INDUSTRYNEWS
L to R : Carmen Velilla , Brand Manager Spectus and PatioMaster ;
Mark Bache , Finance Director ; Clare O ’ Hara , Managing Director ; Martin Althorpe , Technical Director ; Sharn Samra , Marketing Director ; Gerald Allen , Brand Manager Profile 22 .
‘ Waking a sleeping giant ’
Managing Director of Epwin Window Systems Division , Clare O ’ Hara , has outlined the company ’ s plans for the future , after describing its products as already being ‘ the most innovative and comprehensive product range on the market ’ but with ‘ a great deal more to come ’.
»»“ WHEN I CAME TO EPWIN 18 months ago , the Window Systems Division was somewhat of a sleeping giant ,” explained Clare when she was speaking to a group of the window and door industry ’ s press , including Clearview and PRO Installer , during celebrations of the 40th Anniversary of the founding of the Epwin Group . “ Change was needed ,” Clare continued , “ and I was fortunate enough to have the backing of Group to make the necessary investment to grow the business and support our customerbase .”
Offering a view of where the company is heading in the next period , Clare explained that the company ’ s brands including Profile 22 , Spectus , Swish , PatioMaster and Safeware are all thriving with major product and customer support initiatives brought to market or planned for each . With reference to Profile 22 Optima , one of the largest investments in Epwin ’ s history , Clare described the launch as being ‘ a great way to celebrate the company ’ s birthday ’. “ We have reacted to changes in the marketplace and invested in people as well as products and process ,” she says .
The company ’ s people are the most important asset , Clare stressed , as she introduced a number of new faces to the business , with customers being its greatest focus for which investment continues with new support systems and infrastructure . Of these , Epwin ’ s new foiling plant anticipated the growing demand for coloured profiles with the company ’ s brands all showing increasing market share as a result . “ And we now operate 26 vehicles that travel a combined total of 2 million miles each year , delivering our products nationwide ,” Clare added .
Part of the investment in Optima included the installation of the most advanced extrusion lines available , which are making significant returns in respect of product quality , production efficiency and environmental impact . “ The investment in our Greiner extrusion lines makes a real statement about how committed we are to developing our brands . All our existing customers have now been converted to fabricate Optima , as of the end of last month . In fact , 65 % of our Profile 22 business is already Optima . The introduction of Optima has even allowed the us to regain business from lost fabricators , where they now fabricate 100 % Optima and Profile 22 ,” says Clare .
In addition to the launch of Optima , a range of new ancillaries has been launched for Spectus with new flush tilt and turn windows being introduced under Spectus and Profile 22 . Swish and Spectus customers are now utilising new Marketing Portals through which they may order support materials and services . PatioMaster has benefitted from an extended range of colours with products now improved through the use of new profiles introduced for Optima . “ Feedback from our sales team is that where ever they go , there ’ s always something for them to sell ,” Clare enthused .
Investment will continue at a pace confirmed Clare with each brand benefitting from new products , marketing support and infrastructure : “ The 40th year of the company ’ s existence has been exciting with so much change taking place to the company ’ s infrastructure . We now look forward to refining what we do and how we do it with our customers reaping the benefits as we put customer experience at the heart of the business . Driving growth and profitability for our customers is now at the top of our agenda , equipping them with the best products and service available in the marketplace .”
www . epwin . co . uk
10 » NOV 2016 » CLEARVIEW-UK . COM