DOORS & WINDOWS
Pushing harder against an open door
Apeer ’ s Chairman , Austin McGillian says that in more than 25 years of trading he has never known such conflicting challenges .
» AUSTIN MCGILLIAN FOUNDED New World Developments Ltd , the company behind the Apeer composite door and Lumi ‘ frameless ’ window brands , in 1995 . He was quick to spot the demand for moulded PVC-U residential doors and then equally fast out of the traps when he saw the potential for the first composite doors . But Austin likes doing it his way , laying down the tools to mould his own panels and insisting on manufacturing his own GRP-skinned blanks when so many others imported product from the Far East .
Taking control by keeping as many processes as possible in-house has stood the firm in good stead for most of the time Austin has been in business . But even he finds the current situation conflicting and , as he admits , confounding : “ Sales of Apeer residential doors are the strongest they have ever been , which is a delight ,” says Austin . “ But , everything seems to come at a price .”
Austin is referring to the spiralling costs of raw materials and components which are driven by global shortages , but with the added complexities of being located in Northern Ireland , explains Austin : “ The difficulties with raw materials and the resultant inflation in costs have been widely discussed ; even though we were relatively unaffected by the shipping problems experienced by those reliant upon supplies of door blanks from the Far East , raw materials have been patchy in supply and have driven us to seek other suppliers , from all over the globe . As busy as our sales team has been , our procurement department has also been burning the midnight oil , sometimes literally ,” says Austin .
Utilising advanced processes housed in an impressive 130,000 feet 2 factory on a seven-and-a-half-acre site in Ballymena , Apeer doors are produced using not only blanks manufactured in-house , but they are finished on sophisticated paint-lines and graced by cassettes produced using glass toughened in its own furnaces . The complexities of Brexit are further issues with which to contend , though in an unexpected way : “ We have no problems getting our products over to our British customers ,” says Austin . “ And neither are we affected by any bizarre so-called disputes such as those reported as ‘ sausage wars ’”, adds Austin with a smile , dismissing such stories as largely the product of creative headline writers .
“ But we have been surprised at how some of our suppliers have had difficulty with the paperwork required to send materials and products in this direction ,” continued Austin . “ Running a business in this part of the world requires pragmatism and a certain amount of resilience , so we just fill in the paperwork ourselves and occasionally , we have collected the stuff with our own vehicles on the way back . We will never let such things disrupt our business .
“ Whilst we have control of our own processes , we have fared better than many . But I believe that the shortage of raw materials will continue to be a problem , and probably get worse before it gets better and even then , that may be well into 2022 , as we have yet to see the recovery of a number of large economies .
“ The situation is made simpler , paradoxically , by every company in the market being affected . There is a broad acceptance that these problems affect every one of us and therefore , buyers at every stage in the supply chain have accepted that delays and price rises are a symptom of our times . As the record sales leads produced by the Doorbuilder facility on the Apeer website confirm , homeowners are focused on getting the improvements they want for their homes , as soon as possible rather than price being the issue . That won ’ t always be the case of course but for now , we must all make the most of the opportunities that great sales present .
“ But communication is crucial in all of this . If homeowners understand that they will get their shiny new front doors , but it may take a little longer due to problems that are affecting the whole planet , then we will keep them onside . From our point of view , one way or another , we will deliver every order . Even if it takes a little longer than usual .”
www . apeer . co . uk
24 » JUL 2021 » CLEARVIEW-UK . COM