8 | SEPTEMBER 2020
News
Read online at www.proinstaller.co.uk
UK WINDOW AND
DOOR MANUFACTURER
CELEBRATES 70 YEARS
Euramax looks back at its journey
and how the company has changed.
Yorkshire based window
and door manufacturer Euramax
is celebrating its 70-year anniversary.
Incorporated in 1950 as
a family run business, Euramax
now employs 150 people, operates
from a 205,000 square foot
facility and manufactures over
3,000 products a week. Boasting
an impressive number of firsts
in its 70 years, the company has
also witnessed the paradigm shift
from cost-effective windows and
doors to luxury, double-glazed
materials.
Originally founded as Ellbee,
the company’s journey began in
Leeds, manufacturing aluminium
window frames for narrowboats
and the automobile industry
before partnering with a glazing
company to supply pre-glazed
aluminium windows.
In the 1990s, Ellbee became the
first company in the UK to supply
unplasticised polyvinyl-chloride
(PVCu) windows to the static
caravan market. It also became
the first to develop an internal
clamping system for efficient
window installation, which is still
widely used in the industry today.
As the company expanded, Ellbee
moved to its first of three factory
sites in Leeds in 1964.
In 1996, Euramax International
was formed and in 2013 the company
moved to its current facility
in Barnsley. After the arrival of
managing director Nick Cowley
in 2019, Euramax broke into the
portable building and modular
construction markets. At present,
Euramax manufactures and supplies
PVCu windows, doors and
composite doors for a number
of sectors, including the holiday
home and home improvement
markets, as well as builders’ merchants,
including Wickes, Selco
and Travis Perkins.
“Euramax has transformed into
a company that adapts to support
its customers’ marketplace,” said
Nick Cowley, managing director at
Euramax. “Following trends and
analysing the requirements of our
sectors has allowed us to expand
our customer base to a number of
home improvement customers and
builders’ merchants, leisure home
and modular home manufacturers
across the country.
“The caravan market has
changed dramatically since the
1960s. Static Caravans that were
not highly regarded and were
considered popular for those who
couldn’t afford to travel abroad,
have now been developed into
impressive modern homes. As the
style, size and purpose of these
products developed, so did the
requirements of Euramax’s products,”
continued Cowley.
“Energy efficiency was not
a consideration in the original
development of the caravan
market. But, gradually the need
for warmer accommodation was
in demand. We knew that the
market needed energy efficient
windows, which is why we
moved from supplying single
glazed aluminium windows, to
double glazed PVCu, which has
better thermal properties. In fact,
our windows are rated A for their
energy efficiency by The British
Fenestration Ratings Council
(BFRC).
“While the industry and its
requirements have changed, our
ability to consistently supply
glazed PVCu windows to what
is an ever-changing market has
remained the same. Some of
our longest serving customers
include Willerby Holiday Homes,
Atlas Leisure Homes and Carnaby
Caravans.
“Turning 70 is a great milestone
for Euramax. There aren’t
many window and door manufacturers
that can say they have
survived a recession. We’ve gone
from barges to building and construction
and I’m very proud of
that. Who knows what the next
70 years will bring?”
“In addition, we developed our
unique hybrid PVCu and composite
doors in 2019. We wanted
to provide our customers with
the best of both worlds as we
found that composite options can
become swollen in the summer,”
added Cowley.
“I don’t think our success
this far would’ve been attainable
without the dedicated team
we have,” said Richard Banks,
commercial director at Euramax.
“Some of our employees have
been with us nearly 40 years
now.
“During my time with Euramax,
I have seen many changes in personnel,
products and processes.
However, the one thing that has
remained consistent is the dedication
of our employees to fuel our
passion to listen to our customers
and deliver the solutions they
require,” said Banks.
August 2020 marks 70 years
of manufacturing for Euramax.
For more information or to
browse its products and
the sectors it supplies, go
to www.euramaxuk.com or
call +44 (0) 1226 361639.
ALU HAUS NOW FABRICATING STELLAR ALUMINIUM SYSTEM
Aluminium specialist
Alu Haus has become the
latest in a series of fabricators
to start manufacturing
Stellar, the double
award-winning aluminium
window and door system
from Epwin Window Systems.
Jason Bamford, Director
of Alu Haus said: “We
have added Stellar to our
portfolio because it’s a
visually superior product.
The slimline aesthetics and
the flush appearance are
unique to the market, and
it’s the best-looking aluminium
product out there.
“As a fabricator, we’re
always looking for ways to
make our installer customers’
lives easier. This is what
Stellar does. The knockin
single leg bead means
glazing is rapid as well as
contributing to the sleek
aesthetics. Plus, it doesn’t
have a back wedge, so there
are time savings here too.”
Stellar also offers benefits
for fabricators. It’s pre-gasketed,
which saves up to
20% on fabrication time.
Plus chevrons or corner
ties are only needed on
the Flush Sash Window,
no shootbolts are required
because the system uses
fast-fit espagnolettes and
all hardware is direct fix.
Stellar is the only aluminium
system on the
market to offer a fully flush
casement window, which
has flush lines inside and
out. It means it more than
delivers on the pared-back
aesthetic that’s so popular
at the moment. The
system’s slim sightlines
also tap into the trend for
light-filled spaces. They are
around 30% slimmer than
comparable aluminium systems,
which translates to a
12% larger glass area.
www.stellaraluminium.co.uk