SEPTEMBER 2019 | 39
Products
Read online at www.proinstaller.co.uk
#MORE CHOICE WITH
EPWIN WINDOW SYSTEMS
the system
‘ offers
the best
Epwin Window Systems
is the UK’s most successful
systems company with a
powerful track record of
investment, innovation and
improvement. And at the
heart of its offering is a vast
choice of market-beating
systems that enable fab-
ricators and installers to
succeed in every sector.
Gerald Allen, Marketing
Manager of Epwin Window
Systems explains: “The
latest addition to the Epwin
Window Systems portfolio
is Stellar, a groundbreaking
aluminium system designed
from the ground up for the
retail and light commer-
sightlines in
the business
’
cial sectors. The system
offers the best sightlines
in the business – over 30%
slimmer than its competi-
tors with 12% more glass
area. Alongside Stellar sit
four of the best-known
PVC-U brands in the sector:
Profile 22, Spectus, Swish
and PatioMaster. Each of
the systems helps fabrica-
tors and installers achieve a
competitive advantage, no
matter which sector they
operate in.”
In Stellar, fabricators have a
stable of aluminium products
that includes a market-first
fully flush casement win-
dow alongside a traditional
flush casement, flush door,
bifold door and, soon to be
launched, lift and slide door.
Optima from Profile 22 is
an award-winning system
that since its launch in 2016
has rapidly established itself
as the commercial system of
choice. Spectus is a mar-
ket-leading system that is
widely recognised as having
the most complete product
range in the market. Swish
24/7 from Swish Windows
and Doors is a retail-focused
system that is recognised and
trusted by 7 out of 10 home-
owners, delivering a powerful
competitive advantage. And
PatioMaster is the UK’s lead-
ing manufacturer of sliding
patio doors.
Epwin Window Systems’
recent marketing campaign
has focused on how the
systems company delivers
more at every level. Ger-
ald concluded: “Our aim is
to deliver the products our
customers need to stand
out in a competitive mar-
ket. With the introduction
of Stellar to sit alongside
our four PVC-U brands,
we are perfectly placed to
offer our customers the
widest portfolio of fully in-
tegrated window and door
systems. It’s an unbeata-
ble offer.”
www.epwinwindowsystems.
co.uk
A FRESH LOOK AT ALUMINIUM
After a lifetime in PVC-U, people
wonder why I’ve fallen for Aluminium.
Innovation in aluminium has
lagged behind PVC-U and timber,
which practically reinvented itself
in the last 20 years. We believe it’s
time for an aluminium catch up.
I just love aluminium, its possi-
bilities and its sustainability. And
I’m knocked out that about 75% of
all the aluminium ever produced is
still in use.
For those who don’t know,
we’ve invested £9 million so far in
a state-of-the-art Garnalex factory
which will start extruding alumin-
ium profiles for trade customers
in October and an aluminium
window and door system at the
end of Q1 2020.
We are investing to fill a gap
in capacity, and a gap in innova-
tion, quality and service. The UK
consumes around 190,000 tonnes
of aluminium profile a year, but it
only makes around 110,000 tonnes
so it has to import the rest. People
don’t need reminding that lead
times are long in aluminium. It
takes several weeks from Europe
and there are long delays in the
UK too, plus potential compli-
cations importing from further
afield. Now we also have the
added complications and uncer-
tainty from Brexit. So, the need for
more made-in-Britain product is
obvious.
Few aluminium systems com-
panies extrude or extrude in the
UK: they buy-in and subcontract
the finishing and painting. There’s
been very little capital expendi-
ture invested in new machinery in
recent years, so maintaining good
productivity and quality can be
difficult.
We assembled a high-powered
team of technical experts to take a
fresh look at aluminium with the
aim of making a new system eas-
ier, faster and better to fabricate
and install than other aluminium
systems by incorporating all the
innovations and improvements
that should have taken place over
the last 30 years. The team exam-
ined every aspect of aluminium
windows and doors from perfor-
mance and looks, to how they’re
made and installed. And they’ve
redesigned the aluminium window
and door from the ground up.
Anyone can make big claims,
and the industry is not shy of over-
claiming, but we’ll let fabricators
and installers be the judge of these
claims. When you’ve seen it, I think
you’ll agree that it is aluminium,
but not as the industry knows it.
Roger Hartshorn
CEO, Garnalex