Over the last 15 years, PVC-U systems house, aluplast, has successfully expanded its range to offer one of the broadest product offerings available to the UK market, bringing new opportunities for fabricators despite a challenging socio-economic backdrop.
A lot has happened over the past decade-and-a-half. From overseas wars to the Grenfell tragedy, Brexit and the Covid pandemic, the impacts of these seismic events have been felt the length and breadth of the country.
Entering the UK market 15 years ago, aluplast has steadily expanded its range amid this turbulent backdrop, continuing to invest and innovate despite the many social, economic and legislative hurdles.
The result is a systems house with one of the broadest PVC-U portfolios available, giving fabricators and installers access to products that meet the needs of both traditional and emerging markets.
“Things have changed an awful lot over the past 15 years, particularly from a product point of view,” says Keith White, Managing Director and owner of aluplast UK. “In the early days our product offer was fairly limited, but it’s been expanding all the time.”
Mainstays of the aluplast range are its flagship window systems, IDEAL 70 and IDEAL 4000, which remain popular, in part thanks to interchangeable components that significantly reduce complexity and stockholding.
“IDEAL 70 was a five-chamber, quite advanced PVC-U system in its day, and it still is,” says Keith. “It’s a nicely designed product with integrated sills, and we’ve continued to evolve it in line with market demands, including the development of a flush sash option.”
Alongside IDEAL 70 sits IDEAL 4000, a system designed to offer a more contemporary aesthetic.
“We designed and created a sister product, IDEAL 4000, probably 10 years ago now,” says Keith. “With a squareline sash it’s becoming increasingly popular as aluminium products make inroads back into the domestic marketplace,” explains Keith.
One area which has seen significant focus, is aluplast’s door portfolio. Recognising the enduring appeal of large, glazed openings, fuelled further by the Covid lockdowns and showing no sign of waning, the company has invested heavily in sliding door systems.
Steering away from a one-size-fits-all approach, aluplast now offers three distinct options to suit different budgets and applications with the ‘mainstream’ aero-slide option the latest addition.
“We’ve got a whole host of sliding door products, with aero-slide being the most recent, smart-slide neo, which sits somewhere above that in terms of performance, and HST85 lift & slide at the top end of that marketplace,” says Keith.
The company’s ever-expanding decorative finish range has also moved to meet homeowner preferences, with the introduction of its next-generation woodec and aludec foils.
Replicating the look and feel of real timber, or the subtle matt texture associated with powder-coated aluminium, both enable installers to meet the growing demand for contemporary aesthetics without compromising the practical benefits of PVC-U.
Alongside product development, aluplast has also broadened its reach into the commercial space with its neo and energeto neo systems, which are both capable of achieving thermal performance well beyond conventional PVC-U windows.
“neo and energeto neo represent a real step change over traditional PVC-U windows,” says Keith. “By combining different materials within the construction, we can achieve thermal performance well into passive house territory, with U-values down to around 0.6W/m²K.
“In the general domestic market those levels of performance aren’t always necessary, but in commercial applications they’re a very strong proposition,” he says.
With the commercial opportunities these systems bring, Keith believes attitudes towards PVC-U are beginning to shift among architects and specifiers.
“We operate in a very conservative marketplace. Historically, architects and specifiers have often defaulted to aluminium because that’s what they know,” he says.
“But that’s changing, and we’ve got a lot of traction in that marketplace with some of these more advanced products.”
Looking ahead, Keith sees the company’s evolution continuing, with further investment in products that support customer growth and help to generate new business.
“We have, as a systems supplier, one of the biggest product ranges in the marketplace,” he says. “Across window systems, door systems, sliding doors and with new products already planned, we’re offering fabricators products that help them stand out in challenging conditions.
“There’s been a lot of instability on a geopolitical scale since we entered the UK, but I think the innovations we’ve brought to the table, over the past 15 years, show just how resilient we are.”
For more information on aluplast, call 01684 273401, email info@aluplast.co.uk, or visit www.aluplast.co.uk.