Clearview National April 2017 - Issue 185 | Page 62

PROUD SPONSOR OF DOORS & WINDOWS
DOORS&WINDOWS
Irish Ambitions
Door and window fabricator Apeer
recently opened up its factory in
Northern Ireland to the trade press - and
showed visitors the Belfast peace wall
and the Titanic Belfast tourist attraction.
Steve Sidebottom and Helen Williams
of Pro Installer, Clearview Group’s trade
counter newspaper, went along…
» » WE WERE SAYING OUR
prayers as we careered sideways
into Belfast City Airport on
route for the Apeer factory in
Ballymena. Storm Doris was
battering the country with 90mph
winds and giving our plane a
good rattling.
Thankfully, our Irish friends
were on hand to calm our nerves
with a giant Ulster breakfast and
a whistle-stop tour. We were
overlooking the iconic yellow
cranes of the Harland and Wolff
shipyard, where enormous
investment is happening in the
shape of the Titanic Belfast tourist
attraction.
Apeer - the family business
founded by Austin McGillian - is
also investing, innovating and
growing. It manufactures and
supplies PVCu door panels, GRP
external composite doors, fire
doors, decorative glass units and
commercial glass.
An ambitious company, it
aims to boost market share across
England and the Republic of
Ireland. The business plans to
grow three times its size in a four-
y ear period and has come a long
way since the 1990s, when staff
were using sledgehammers to test
the endurance of PVCu panels.
Managing director (and
Austin’s son) Asa McGillian
recalled: “We made 1,400 panels
a week but the death of the PVCu
panel was predicted and we saw a
steady decline. We have, however,
retained all our PVCu
panel staff.” Staff
repay the favour as
many have stayed
with the company
for 15 to 20 years.
The business
launched doors in
2003 and came up
with products such as the
ISOLATE fire door. Asa said:
“Hardly anyone was doing
composite doors when we were
investing. We grew year after year
and introduced multiple products
along the way.”
Austin and Asa decided to
design their own composite door
including its GRP skin, adding
in as many unique selling points
as possible. They have always
targeted the top end of the
market but the financial crash
in 2008 made them realise they
also needed to include a more
‘cost conscious’ offering, so they
introduced the Diamond range of
composite doors.
Other products have been
exceptionally successful such as
the Modo range of modern doors
with stainless steel glazing trims
and the popular stable door.
But Apeer’s major triumph is
Lumi. This is a ground-breaking
range of customisable, matching
frameless windows and bi-folding,
patio and residential doors.
The secret to Lumi’s aesthetics,
performance and strength is the
triple glazed units that are bonded
62 » A PR 2017 » CL EARVI E W- UK . C O M
to an
internal
core of
high–
strength
glass
reinforced plastic
(GRP) frames, the external pane
of which offers uninterrupted,
edge-to-edge glazing. The system
is a radical new approach for
residential windows and doors.
It was not all plain sailing
developing it. Asa said: “One
colleague said the first sample
looked like a microwave oven.
But we stuck to our belief, made
a capital investment and launched
it to universal acclaim at Grand
Designs in 2015.
“We now want to show that
Lumi is a replacement window
and not only for new build, self-
build and extend and renovate.
It is of course a high-end
replacement but there is a real
appetite out there to modernise
houses. Lumi can bring a ‘wall of
light’ to any structure and people
are amazed when they find it was
a company in Ballymena that
brought this product to market.
They think it must be from
Scandinavia.”
Asa added: “Now we need
to communicate the ease of
installation for Lumi and how
it can add value to a house. The
FIT Show this year will be all
about getting more installers in
our network.”
Apeer is also bringing in three
new door designs this year,
revamping its door furniture
offering and its Door Builder
software so customers can order
online more easily. Asa added:
“We want to be a super fabricator
on our own terms with our own
products.”
ILLUMINATING VISIT
Steve Sidebottom, Director
of Clearview Group, said: “The
recent trip to Apeer was both
illuminating and interesting.
The Northern Irish welcome and
hospitality was excellent.
“It’s clear to see why this
company is achieving excellent
results and poised for significant
growth when you consider the
people who work there.
“The senior management team
boasts years of service, experience
and dedication, and Asa the
MD is supplying creativity
and innovation matched by
investment in current and future
products. But the key ingredient
for me is the passion shown for
the company, its products and for
future growth from every single
person I engaged in conversation.
Clearly, all the ingredients are
there for continued success.”