Director of the Month
Director of the Month: James Keeling-Heane, Sales Director at Senior Architectural Systems
FACTS AND FIGURES:
First job: My first job was working as a cost analysis and welding technician. It was a pretty interesting job at the time as I working at all major automotive manufacturing plants in the UK analysing robotics that welded car components, subframes and chassis.
When did you join Seniors: I joined Senior in 2002 as a CAD technician working in the design department. I’ve moved up the ranks since joining Senior 23 years ago! I’ve been sales director since 2014.
Most useful/favourite gadget: My silent dog whistle, because calling my four cockapoo dogs at the same time is not an easy feat!
Favourite/most useful website: I’m a bit of a wine enthusiast so browsing the Laithwaites Wine Club website is a nice way to kill a bit of time!
Favourite restaurant for business: I’d have to go with the China Rose in Bawtry, it’s an absolute firm favourite with our customers.
Business person you admire: I wouldn’t say that there is just one person. It’s the group of people I work with here at Senior that inspire me the most. It’s always been important to me, to not only employ people who can do the job but also people who you have good rapport with and bring out the best in each other. I was taught early on that you’re only as good as people who surround you and ultimately, it’s these people who help make the business the success it is today. We have a great group of people who work for us throughout the company, who care deeply about the business and the customers we serve. That’s what I admire.
What lesson have you learnt about business over the last 12 months: The industry is facing several challenges at the moment. Delays with the Building Safety Act Gateway 2 are becoming a major issue for developers, as increased scrutiny and stricter requirements extend approval times. These delays can stall projects, increase costs, and disrupt timelines, particularly for high-rise residential developments. The backlog of applications and limited regulatory resources mean many projects are stuck in limbo, causing financial and operational strain on both developers and contractors. That said, despite the tough market conditions, I’d still call the last 12 months a success for Senior. We secured several multi-million-pound orders and worked hard to deliver on those commitments while maintaining service levels for our core customers. We continue to operate as the largest privately owned systems company in the UK and have some exciting new product launches lined up for 2025—including a new commercial door and window system coming in early Q2.
Best business decision: I’m fortunate to have enjoyed a few career highlights but I’m particularly proud of the work I did when I was tasked with turning around a failing glass business that Senior acquired in 2009. I was 29 and had no previous experience of having managed staff or run a business before. When I returned to Senior five years later, I had doubled the business’ turnover to £5 million and got it back into profit.
Other interests: Drinking wine, eating out, watching movies, and following my beloved Nottingham Forest F.C.
Working day: I don’t really have a typical day and I wouldn’t say that it’s always a ‘9 to 5’ kind of job – working smart and being flexible is an important part of my role here at Senior. It’s all about building and maintaining good relationships with both customers and colleagues and everyone knows that I am contactable at any time of the day. I oversee Senior’s regional teams of architectural advisors and technical sales managers so there is always plenty going on and lots to discuss. No two days are the same and that’s just how I like it!
Working location: I predominately work out of Senior’s main manufacturing base in South Yorkshire, although I also spend much of my time on the road, visiting customers at their offices or on sites. I’ll often have customer meetings at our product showroom in Denaby or take them on a tour of our new Thermal Improvement Facility in Rotherham, where they can see first-hand how our patented PURe® aluminium doors and windows are made.
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THE INTERVIEW
As Senior’s Sales Director, I head up our dedicated support service for both our fabricator and installer customers, and our main contractor and architectural partners.
In these challenging times, we are committed to supporting our installer and fabricator customers and one of the key ways we can do this is by making sure that Senior is a good, strong and reliable supply chain partner. With 34 years’ experience of being at the forefront of the UK’s aluminium fenestration industry, we like to think that we do this pretty well – especially when we can give our customers access to new opportunities via the many supply chain agreements we have in place.
Supply chain agreements are routinely championed by main contractors and most of the big names in the industry have framework agreements in place whereby carefully vetted suppliers and specialist contractors can achieve valuable ‘preferred status’. The most successful suppliers and manufacturers are those that take an holistic approach to their supply chain by making sure that they establish strong working relationships with both the companies that specify their products as well as those that physically work with them. Maintaining this balance is vital in understanding the needs of the full customer base and identifying opportunities that can benefit all parties. Framework and supply chain agreements are the perfect example and by choosing a supplier that takes a proactive approach to forming and sustaining relationships, fabricators can take advantage and get a foot in the door.
Supplier agreements – what’s the score?
There are many different types of supply chain agreements available but those that product suppliers and main contractors have in place are usually based on an agreed package of commercial benefits that come into effect if the supplier’s products are then specified. In terms of Senior’s established agreements however, to take advantage of these benefits, the contractor must also use one of our fabricator partners to supply the fenestration package.
Here, it pays to keep up in touch with your supplier. Contact your local sales manager, ask the question and find out which main contractors they are currently ‘preferred suppliers’ for and what benefits the supply chain agreements involve.
Get in early
If you do bid for a job with one of your chosen suppliers’ partners, it’s important that you mention the fact that a framework agreement is in place at the earliest opportunity. That’s because most trading agreements are negotiated at a high level within the company and so not everyone on the project team may be aware of who has preferred status.
Speak to the supplier too – again the more proactive of companies will have resources in place to help support fabricators in winning new work. Myself and my team work closely with Senior’s regionally based architectural advisors who have developed close relationships with leading architects and main contractors across the UK and can help provide insight and information to support your bid. Quite often contractors approach our team to ask for fabricator recommendations and so the more we know about each company, the better we can match them up with potential opportunities. As our architectural advisors are in regular contact with our agreement holding contractors, they are also well placed to find out about potential projects in the pipeline so regular catch-up calls can yield some interesting news!
Working together
Name-dropping a supply chain agreement may open doors but close collaboration with your systems supplier is what will really help get you a seat at the table. We are keen advocates of early engagement and we work closely with our framework partners to ensure the most appropriate products are specified on a project. This usually results in us having access to vital technical information and thermal calculations. We can then support our fabricators bidding for work by passing on this extra detail which can make their tenders stand out from the competition. We also have a dedicated part of our website – Fab Tools – which gives our fabricator customers quick access to all the product information and technical documentation that they need. A big part of my job is making our customers’ lives that little bit easier.
Looking ahead
To meet the evolving needs of our own customers, as a company we know we can’t afford to sit still. That’s why we are committed to the continuous improvement and investment across our product range and manufacturing processes. From extending our product range to include a wider selection of low U-value aluminium windows, developing doors to suit both contemporary and heritage style designs, creating robust curtain wall systems for high-rise buildings to reducing the amount of embodied carbon in the production of our aluminium frames, it’s all about giving our customers the products they need, when they need them.
Meeting the latest Part L targets and future-proofing projects to meet the next phases of energy-efficiency regulations, such as the proposed Future Homes Standard, has put sustainability in sharp focus. After all, if the government is planning to build millions of new homes , it’s important that these new homes don’t need to be retrofitted in a few years’ time to meet changing thermal and energy-efficiency requirements. One of the ways that we are helping our customers stay ahead of the game is by investing in our the thermal-efficiency of our products and increasing our capacity and resource to manufacturer them. Our patented low U-value PURe® aluminium windows and door system is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year and following the opening of our dedicated Thermal Improvement Facility in 2022, we are in a strong position to support our customers going forward.
