Clearview National January 2019 - Issue 206 | Page 34

DOORS&WINDOWS
A distinct difference
It’s a double celebration at Distinction Doors
as the Barnsley firm commemorates two
decades of the composite door and a total
transformation of the premises and production…
» » CLEARVIEW TOOK A TRIP TO
Distinction Doors recently to celebrate the
company’s 20th anniversary of the composite
door. And while Distinction may only be a
hop, skip, and a jump away from CV HQ,
what we were greeted with was worlds apart
from what we would have seen just 12 months
earlier. Here in its official press release,
Distinction Doors discusses everything from
the beginnings of the business – by founder
Drew Wright – to how recent renovations are
driving the company through current growth,
and into future development.
The history of composite residential doors
and Distinction Doors Ltd follow a very
similar path; that is because Drew Wright, who
subsequently founded Distinction to take his
ambitions forward, introduced the very first
composite door to the UK, importing the first
container of composite door panels in 1999.
And as we celebrate the 20th anniversary
of the first composite door being brought to
Britain, Distinction Doors Ltd remains the
clear market leader in the composite door sector
with its products, which are now installed in
more than 3 million homes in the UK.
Social landlords were the first to appreciate
the inherent benefits of excellent insulation,
toughness and relatively low cost provided by
composite doors, with such products now in
broad demand by private homeowners with an
estimated 1.5 million doorsets installed each
year.
And although growth overall is forecast most
recently by Palmer to be modest at .9% (Palmer
Market Research: The Market for Domestic
Entrance Sets in Great Britain 2017) installed
34 » JAN 2019 » CL EARVI E W- UK . C O M
values are increasing by as
much as 8% per annum.
Standards have steadily
improved in terms of product
build quality and especially
aesthetics across the board and sales
growth remains positive. Distinction
has responded to these market conditions to
ensure the company remains sector leader,
recently completing an £850,000 first phase
of infrastructure investment. This is designed
to further drive the company’s capacity to
handle the extraordinary growth in demand for
Distinction’s prepped door products, as well as
logistics for door blanks sold in volume.
With prepped doors now accounting for
40% of Distinction’s sales most of the budget
has been spent on saws, CNCs, edgebanders,
painting and related equipment and ancillaries
in anticipation of further growth in demand
and to create a margin to contain surges.
Quality control has been significantly
improved through the introduction of the
latest production technology, with a significant
reduction in waste and therefore cost. Offcuts
and other materials are are recycled where
possible with other non-recyclable waste going
to energy production. Production processes are
managed using IT Systems installed by Business
Micros.
From Distinction Doors’ first year sales of
£1.1 million in 2005, the company’s products
now account for 25% of all entrance doors
installed in British homes annually. And, says
Distinction Doors Managing Director Gareth
Williams, the company’s recent investment
should be seen as clear evidence
of a commitment to growth,
efficiency and innovation within
the company, and to providing
support for its customers in the short
and longer term: “Despite the unknown
pressures that Brexit will inevitably bring, we
must look past this period and assume that
British homeowners will, in the longer term,
continue their enthusiasm for improving their
homes and that private and public sector
housebuilders and landlords will continue to
invest in composite doors for their properties.
“The difficulties of Brexit prevent any
meaningful forecasts for growth in the short
term but by investing in our infrastructure
we are removing cost, improving quality and
increasing both our capacity overall and ability
to cope with fluctuating demand.
“Our relationship with our suppliers
continues to be excellent and they are working
closely with us to introduce some exciting new
products as well as to continuously improve the
quality of existing favourites.
“Our overarching commitment continues
to be our customers however, and in turn their
customers. For them and with them, we will
continue to improve, to innovate and to lead in
the market that was founded by Drew Wright -
who retired last year - the man that also created
Distinction Doors. We are always mindful of
that responsibility.”
www.distinctiondoors.co.uk