Polyframe: A new super fabricator comes of age

The roots of this Halifax company go back to the early Nineties with the formation of retail business High Spec Windows by Martyn Buckley and Mario Earley. Difficulty in sourcing the right products led them into manufacturing, and they also began to sell frames to other installation companies. Trade sales were soon going so well that the young directors decided to cease installation, changing the company name to Polyframe to reflect their new direction.

Today Polyframe is a 4,000 frame per week manufacturer and claims to have a 6,500 frame per week capacity. The rise of this super-fabricator has helped to start something of a property empire along the way, as operations moved to progressively larger premises while the directors retained the freehold on several former sites.

Polyframe is modern in feel and attitude. The spacious wood-panelled offices are backed by the well equipped 200,000 square foot factory on a five acre site. Computerisation is extensive. Customers can order online, and fax orders received are scanned and from there production becomes a paperless process. Bar coding is used to track profile sections through the fabrication process and hand held barcode readers are used to marry up frames and sashes.

The ‘independent’ aspect of the business and short lines of communication promise quick answers for customers, whether the question is about prices, a new window configuration, or the availability of marketing back-up.

Doing versus talking

‘The super-fabricators talk a good story but they don't have first hand experience of supply problems’, says Martyn Buckley. His message is simple: ‘Buy from me and I won't give you those problems.’

Polyframe moved to progressively bigger premises while the directors retained former sites to create a property empire

Polyframe supplies WHS Halo's eclipse and esthétique 70mm systems on a national basis, offering fully chamfered (eclipse) and decorative (esthétique) window and door suites. eclipse is available in over 20 colours while esthétique is available in five colours, including white and woodgrains. All ancillaries fit both suites, while both also have the latest single leg easy-fit beading system.

Considerable investment has been made in corner cleaning machinery to ensure that the decorative window system is manufactured satisfactorily. Fine details like the 'Y' groove on butt welds only serve to enhance the look. Fire egress stays are fitted as standard at no extra cost.

Differentiation

Standard delivery is five days to anywhere in the UK, sometimes less in emergencies. Offering high end window systems gives customers some degree of differentiation, and there's less chance of a like-for-like price war.

With two high end window systems to promote, installation companies can access a 100 page marketing kit that includes four different retail brochures, technical wall charts, and even a survey guide for the DIY market. Martyn Buckley feels that many companies make the mistake of taking too much money out of the business in the good times, only to falter when conditions get tough. Polyframe's customers have access to financial advice from their supplier.

In many ways, Polyframe is a window business run by the computer generation – a young team of individuals managing a highly efficient manufacturing business, quickly resolving problems that emerge along the way. They’re on the up.