Pro Installer May 2014 - Issue 14 | Page 9

9 PRO INSTALLER MAY 2014 PRO NEWS @proinstaller1 Educate your Customers on the Superior Performance of the Sidey Solartherm® Composite Door! Sidey has recently received test results on the energy efficiency of its 44.5mm Solartherm® composite door. It was tested in comparison with well-known 48mm solid timber core composite door and a 44mm timber panelled door. The result, they say, were astonishing. The Sidey Solartherm® Composite Door proved to be 19% more thermally efficient than the 48mm solid timber core composite door and 17% more thermally efficient than the 44mm traditional timber panelled door. Simon Dunn, Sidey’s Business Development Manager said, “We’ve always known that our composite doors offer excellent thermal efficiency. These test results prove this to be the case.” The doors were tested at the University of Salford, which is renowned for its work in energy research and innovation. The test was conducted in the University’s Energy House. This is a typical Salford 1919 terraced house that has been reconstructed in a fully environmentally controllable chamber, in which climatic conditions can be maintained, varied, repeated and patterns monitored. The photos show the thermal efficiency of each of the doors. The darker the blue, the less heat is being lost. Reds and greens – the predominant colours on the timber door – indicate high heat loss. The scores of each door are also shown; the lower the score the more thermally efficient it is. The Sidey Solartherm® Composite Door scored 6.8, the 48mm solid timber core composite door scored 8.4 and the 44mm timber panelled door scored 8.2. Simon Dunn concludes, “We have always known about the thermal efficiency benefits of our high density polyurethane foam core composite doors. Now our customers have the official proof that they are better than the alternatives, something that we know will help them to close more sales.” Evolve Sales Evolving Fast! Benefiting from the experienced and focussed team leadership of Evolve Fabricated Products Sales Manager Sarah Starkey, sales of the Evolve range of specialist PVC-U products from Synseal are growing fast. ‘investments like the patio low thresholds are helping to boost our sales growth’ The Evolve business unit is poised to surpass £8 million sales turnover at the close of the current financial year ending March 2014. Order values for Evolve Vertical Sliders are continuing to increase at a rate of over 20% year on year, while demand for Evolve Bi-fold doors and Evolve Patio doors have more than doubled - and are forecast to grow strongly again during 2014-15. Fully manufactured and CE Marked by Synseal, the Evolve range is designed to assist Synseal’s fabricator partners who do not want the disruption of making specialist sliding sash, bifold doors or patio doors, allowing them to concentrate on manufacturing PVC-U casement windows and doors. Sarah says: “Product investments like the patio low thresholds are helping to boost our sales growth and we’ll soon have a new deep bottom rail design option for Evolve VS. Feedback in response to the recent patio door product improvements has been very positive.” Roto online shop for Great Britain Quick service for small businesses. Great Britain now has its own Roto online shop, as of the spring of 2013: “This is a great new service that will support our trade partners in the country,” explains Ferry van Wezel, Marketing Manager Western Europe. As was expected, the online shop has proven itself to be a practical purchasing tool for small businesses; it also smoothly complements dealer operations. ‘We’ve always known that our composite doors offer excellent thermal efficiency’ For more information on Sidey’s range of Solartherm® Composite Doors contact [email protected] or visit www.sidey.co.uk The internet is the clearinghouse for standard products requiring little or no explanation – and which account for a minority of the regular range of Roto trade partners in Great Britain. These include Open Out espags, simple window handles and door accessories. More products are constantly being added; partners can look forward to friction hinges, glazing blocks, hinges, etc. The online shop also provides the opportunity to order spare parts, via a simple request form to be filled out by the manufacturer. “The new online offerings have been designed for smaller operations to produce, maintain or repair individual windows,” says Ferry van Wezel. “Products generally take five or six days from time of order to reach the recipient.” ‘increasing awareness’ Positive feedback The new online shop was not actively advertised during the test phase in 2013. That will change this year. “We are successively increasing awareness through social media and our online newsletter. Industry publi- catio