Fabricator, Ashfen Windows and Doors, has seen growth and success through its partnership with aluplast, with next generation foils woodec and aludec, its flush casement window and new Engineered Door at the heart of its offering.
Launching a new fabrication business in 2022, amid ongoing supply issues and the tail-end of the Covid pandemic, can’t have been an easy ride for Ashfen Windows and Doors Ltds Co-owners, Nick Ashford and Nat Weaver.
Starting out at such a challenging time was always going to be a gamble for the self-confessed risk-takers, but, largely thanks to the Derby-based manufacturer’s strong relationship with systems supplier, aluplast, it’s one that’s continuing to pay off.
“There were a couple of options available to us when we set up the business, but we were absolutely steadfast from the beginning that we wanted to partner with aluplast,” says Nat.
“It’s a really good, solid product offer and we knew it would be the right match for what we wanted to do.”
Sensing a gap in the market for “high-end products with the customer service to match”, aluplast’s next generation offering, including the Ideal 70 and Ideal 4000 casement windows, woodec and aludec foils, and now its new Engineered Door solution, provided the perfect foundation for Ashfen’s launch and continuing success.
Acknowledging that fabricator-supplier relationships require consistent nurturing to flourish, Nat highlights aluplast’s extensive colour range – which now extends to 40 plus foil finishes, including its highly lifelike woodec and aludec foils – as a big draw.
“The choice of foils is a huge selling point for me and Nick,” says Nat. “We can offer our customers anything they want, inside and out. Having a systems supplier behind us that gives us that, and all the auxiliary profiles to go with it, is a real benefit.”
With the heritage market a key target for Ashfen, Nat highlights aluplast’s flush casement window, combined with its flexible foil options, as another linchpin of the partnership.
“We’ve got two separate systems, the Ideal 70 and – my personal favourite – the Ideal 4000; I just think the sightlines are really beautiful,” says Nat.
“The flush casement is compatible with either system and it’s a brilliant product. It’s functional, it works really well and it looks fantastic. Combine that with the fact that everything is available in aluplast’s huge range of foils, and it just blows everything wide open for our customers,” she adds.
With finishing touches increasingly important, aluplast recently launched a range of matching woodec and aludec trims and accessories, to further enhance their appeal.
“The fact that we’ve now got the aludec and woodec trims in different sizes, accessories, cill end-caps, all of that, is of real benefit to customers like Ashfen,” explains aluplast’s spokesperson, Ian Cocken.
“We’re noticing a real uptake in colours and when you see woodec, for example, on windows that have been mechanically jointed, something which Ashfen specialises in, they just look like real timber windows. It’s fantastic,” he adds.
With such rave reviews, it’s perhaps no surprise that aludec and woodec have been central to the concept of aluplast’s Engineered Door; a product devised to revitalise the PVC-U door sector by improving aesthetics and performance to create a higher-end product.
“Ashfen’s attention to detail is second to none,” adds Ian. “For that reason, we recently had two Engineered Doors manufactured by Ashfen on our stand at the FIT Show, featuring the woodec and the aludec finishes, and the result was absolutely superb.”
With mechanically jointed mid rails and transoms a key feature in challenging the perception that PVC doors are only suited to functional spaces, aluplast’s Engineered Door is a viable – or even superior – alternative to the composite door, according to Nat.
“When you’ve got a customer who’s got their heart set on a composite door, there are sometimes size limitations that mean you can’t have one, or it’s going to be a bit of a struggle having one,” she explains.
“The Engineered Door is an absolutely brilliant – possibly better – alternative, I would argue, because with a composite, you’re very much dictated to by the designs that the slab company can offer you.
“A PVC engineered door gives you a lot more options. You can create some absolutely beautiful period designs that are custom-made and bespoke. You have much more flexibility with this kind of product.”
With PVC doors able to match with window foils for a cohesive look that’s not possible to achieve with composites, Ashfen is free to cater to truly unique customer requests, as Nat describes.
“We’ve got a job in Derbyshire, at the minute, where the customer knew that she wanted something brilliantly bonkers,” says Nat. “From the outset, she wanted an aludec deck foil on the outside of her windows and a woodec foil on the inside.
“We were able to offer front doors, back doors, side doors, all matching foils so that they go with the windows, as simple as that, which we wouldn’t be able to do with a composite. That’s a really nice selling point.
“That customer in Derbyshire has got exactly what she wants, and that’s all that matters to us. It’s all possible because we’ve got aluplast behind us, and the brilliant products they offer.”
For more information call 01684 273401 email info@aluplast.co.uk or visit www.aluplast.co.uklast.co.uk