DOORS & WINDOWS
Getting Ahead
Flair Plastic Products Marketing Manager , Adrian Keegan , is justifiably excited about Flair ’ s exciting 2016 so far . Here he tells Clearview a little about the company and what ’ s making Flair tick …
NEW PRODUCT SUCCESS
The company reports an excellent first half of the year and says that it ’ s largely down to the introduction of a number of new products .
As well as the noticeably clean and well ordered factory where Flair manufactures its Kommerling PVCu and Smarts aluminium products , there is also a well stocked trade counter where local customers can order anything from windows and doors , trims and roofline , all the way down to workwear and cleaning cloths . Customers from further afield can order through the Flair online shop .
Flair has recently introduced the Kommerling PremiFold slide and swing system , which pairs the chamfered C70 and ovolo O70 profile suites with the greenteQ Invisifold Slide & Fold hardware system .
POSITIVE FEEDBACK
It launched PremiFold / Invisifold at the FiT Show and were overwhelmed at how popular the product was and the positive feedback received by all visitors . Flair featured a door and an outward opening window on the stand and both were swamped by curious visitors .
Adrian says : “ We took lots of firm enquiries from installers and our sales team has been busy following those up since the show . We ’ re at the point now where everyone has been quoted and most are now buying . We ’ re making 3 or 4 PremiFolds a week at the moment from a standing start just a couple of months ago and we know that will continue to grow , particularly when the window solution is available after testing is completed . We ’ ve made various configurations including a really nice 6 pane door and have had to create more fabrication space to cope with the anticipated demand .”
SECURITY UPGRADE
Flair customers have the option of buying a standard PremiFold door or can upgrade to the PAS24 / Document Q version . Adrian says ; “ Because we ’ re using standard profiles we can fit our normal resi-door lock to keep stock down , but upgrading to PAS24 is really easy as we just need to follow the locking system specification laid out in VBH ’ s PAS24 certification . Of course , offering a PAS24 / Document Q approved door opens up the whole new-build market to us and our customers .”
SEEING IS BELIEVING
Space is being made in Flair ’ s large on-site showroom for PremiFold doors and windows . Trade customers are always welcome to bring their own customers to the showroom so everyone can try before they buy . The PremiFold concept is unknown to most of the general public so giving them the chance to operate a working sample usually supplies the wow factor that leads to a sale .
Adrian advises : “ Because the greenteQ Invisifold hardware is all concealed it means we can make PremiFolds on any of our 9 stocked colours . Anthracite grey is proving particularly popular . The end users love the colour options and the fact that they can choose how many door leaves to open , and whether to fully fold them or just slide for ventilation . It ’ s a truly flexible door that allows customers to get the full use out of their garden space . Feedback that we are receiving from installers is that PremiFold is very easy to fit , so time taken on site is kept to a bare minimum .”
As well as promoting PremiFold , Flair has also started manufacturing the Smarts Visofold aluminium bi-fold door , using greenteQ
Clearspan hardware . Clearspan offers plenty of adjustment so , like PremiFold , is very easy to install . This is making it another hit with installers and a separate area has also been created for Visofold production .
IDEALLY POSITIONED
Adrian concludes : “ 2016 has been great so far . We ’ ve worked together with VBH on these two exciting new greenteQ-geared ranges and the support they ’ ve given us has been exceptional . Dan Powell of VBH has been very pro-active in training our fabricators and has also visited site to familiarise the installers with PremiFold . VBH has also provided us with artwork for a retail flyer than is helping generate sales in that sector . Our geographical position at the centre of the midlands motorway network means that we are ideally placed to offer our new ranges to customers wherever they are in the UK .”
www . flairwindows . com
32 » AUG 2016 » CLEARVIEW-UK . COM