Hardware Extra
Business is tough
Simon Monks , Managing Director of VBH , explains how VBH and their customers benefit from the hardware specialist ’ s strategy of building on their strengths
» NO MATTER WHAT THE ECONOMIC climate , there are always setbacks to overcome and hurdles to jump over . Last summer , installers emerged from Lockdown 1 to customers banging down their doors with orders . Everything looked rosy in the window and door industry . Wind the clock forward a few months and the well-documented supply issues have put a rather large spanner in the works for many , although I ’ m pleased to report that as I write these words in early September hardware availability for VBH customers remains very good .
To help keep a measure of stability in the generally unstable business of conducting business , I believe that it ’ s best to find what your company ’ s core strengths are , focus on those and then expand your product range in a controlled way .
This is what the introduction of our own greenteQ hardware brand in 2009 allowed VBH to do in the ‘ second phase ’ of our company ’ s development . We moved from being just a distributor of other branded products to being a manufacturer in our own right , in tune with the demands and trends of the UK market . Of course our customers have the pick of the best hardware as we continue in our role as a major supplier of 3rd party brands .
We decided that sustainable growth lay in identifying emerging markets , developing great products to serve those markets and in becoming the acknowledged specialist in those areas , with a feature packed product range that gives our customers an advantage over their competitors . greenteQ includes hardware for windows , residential doors and patio doors , including the greenteQ Suite of colour and style matched furniture . As the greenteQ Suite covers all window and door types it enables installers to sell the idea of a matching ‘ full house ’ installation .
The wide scope of the greenteQ Suite has made it very popular with fabricators and installers , so we have designated the Suite as one of our Core ranges . A lot of our New Product Development Team ’ s resources go into
continued development of the Suite . We ’ ve recently launched two new letterbox styles , including a slim version for mid-rails , and readers can expect more new suited products before the year is out .
Another core area for VBH is patio doors . We identified early on that this market will only get stronger . We took the decision to make patio door hardware a core specialism , and group our patio door products together as our Lifestyle range .
We introduced the first of our profile specific greenteQ Clearspan hardware solutions for slimline aluminium bi-fold doors in 2013 .
We now have Clearspan bi-fold solutions for seven aluminium systems as well as a comprehensive bi-fold furniture range in the colours of the greenteQ Suite .
The emerging market for Lift / slide doors also has huge potential . They are an increasingly popular choice amongst consumers who prefer more glass and less profile .
Our first lift / slide product was the Aspire handle , which we introduced in 2017 in nine suite colours . We followed this in Q3 2020 with the ClearLIFT hardware system for 300KG lift / slide doors . ClearLIFT is now a well-established component of the Lifestyle collection .
The latest addition to the collection is our Clearslide 8 hook stainless steel lock for PVCu inline sliding doors . Clearslide forms part of a top quality package alongside our Alpha and Coastline handle options and the Orion 3 star profile cylinder .
All Lifestyle product ranges are rated as Q-secure PREMIUM approved , enabling approved installers to offer the Q-secure £ 8000 consumer hardware guarantee to help gain business .
VBH has benefitted substantially from the popularity of Lifestyle doors , and from the uniquely British taste for colour matched furniture . Interestingly , non-matching furniture doesn ’ t seem to bother our European neighbours .
The continued success of these Core products enables us to take our time when developing new greenteQ products such as the Invicta window shootbolt and Orion 3 star cylinder . This ensures that they are an instant hit with customers to such a degree that they become Core products themselves .
By building on our strengths we build our range .
To find out more about VBH ’ s range , visit www . vbhgb . com , email sales @ vbhgb . com , or call 01634 263263 .
44 » OCT 2021 » CLEARVIEW-UK . COM