to £6.5 million. Robust UK’s Paul Williams predicts this will increase by half as much again over the next three years as it further boosts the proportion of products it manufactures in the UK. Robust UK is a Swedish and Norwegian owned company which sells a wide range of steel hinged door products suitable for numerous applications including security, fire and acoustic. It supplies its products exclusively into the trade. In conjunction with a range of trade partners covering the breadth of the industry it supplies doors for many prestigious projects including universities, flagship industrial and commercial facilities, hospitals and schools. In the beginning, 100 per cent of its products were imported from Sweden. As UK manufacturing increased this proportion is now 30%. To enable it to fulfill its ambitions, the company is now looking for a larger factory site close to its current base in Staffordshire and plans to increase its 56- strong workforce. This will enable Robust UK to boost its UK manufactured volume to 90%. Paul Williams said: “We remained busy throughout the recession and our sales growth is now accelerating as the number of building contracts rise. “A number of factors account for this, the main one being that we have the support of many loyal repeat customers who have used our products as a valuable addition to their own range of products. We have a wide range of products with quality as good as or better than anyone in the industry. Our in-house pricing system, provided by GAI qualified estimators, offers a fast, accurate and efficient quotation service, complete with the option of project-specific drawings at tender stage. “The latest development in this continually developing system is to offer this service as a desktop application allowing customers to submit enquiries directly into our system 24 hours a day. “We have an enviable reputation for customer service. Our customers trust us to deliver the right specification in the fastest time on the date we promise.” It has been announced that Robust UK is to be the Platinum Sponsor of the DHF Gala Dinner Dance being held in October at the Carden Park Hotel in Cheshire. “We’re glad to give our support to this prestigious event,” he added. “The DHF is the only trade association of any note in the sector and we’ve been an active member for a number of years. We’ve benefitted from a great deal of help and support from the DHF so it’s our opportunity to give something back. And an event like this will give us a unique opportunity to talk to our customers and potential customers.” Robust UK, T: 01538 752600 www.robust-uk.com LEADERFLUSH SHAPLAND LAIDLAW – MORE THAN A DOOR The two great brands of Leaderflush Shapland and Laidlaw Ironmongery have been brought together to create a new company delivering one great solution. After extensive research with its customers across the industry, the two brands have united to form Leaderflush Shapland Laidlaw. A strategic plan to deliver efficiencies across the business will ensure a better service and a spectrum of products to suit all sectors, applications and project types. The plan involves substantial investment in manufacturing and process. The aim is to deliver ultimate reliability. That means customers can depend on Leaderflush Shapland Laidlaw to provide outstanding service and support. The company fully understands that its performance translates to its customers’ performance so throughout the entire life cycle of any project – from design through to installation – Leaderflush Shapland Laidlaw will share its knowledge and expertise, effectively managing projects and consistently adding value. Leaderflush Shapland Laidlaw manufactures performance doorsets and supplies architectural ironmongery and is a leading partner providing performance doorsets for the health, education, leisure and commercial sectors. The changes will bring improvements in service and delivery through the investment and efficiencies in manufacturing capability, clearer product propositions, new and improved customer support teams, technical expertise and support and innovation across service, product and technology to add value to customers’ businesses. Leaderflush Shapland Laidlaw’s Group Marketing Manager, Shafiq Sharif, said: “As a single brand Leaderflush Shapland Laidlaw will offer an improved, joined-up service that our customers can rely on, that will enable us to work collaboratively to identify the best solutions for their specific needs.” www.leaderflushshapland.co.uk