Firth gives it five stars - popular industry face relishes new role at h.i.s. systems

Gary Firth, who has over 20 years’ experience in sales management for the PVC-U window sector, is settling into his new role as General Manager for HIS Systems Ltd. This carries with it some wider responsibilites, such as budgeting and marketing, as well as supporting the sales force on the road. Gary, who in the last three years increased sales dramatically for another window systems company, is now looking to do the same for HIS.

HIS, based in Rhymney, 25 miles north of Cardiff, has 28 years of extrusion experience and claims to be the first British company to manufacture a PVC-U window system in the UK. Its Five Star window system is anything but dated – the fully chamfered, five chamber 70mm system comes with a post co-extruded gasket and one of the lowest U-values on the market. This attractive offering is backed up by a varied selection of beads and a range of decorative ancillaries. Additional products are in the pipeline.

Fabricator base

HIS has ISO 9001 accreditation, and Five Star itself is BBA approved, compliant with Document L, holds BS7413, PAS 023 and PAS 024 and BS7950.

With such a modern, high performance window system, it’s no surprise that there are over 60 Five Star fabricators nationwide, from Scotland to the South West. Gary is pleased to announce six new customers in the 50 to 300 frame per week bracket since arriving at HIS in July.

It doesn’t end with trade business either: Five Star has a proven history in the commercial sector and is specified by 29 local authorities, some of which fabricate the system.

HIS has nine extrusion lines and employs over 30 people. While Gary’s arrival puts a familiar face to the brand, there’s no continuity problem as there are many long-serving members at work. Technical Manager Jerry Duck, who designed the Five Star system, has been with HIS since 1983. Other key personnel include Sales Manager Melvin Reynolds and Office Manager Karen Welsh.

If you’ve got a good product to sell, people will buy from you

A time for change

It takes most fabricators around four weeks to transfer over to Five Star. HIS provides tooling and a choice of software packages to work with. ‘It’s a really good, solid system’, enthuses Gary. Trade and colour consumer literature is available to convey the system’s benefits.

Besides the job’s road remit to sell the benefits of Five Star, Gary is looking to improve the company’s functional image, and has set about transforming the company’s reception area into a showroom space.

Big consolidation in the extrusions market has been predicted for years, but it hasn’t happened. Gary’s assessment of the situation is pretty straightforward: ‘People still buy from people and if you’ve got a good product to sell, people will buy from you.’

It’s inspiring that after so many years in the business, Gary is genuinely enthusiastic about his new role at HIS and the strengths of the Five Star system. We’ll be following his progress.