APRIL 2024 | 31 |
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Can you tell us more about Garnalex and Sheerline ? How have the past few years been and what ’ s next ?
I saw an opportunity to create an aluminium system that wasn ’ t held back by legacy design considerations , that was thermally efficient and that allowed fabricators to offer repeatable quality . All in a range that was designed around a common chassis , that looked consistent and that captured all my , and the design teams , collective practical experience of the best of windows and doors . All delivered with market leading service and on incredibly agile lead-times . I also wanted to bring some of aluminium extrusion capacity back to the UK . Currently 190,000 tonnes of extruded aluminium is consumed in the UK , but only 110,000 tonnes are made here .
It ’ s been an incredibly exciting , fastpaced few years at Sheerline . Since we formed in 2018 , we ’ ve had 10 major product launches , and now offer a complete range of fully integrated systems to enable our customers to offer truly whole house solutions , all with no-nonsense
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Part L compliance . We ’ ve won awards , invested over £ 19M to date , installed our own painting , bending and woodgraining facilities and are now the most vertically integrated UK aluminium systems house .
I ’ m incredibly proud of our team , and our loyal customer base , without them our rapid , but controlled growth plans wouldn ’ t be possible .
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New for 2024 is our Reverse Butt Joint . The industry ’ s first elegant solution to offering fully internally beaded combination windows in aluminium . We ’ ve also just launched SheerVent ® for our S2 conservatory roof , if you ’ ve not seen it yet , it really is a massive step forward in offering proper ventilation for conservatories . It looks beautiful , eliminates leaks and is fully automatable .
Our plans for the rest of the year are to hold to our core values of being open and approachable , and working with our customers for mutual benefit .
The rest I ’ ve got to keep under wraps at the moment !
What do you think we do really well as a sector and what do you think we can improve on ?
I think we ’ ve begun to offer consumers more real choice in terms of style , colour and finishes . Letting them choose what ’ s right for them , rather than what suits us as manufacturers . I also think service standards have generally risen in the industry , although most aluminium systems companies still lag behind what ’ s long been the expectation of ‘ best practice ’ in PVC-U ; it ’ s one of the key ways we set Sheerline apart from our competitors . Customer service is at the heart of everything we do .
I think many aluminium installers , and fabricators alike , need to wake up to the advantages of offering complete , matching product lines , rather than offering a mish mash of different systems .
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This ‘ jumble sale ’ approach of installing products that look and perform differently , and are covered by different guarantees , undersells the potential of choosing new aluminium windows and doors in a home . People are choosing to pay extra for higher end aesthetics and it ’ s a shame when that full potential isn ’ t realised .
I also believe the industry has a wakeup moment coming around thermal regulations and compliance . I think there needs to be more openness from systems companies about how they achieve the results they claim , and fabricators need to ensure they are manufacturing to those standards . We don ’ t want the fenestration equivalent of VW ’ s diesel emissions fiasco to happen to the industry .
www . sheerline . com
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