Aluminium Extra
Putting
Customers First
Justin Hunter was appointed as the new
Managing Director of AluK in May, just
as the industry was getting back to work
after the lockdown. Three months into the
role, he spoke to Clearview about what
he’s learned about the business in that
time and his priorities moving forward.
Q. You’d been in the aluminium
industry before so were
obviously aware of AluK, why
did you want to take on the
role?
A. I had actually been MD at
another aluminium systems house
right up until 2018 so was very
aware of them as a competitor.
However, I’d also lived for many
years in the same village as Nigel
Yates who co-founded Beaufort
Secure Design, as AluK once was,
so had a personal connection with
the business as well. For me, there
was lots of synergy in terms of
AluK being part of a European
headquartered group which I
was used to, but also an exciting
youthful positivity to AluK which
really appealed. AluK has always
been known for doing things
differently in aluminium and has
created its own set of USPs to
attract and retain business, and I
jumped at the chance of helping
to drive that.
Q. You joined at the peak of the
crisis. How do you think AluK
has coped?
A. I’m incredibly impressed
with how the whole team has
responded. We said at the
beginning that we would stand
shoulder to shoulder with our
customers throughout and we
have done. From the beginning
we had the unstinting support
of the AluK group and had the
resources available to keep all
of our support departments up
and running even when our
manufacturing operation was
shut down for a few weeks. We
were able to pay every single
one of our suppliers on time
and could focus on supporting
and communicating with our
customers. Like everyone, we’ve
adapted pretty well to the new
socially distanced and remote
working environments. We’ve
actually introduced some fantastic
new disciplines, including daily
11am shared reporting of every
operational result across the
business – from output and
quality to finance and sales
figures, and that is something
that will stay in place even when
things get ‘back to normal’.
Q. What are your plans for the
business?
A. AluK has always put
the customer at the heart of
everything we do and that will be
key to our plans moving forward.
Fabricators have probably never
needed the support of their
systems companies more than
they do right now and AluK will
be focusing most of our energies
on ensuring that our customers
get the support they need in
terms of outstanding OTIF, new
product developments, sales and
marketing support and technical
help and advice.
‘the hard work
is probably only
just starting
for all of us’
Q. What obstacles do you still
see ahead for the market?
A. We may be over the worst
of the crisis but there are so many
challenges still to face that I
think the hard work is probably
only just starting for all of us.
We obviously still see the risk of
a second wave of the virus, we
face a potential no-deal Brexit,
and we will see the unwinding
of government support over the
next few months which may
damage already fragile consumer
confidence.
Q. What advice would you offer
to aluminium fabricators?
A. At the moment, demand
seems to be high for many and
indeed at record levels for a few,
but I would say don’t introduce
any unnecessary risk to your
business at this point. The most
important piece of advice I can
give is, if you already have a good
supplier like AluK, stick with
them but, if you don’t, act quickly
to get a new one now who will
help and support your business
through the challenges ahead.
There will be opportunities as well
as obstacles along the way and a
true partnership with the right
supplier will help you to make the
most of those.
uk.aluk.com
34 » AUG 2020 » CLEARVIEW-UK.COM