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Fast-growing trade fabricator
plans for further expansion
» » WINDOW AND DOOR FASTENER
specialist Rapierstar is helping leading Scottish
trade fabricator Merlin Network (Scotland)
to keep production on track and to a high
standard as it experiences record demand for
its PVCu windows.
Rapierstar has now been supplying a range
of high performance fasteners to Merlin for
more than two years, with increased volumes
in recent months reflecting the fabricator’s
22% increase in turnover. This, according to
Merlin, has been driven by a combination
of growth from existing customers, the
acquisition of new customers and particularly
strong growth in the new build market
where its fully reversible windows are in high
demand. In addition, Merlin is now the sole
supplier in Scotland for Prefix Systems which
has boosted its sales in the WARM roof and
conservatory roof markets.
Merlin Network (Scotland), which is part
of the Saveheat Group, is planning for further
market expansion with a £220,000 investment
programme at its state-of-the-art design and
manufacturing facility in Dalgety Bay, Fife.
This has seen the installation of a new six-
head welding machine and the creation of a
purpose-built showroom which will support
its growth plans for its mainly Scottish
customer base.
As a long-standing supply chain partner,
Rapierstar is helping Merlin to maintain
production efficiency by ensuring excellent
supply reliability. Fasteners are supplied
directly by Rapierstar from its 100,000 sq.
ft. distribution centre in Cheshire, where it
now stocks more than one billion screws, with
almost 100% of orders delivered on time in
full, error free.
Colin Torley, sales and operations director at
Merlin said: “The purchase of a new six-head
welding machine is the company’s largest ever
single investment. Having Rapierstar on board
as a reliable supplier of high quality fasteners
that we can depend on is extremely important.
It helps us to manufacture efficiently and
deliver finished windows and doors on time
that exceed customer expectations.”
Rapierstar is the UK market-leader in
fasteners for the door and window sector,
operating from its purpose-built head
office and bonded distribution centre near
Macclesfield in Cheshire.
Paul McAuley, Technical Consultant at
Rapierstar added: “We have invested more
than £2.5m in stockholding and logistics to
ensure the fastener supply chain is reliable
with short lead times, and this is important in
helping fast growing fabricators like Merlin to
realise their increased production goals.”
www.rapierstar.com
‘Knowledge Hub’ gives key insights
» » FREE ONLINE MANAGEMENT TOOL
utilises industry data to give FENSA
members exclusive insights for benchmarking
performance and identifying new markets.
With more than 9,000 members and nearly
13 million installations since 2002, FENSA
is the UK’s largest and longest established
Competent Person Scheme. It is also one
of the UK glazing industry’s biggest data
collectors and passes along key statistics to its
members via the FENSA Knowledge Hub.
The FENSA Knowledge Hub is a data
insight and management tool that gives
registered FENSA installers up to date
information about the markets they operate in
as well as snapshots of their own performance.
It draws on 16 years of FENSA inspections
and registrations data, making key metrics
and insights easily discoverable via an online
interface optimised for mobile devices.
Rachel Culpan, Customer Service Manager
for FENSA, explains, “From a business
perspective, it’s a great way for installers to
analyse the market and keep up to date with
6 » JUL 2018 » CL EARVI E W- U K . C O M
trends in the industry. Especially
with the Hub being free for FENSA
members, we encourage them to take full
advantage of this powerful tool.”
The Hub puts powerful information into
the hands of FENSA installers allowing
them to evaluate their performance and
prices against market averages, benchmark
against previous data, and identify sales
opportunities through demand trend insights.
Key metrics can be viewed at different scales,
from a national overview right down to the
Local Authority level, allowing a range of
insights that together give FENSA-registered
businesses a better understanding of their
position within the market.
Chris Beedel, Director of Membership,
FENSA, explained that the FENSA
Knowledge Hub was created to help
FENSA members benefit from the
great wealth of data the company
collects each year and the FENSA
team is always looking for new ways
to help installers harness this data to
the advantage of their businesses.
Installers can view their inspection
history and compare their performance
against themselves over previous years, as well
as against the local activity rate over similar
time periods. While individual companies
can see their own installation data in detail,
all information collected from other installers
is anonymised and supplemented with local
government statistics on population and
housing stock to help present a wider view of
the industry as a whole.
www.fensa.org.uk