Steve McIntyre, Marketing Director, Ultraframe (UK)

First Job: Laboratory Assistant for Leyland Medical.

Most useful/favourite gadget: The iPhone, I don’t go anywhere without it!

Favourite/most useful website: Split between the times.co.uk and clarified.com to stay up to date with news and technology.

Business person you admire: Seems a bit clichéd but Richard Branson.

Recommended hotel for business: Holiday Inn… consistent and good wifi speed.

Favourite UK restaurant: A split between the Grill on the corner in Manchester and more locally the Bangla Spice in Leyland.

Other interests: Golf, Celtic and hiking.

Working Day: “Like many people I like an early start. I’ve got a reasonable commute to work each day which gives me ‘thinking time’ so by the time I sit at my desk by about 8, I’m ready to start the day. I’m part of the leadership team at Ultraframe and if we’re scheduled to meet we try and kick off early so we’re free to get on with the day. My role is varied, while strictly marketing is my principle discipline, I’m frequently out with the sales team and marketing managers supporting our network partners to maximise the retail opportunity. It’s this variety that drives me – when I can see first-hand the impact our marketing campaigns have in terms of driving lead generation, it keeps us on our toes. That said, I enjoy the time spent in the office with my colleagues developing the systems we bring to market. It’s this matrix approach that enables us to deliver award-winning roof systems.”

Working Location: We’ve recruited quite a few people in 2014 so we’ve juggled the office space to accommodate our expanding team.   The marketing team is right at the heart of the offices at Ultraframe – it’s where we like to be so we can see what’s going on in the technical and customer excellence team.  I’m a huge fan of technology so since I joined I’ve ensured that the marketing team is better equipped to work seamlessly with both our internal business and our customers – inefficient technology is a huge bugbear for me.  We’ve almost become a ‘hub’ more akin to an internal agency – it enables us to make fast and efficient decisions that can positively impact our network partners almost instantly. We’ve also developed a completely new range of online tools that allow our network of customers to have easy 24/7 access to all of our digital assets and brochure tailoring systems.

I’ve been with Ultraframe for just over 18 months and without question it’s the fastest pace business I’ve witnessed in my 25-year career. The speed at which we bring new products to market is incredible which comes back to the matrix approach that has driven Ultraframe for the last two decades. We’re an agile business. We’re not bogged down by layers and layers of management so we can make decisions quickly and efficiently. If success is judged on business performance then we’ve got every reason to be optimistic about our business performance in 2015. We ended 2014 significantly ahead of market projections and of course, we were immensely proud to win New Product of the Year for LivinROOF at the G Awards.

The true measure of course is how our network partners are performing, many of which are experiencing growth that contradicts recent industry reports. How we’re supporting our network to deliver that growth is no accident. As a system manufacturer we have a real responsibility to understand and listen to homeowners and understand their needs and wants. It’s our research-driven approach that has resulted in many of our roof developments over the last three years. As the conservatory roof market began to plateau and then experience significant decline we began a journey to really understand the opportunity for our network partners in the single storey extension market. We’ve been able to translate this opportunity into what is now a broad range of roof systems that enable our partners to convert the vast majority of customers that walk into their showrooms. The really successful retailers are those that work closely with us and embrace new building systems, most of which are designed to deliver far superior profit opportunities.

The most significant marketing campaign to be launched at Ultraframe is currently underway. We’ve developed a national TV advertising campaign to support LivinROOF, a first for Ultraframe, but we’ve also partnered once again with a leading publisher in the home improvement space. We recognise that there’s a huge job to do on existing conservatory owners to raise awareness of the replacement roof opportunity but we also need to develop leads for our network partners which is where the digital activity plays a significant role – enabling a ‘one click’ opportunity for home improvers to visualise their new extension. The focus of 2015 will continue to be the replacement roof market so we need to ensure it’s LivinROOF retailers that reap the biggest rewards.

2015 looks equally exciting. We’ve got some fantastic new product innovations to bring to market including the new UltraSKY lantern range; this will be in the market as early as January. One of my personal ambitions when I joined Ultraframe was to ensure that we give our network partners maximum support when it comes to delivering new innovations into the market – it’s one thing to have fantastic products, it’s an entirely different skill set to be able to deliver into a consumer market. You have to remember that the pubic perception of the ‘glazed extension’ has traditionally been the white box – and indeed, while that notion has underpinned this sector for many decades, we’re now in the fortunate position that we are able to give our retailers systems that expand the home improvement imagination. But we can only deliver true excellence if we develop the marketing campaigns that educate consumers about the varied features and benefits of each system. As a business-to-business manufacturer we are blurring the lines between what is traditionally perceived as ‘our domain’ when it comes to marketing the Ultraframe brand but as the market leader in terms of innovation and technical excellence it’s vital that we invest heavily in campaigns that aim to educate – it’s certainly working and along with our PR firm we’ve made a massive impact in 2014 with over 30,000 consumers using the online Ultraframe Product Selector to start their home improvement journey.

One of the biggest business challenges I foresee over the coming 12 months is how we evolve the home extension proposition for our network – our objective is to get this business to £100 million but we will only achieve that if we look at a dual supply route into the builders channel once we’ve established the most appropriate product range. If we go back to the launch of Loggia back in 2012 we set out a very clear objective that we would develop the ultimate home extension ‘kit. I think we’re part way there in the delivery of a much broader range of solid and glazed roof types but we need to really understand the retail perspective in terms of the delivery of the complete package. One of our driving principles is to enable our retailers to take a bigger slice of the overall home extension economy, but it’s essential we get this right and truly understand what our network partners want. It would be arrogant to assume we’ve got all the knowledge.

With that in mind we’ve recently developed a network partner campaign to really support our loyal customers in the delivery of LivinROOF over the next 12 months. It’s an exciting incentive-driven promotion which culminates in a range of conference events towards the back end of 2015. It’s an exciting proposition and a tool that I’ve used in previous years when I worked for PPG Industries. It’s a simple mechanic and will result in us showcasing our 2016 plans in destinations such as Las Vegas and indeed on the Orient Express – it’ll be interesting to see how this tactic plays out over the next 12 months. It’s exciting times for our network partners who should be really reaping the rewards of the much sought after LivinROOF. I’m a great believer in delivering marketing tools that have real impact. One of the best business decisions I ever made was in my role at Speedy Hire PLC. We were the first non-gambling or alcohol brand to sponsor the UK Darts Open. Without question it was a calculated risk – but as with all the best decisions, it’s knowing which ones to take.”

Tel: 0500 822340

www.ultraframe-conservatories.co.uk