Clearview National November 2018 - Issue 204 | Page 58

Aluminium Extra
How to keep a thriving
family enterprise ‘on track’
UK Curtain Walling is a company built on experience and strong
core values. Managing Director and owner Duncan Hague
has spent the last 40 years working across the industry from
draughtsman, to surveyor, project & contract management. In
November’s Clearview magazine, we hear about how this broad
experience of all aspects of the industry has focussed into
forming a growing and thriving family enterprise…
» » ALTHOUGH HAVING WORKED FOR
some great employers in the past – since
beginning as a trainee QS Estimator at the age
of 16 – Duncan was keen to build on his own
brand and the opportunity arose to purchase
the UK Curtain Walling Ltd in conjunction
with his wife Samantha. Together, they broke
UK Curtain Walling Ltd away from the
initial group of companies now being totally
independent. However the first HQ for the
initial venture could be described as somewhat
‘humble’. “The first few days of business was
within a caravan as HQ,” Duncan recalls, “then
we moved to a 20ft x 10ft storage container for
around seven months then into our new office
facility from which the company is operating
from today.” No matter the location however,
from the get-go, the aim has been to combine
expertise with strong industry partners such
as Senior Aluminium Systems, Schuco UK,
Technal and Kawneer, coupled with the use of
state-of-the-art manufacturing through Paul
Evans Architectural Ltd.
“We’ve taken on some exciting contracts
since our inception and have been fortunate
to work alongside some great teams,” Duncan
continues. With a number of high-profile
projects completed, the company is growing its
portfolio of completed contracts to illustrate
its abilities. Recently a group of large railway
projects were successfully tendered and won.
These included Derby Station and bridges
at Manor Park Station and Seven Kings,
in London. Working within a fast-moving
environment such as a fully operational train
station created many challenges, with tight
deadlines and fitting in with multiple teams
to achieve a common goal. And, as Duncan
states, “the key is to pre-empt problems, be
flexible and communicate.”
58 » N OV 2018 » CL EARVI E W- UK . C O M
With products in the UK Curtain Walling
Ltd portfolio ranging from folding and
sliding doors to window systems, aluminium
framework and glazing solutions for
shopfronts, the possibilities for projects are
endless, which the case studies for the past
18 months prove. And, as Duncan’s own
experience in the industry has shown, it’s that
variety really is the spice of life, and now the
range of projects undertaken by the company
certainly reflects the various roles he himself
has had over the past four decades. In fact, his
combined skill set and willingness to take on
new roles and challenges over the years, which
have seen him stake a claim to many different
stages of the supply chain, was a leading factor
in gaining valuable insight into the industry
from all sides, before taking on UK Curtain
Walling Ltd with Samantha.
Duncan is the first to admit that running
your own business is tough. Long hours and
the constant responsibility means that work and
home life merge to become 24/7. Yet having
“always done it for everyone else, but never for
myself”, the massive upside is the reward of
building a growing business, while being part
of some challenging and inspiring projects.
UK Curtain Walling Ltd’s portfolio of projects
has covered a wide variety of applications from
glass lifts through to six floors of aluminium
curtain walling at Riverside, Leeds, a three-
floor internal atrium at Herron Tower, near
the London Gherkin, and Moorgate hotel in
central London, plus many more.