Read online at www.proinstaller.co.uk
AUGUST 2020 | 35
Hardware & Security
MAKING THE SWITCH TO
STAINLESS STEEL HARDWARE
How the lockdown
has accelerated the
decision for many
By Julie Holmes,
National Sales Manager, Mila
If the enforced lockdown
did anything positive, it did at
least give fabricators time to
take a close look at their businesses
and identify any areas for
potential improvement. For many,
it was probably the first time in
their careers that they had been
able to really take a step back
like that.
I was in touch with Mila customers
throughout and they were
all using the time as productively
as possible to reorganise their
factories, look at skills matrixes
for their staff, investigate new
software solutions and remote
selling tools, and review their
product ranges.
In terms of products, the main
objective seems to have been
to identify products which will
bring in new sales with strong
margins but which, crucially, are
easy to manufacture and fit.
From Mila’s perspective, the
biggest winner from that has
been our stainless steel door
products. We’ve seen a surge in
demand from companies who
have decided to finally make the
switch to stainless steel hardware
as standard in order to upgrade
their product offering. They may
have been planning to do that at
some point anyway, but the decision
seems to have been accelerated
by the enforced stop to their
production lines.
The big benefit of stainless
steel of course is the enhanced
durability, and there is a growing
sense that stainless steel is
the right choice now, not just for
the premium end of the market
where demand seems to be
strongest post lockdown, but also
for the commercial and social
housing markets where it can
guarantee fewer costly remedials.
We’re seeing orders coming
in from existing Mila customers
who are upgrading to our
stainless steel range from our
standard zinc diecast products,
as well as from new customers
who are using a switch to our
stainless steel as an opportunity
to switch to a new door furniture
supplier. That includes big name
fabricators such as Nationwide
Windows, Safestyle, Consort and
Dunraven.
All of the products in Mila’s
stainless steel range are branded
Supa™ and the range includes
standard and security door handles,
pull bars and escutcheons,
door knobs and pony tail knockers,
letterplates and letterplate
cowls. Fully suited, they combine
stylish design with long-lasting
finishes, which have been independently
salt spray tested, and
come with the reassurance of a
25-year surface finish guarantee.
The whole range has been designed
to work in both standard
and Secured by Design settings,
with standard and security
Supa™ handles and standard
and security grade escutcheons
available.
It also works across both
contemporary and traditional
door designs, with a wide
range of pull bars alongside the
conventional handles. We offer,
for example, inline, offset, D
shape, V shape, bow shape and
even square pull bars, all with a
choice of lengths and finishes,
for through fix, concealed fix or
back-to-back fitting.
We like to think we’ve thought
of everything with this range –
we even have a fire-rated letterplate
which is FD30 compliant
alongside our standard version.
What’s perhaps most important
though is that, with Supa™,
customers get the quality, ease
of installation and service that
they associate with Mila, but at
an affordable price which allows
them to preserve their margins.
At a time when efficiency and
profitability are paramount, that’s
a winning combination.
www.mila.co.uk
Mila is the UK’s leading distributor
of hardware to the fenestration
sector. It supplies innovative Mila
branded products, designed and
developed in-house, as well as
market-leading brands including
Siegenia, Yale, Spilka and AXOR.
More than 10,000 product lines
are held in stock at the company’s
Northamptonshire HQ for next day
delivery.
Mila provides a comprehensive
range of support services to customers
including sales and marketing
advice, technical support
and an in-house Test Centre.
Established in the UK in 1980, Mila
also operates in Ireland, Scandinavia
and the Baltic States. It is part
of Arran Isle Ltd.