Phil Parry, Business Development Director of Epwin Window Systems
Facts and Figures:
First job: Design Draughtsman for DC Norris & Co. designing industrial food processing equipment.
When did you join current company: September 2020.
Most useful/favourite gadget: My most useful business gadget is my iPhone. But on a personal level, my favourite is my bean to cup coffee machine!
Favourite/most useful website: I’m really sad – I spend a lot of time looking at websites relating to our industry so ezines, competitors’ sites, construction and engineering sites etc. Outside of that I’m one of Amazon’s best customers!
Favourite restaurant for business: Not necessarily for business, but I do love a good steak and Goodman Mayfair is hard to beat.
Business person you admire: I have been extremely fortunate to work for and with some of the industry’s best and hopefully I’ve learned a fair bit along the way. However, I do have a huge amount of respect for anyone who sets up their own business.
What lesson have you learnt about business over the last 12 months: You can’t plan with any certainty, so you have to plan for flexibility and resilience.
Best business decision: Joining LB Plastics Ltd in 2000, the beginning of my journey into fenestration.
Other interests: mountain biking, cars and family.
Working Day:
My day starts at 5:30am because I try to get out on my bike or do some sort of exercise before the working day starts. I leave home for the office at around 7:15am. On a good day, my commute takes just over an hour so I’ll arrive by 8:30am.
My working week tends to follow a similar pattern. Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays are more structured days. I’ll have weekly trading, strategic and project meetings with various teams across the business. Thursdays and Fridays have a customer focus and I’ll also spend time catching up on day-to-day stuff.
Working Location:
My office is at Epwin Window Systems’ manufacturing plant in Stafford Park, Telford, where our design and technical service functions are based. We have everything we need on site to go from concept sketch to 3D CAD, 3D prototyping, manufacturing, security and weather testing. I also spend some of my time a few miles down the road where we have our state-of-the-art warehouse and distribution facility, foiling plant and aluminium plant.
THE INTERVIEW
The past two years have seen the toughest market and trading conditions any of us have ever experienced. Here at Epwin Window Systems, we’ve worked as hard as we can to support our customers and partners through the uncertainty of lockdowns and the boom that’s created challenges of its own.
We all hope that the dramatic peaks and troughs are at an end. But I think it’s increasingly clear that it will still be a bumpy road to normal.
Like all companies, we’re keen to position ourselves to be able to support our customers for long term growth and development whatever the future throws at us. Unlike other companies, I think Epwin Window Systems is uniquely placed to provide what’s needed to deliver that long-term growth and development.
Throughout the pandemic we’ve been continuing to invest in our infrastructure across the business to support our long-term activity and support our customers as we move forward together.
For example, we opened our new 300,000 sq ft, warehouse and distribution centre. The building consolidated all our existing warehousing facilities into a single operation and has the capacity to hold over 5,000 stock lines. From start to finish, it has been meticulously designed to optimise efficiency at every level and bring benefits to our customers.
To support our customers, we’ve launched Connect, our fully integrated digital resource centre. It gives fabricators and installers what is widely regarded as the industry’s largest and most valuable online portal and one which far outreaches comparable industry platforms.
Overall, our continued business investment means that we can be excited about what lies ahead for us and our customers. We have the products to support every market sector and the drive for innovation to continue to offer what the market needs. We’ve also got the stability, reliability and experience to back up our offering and be a valuable partner to every one of our customers.
10 unique systems to support every sector
If I had to sum us up, I’d say Epwin Window Systems is the industry’s true systems company. It’s something that offers unrivalled benefits to our customers. We have 10 systems that span every market sector in both PVC-U and Aluminium, and provide the best choice of award-winning, cutting-edge products. It’s the breadth and depth of our product offer that sets us apart from our competitors.
For example, our multi award-winning Stellar aluminium window and door system offers outstanding aesthetics and the only fully flush window option on the market. Stellar is a step change in aluminium system design and was purposely designed by our talented in-house UK team specifically for the British market.
Our PVC-U Spectus Elite range is a complete 70mm window and door system with a choice of bevelled or ovolo options. It has been British engineered to be easy to fabricate and easy to install and its popularity has resulted in Spectus’ products being manufactured and fitted into millions of properties throughout the UK.
Our award-wining PVC-U Optima Window & Door System is available in chamfered and sculptured variations. It was developed to look better and perform better than any other system on the market, giving fabricators and installers a clear competitive advantage whether you work in the domestic replacement, new build, refurbishment, commercial or public sectors.
Our Curtain Walling System further extends the applications of our 70mm systems offerings and is a high performance thermally broken aluminium system that is PVC-U clad both internally and externally. As such, it offers a cost-effective system for commercial applications.
Also, for commercial projects and medium and high-rise locations, we have a PVC-U Flush Tilt & Turn Window System and a PVC-U Fully Reversible Window System. The Flush Tilt & Turn Window System has a flush exterior that makes it a cost-effective alternative to aluminium and our Fully Reversible Window System has a deep bevelled edge that gives a striking, modern look.
To tap into heritage trends and add interest to modern properties we have our PVC-U Flush Casement Window System and PVC-U Vertical Sliding Sash Window System. Our Flush Casement Window System replicates the original features of timber casement windows more accurately than rival products and gives superior thermal performance too. And our Vertical Sliding Sash Window System was one of the original PVC-U sliding sash windows and remains the best on the market with a choice of welded or mechanical joint options.
Completing our line-up is our PatioMaster PVC-U Inline Sliding Door System, which includes a triple-track option. The door offers outstanding engineering and provides the stunning glazed expanse that today’s homeowners want.
All our PVC-U systems are fully integrated and have the largest range of ancillaries on the market. It’s an advantage that means you get more options with less stock. Our colour range delivers the difference the market needs and our stocked colours represent 93% of current demand. Both stock and made-to-order colours use complementary substrates as standard and our investment in two Luna R automatic profile lamination machines ensure outstanding quality.
The industry is fast-moving and Epwin Window Systems is at the forefront setting the pace. It means that our portfolio is constantly evolving to bring new innovations and developments. Watch this space to hear more about the new products we’ll be launching in 2022 that tap into the latest market trends and give you a clear point of difference.
The stability of a British systems company
More than ever, we all value strength and stability. As the UK’s largest systems company and with a heritage that stretches back more than 40 years, we’ve got both in spades.
But our benefits go much deeper. We’ve always been a proudly British company. All our products are manufactured in Britain in our state-of-the-art plant in Telford, Shropshire. It means we have complete control over our quality. It also keeps our transportation chain as short as possible, which offers environmental and logistical benefits – both of which are especially important at the moment.
Our British heart means our products are designed specifically for the British market. It gives them a distinctive look that instinctively works with the UK’s housing stock. It’s a little thing that makes a big difference.
The value of experience
Because we are living in unprecedented times, I don’t think we’ve ever placed a higher value on experience than we do now. It’s certainly something we’ve benefited from at Epwin Window Systems. In turn, it’s something that our customers have benefited from too.
Our management team brings a wealth of experience in the industry and with the company. But it’s not just at the top where you can see the difference experience makes. I am constantly astonished by the awareness and understanding of our technical team. Every member has been with the company for several decades and you cannot underestimate the value of the knowledge they have of all our systems in particular and the industry in general. It’s something I am grateful for every day – and I know our customers are too.
Looking forward with confidence
As I said at the start, at the time of writing, it seems as if uncertainty will be with us for some time to come. We can’t change this, but we can change how we react and adapt to it. And while we may not be able to see what the future holds, what I can say is that Epwin Window Systems has everything you need to be a strong, reliable and value-added partner for your business.
