Published On: Fri, Nov 22nd, 2019

Richard Hall, Managing Director at Reynaers Aluminium UK

First Job: My first ever job was my paper round! After university, I started as a Graduate Trainee at Schaeffler, a company I left 22 years later as President of the UK Industrial business.
When did you join your current company: I joined Reynaers in July 2018.
Most useful/favourite gadget: It has to be my iPhones. I have two, one personal and one business, which helps me to stay engaged and organised, wherever I am.
Favourite/most useful website: I check the Financial Times website every day to stay up to date with key market topics and trends.
Business person you admire: I am part of a West Midlands business leaders’ group. I admire all of the members of my group – they act as a great sounding board and a source of useful advice.
Recommended hotel for business: Whichever one meets my criteria and comes up with the most reasonable rates on Booking.com.
Favourite UK restaurant: Cielo in Birmingham is a favourite for both personal occasions as well as business meetings.
Best business decision: Joining Reynaers last year. I was particularly attracted to the role due to the company’s strong focus on product leadership and fostering great customer relationships.
Other interests: I am a fan of Aston Villa football club. I have a season ticket and enjoy seeing all of the matches with my two sons. I also try to go to the gym two to three times a week.

Working Week: No two weeks are the same, but there are a few things
I include in my schedule no matter how busy I am. Every Monday at 2pm, I hold a 90-minute management meeting where we discuss company progress, issues and upcoming activities. This sets us up nicely for the week ahead. I also make a point of going out to meet our customers face-to-face two days a week to ensure I continuously get a temperature check of the market. On the days when I am in the office, I like to spend time catching up with people internally.

Working Location: My office is in Reynaers’ new UK headquarters based in Birmingham – a modern and fresh-looking facility that we moved into in 2017 after several years of continuous growth. Our Knowledge Centre, designed with our partners in mind, allows us to showcase our latest product innovations and offer valuable training options to our partners.

Director of the Month Feature Article: Richard Hall, Managing Director at Reynaers Aluminium UK

At Reynaers, we take pride in our experience and expertise of over 50 years in the glass and glazing industry, which is reflected in the range of innovative products we offer. The company has gone from strength to strength in the last decade, having doubled its turnover and number of employees. Over the last 12 months, we have continued to experience double-digit growth despite the obvious elephant in the room: Brexit. Unsurprisingly, uncertainties around the effect of the UK leaving the European Union have slowed down the decision-making process in the commercial sector. However, Reynaers finds itself in the enviable position of having a strong foothold and network of relationships within the commercial, trade and retail sectors. This means that despite potential market fluctuations within the next 12 months, we are well placed to continue achieving growth.

Aiming high – Our overarching aim is to enhance the working and living environment of people nationwide. By putting our expertise and dedicated product development facilities to use we have developed a portfolio of products that meet the demands of every industry sector. For instance, our CP 130 sliding door offers a wide choice of configurations and uninterrupted views, whilst our SL 68 window combines exceptionally slim frames with the highest levels of performance, both of which are favourites with our trade partners. Our commercial offering includes the CW 50 curtain wall which features design flexibility, transparency and thermal efficiency, along with our SL 38 highly insulated, inward and outward opening ‘steel look’ aluminium window and door system. We’ve enjoyed huge successes in the commercial sector so far and we are excited to replicate that growth across our trade and retail business as well. We believe our product offering supports our goal of having a 50/50 split between our commercial and domestic (including trade and retail) revenue streams.

Together for better – “Together for better” isn’t just a strapline, it’s our guiding principle at Reynaers. We recognise the fact that our partners’ success is our success as well. We rely on them to deliver a quality product and an installation that will guarantee the long-term performance of our systems. We work closely with our network of partners, taking their feedback on board and providing them with the necessary support. To demonstrate our commitment, we have put our partners at the heart of our design for Reynaers’ new headquarters in Birmingham, which includes a dedicated Training Centre. We offer both practical and theoretical courses as well as bespoke content to equip partners with all of the necessary skills and ‘know-how’ to ensure our products meet performance expectations every time. This includes manufacture and installation techniques, which make our courses relevant to fabricators, installers and contractors alike.

Continuing to innovate – We work closely with our partners which enables us to refine our value proposition. This has not gone unnoticed. The feedback we receive from our network highlights having complete and robust systems for many solutions as one of the main reasons why partners choose to work with Reynaers. This includes our suite of digital tools, such as our innovative Avalon Virtual Reality Room which enables partners to visit a building that is still in the design phase through a shared virtual reality experience. We have also invested in developing our ReynaPro calculation software for fabricators, our Electronic Ordering System (EOS) to enable fast processing of orders as well as our Customer Portal for easier access to order updates and training information.

Our product pipeline is another area which will continue to see growth and innovation. Most recently, we have invested in developing the CP 68 patio door, a product with excellent thermal performance and optimal slim sightlines that position it as a go-to choice for the trade market. Furthermore, we are working on our Touch handle range, which is designed to meet contemporary living demands without sacrificing ease of use. MasterLine is another key focus for the year ahead. MasterLine 8 is a unique window and door system that combines countless design opportunities with first-class thermal insulation and weather performance. It is a completely new system, designed to be the next generation of windows and doors. Offering an extensive range of window opening types, MasterLine has different levels of thermal performance and a range of design variants, each with their own distinct look to meet any architectural style. It is designed to be as flexible as possible for the fabricator, offering multiple variants and styles within the one system. We also recognise that our main asset is our team, whose hard work and professionalism make it possible for Reynaers to continue to thrive. We take pride in the fact that we have fostered a culture of approachability, reliability, enthusiasm and a ‘can do’ attitude which permeates our team from top to bottom and is reflected in our stakeholders’ feedback. Over the past 50 years, Reynaers has grown into an industry-leading brand, supported by a fantastic portfolio of innovative products and tools, a network of partners that trust our expertise and a team of employees that live and breathe our values – respect, excellence, innovation and loyalty. I am excited for the next decade of growth as we continue on our mission to enhance the living and working environment for all.

Tel: 0121 421 1999

E: reynaersltd@reynaers.com