Glass News’ Editor, Chris Champion, visits UPVC Maintenance in Batley and talks with owner, David Earnshaw, about trade counters and their place in the industry.

When someone says, “Our strength is our service and the technical support we give to our customers”, there’s always a sense of déjà vu! But watching you and your staff with your customers, I can see that’s exactly what you do…

A trade counter isn’t just about supplying from stock, on demand. Customers often need help and it’s important that we can give them that support.

It’s clear that your customers are wide ranging: I’ve seen builders and window installers…one was literally in and out in a minute, running back to his van clutching a lock!

Many of our customers need an item immediately. We stock over 1,000 skus and pride ourselves in being able to supply anything from our catalogue…and that’s not easy. We’re not always able to achieve this simply because of availability or manufacture from our suppliers, but it is our aim to be able to supply on demand.

You’ve been in the business for a long time. How did you get started?

I started in 1992, providing maintenance for individual householders as well as large companies, including Leeds University and companies running maintenance contracts, such as Yorkshire Housing.

It wasn’t until 2005 that I started selling products to companies such as Keepmoat, Travis Perkins and Jewsons, plus lots of small builders and installers. We have around 1,500 active customers at any one time.

You have three trade counters, so is it all customers calling in to collect products?

Not at all. We have Batley, Rotherham and York so that our local customer base have a trade counter within about 25 miles. But we send out a large proportion of orders….and all over the country, right down as far as the Channel Islands! Orders placed by 2pm are despatched on the same day with a next day delivery. The internet has made a huge difference…

So how many products do you have on the website?

Everything! We try our very best to ensure we have stock of all 1000+ items on the website. We even send products to Kansas City and Romania!

What were you doing prior to 1992 and getting into the fenestration business?

I’m a joiner by trade. I fitted my first PVCu window in 1984 for Mick Foster at Gardinia Windows in Huddersfield, then joined Weatherlite in Leeds, becoming Installation Manager and then a Surveyor.

I went back to fitting with Sternfenster with a 7,000 window contract for Leeds City Council and ended up travelling the country as a Site Agent and Surveyor. Like many people, I wanted to have my own business and we have been building it up since 1992.

It’s very much a family affair with your wife, Karen and daughter, Emma, in Accounts….

Although we have three sites, we only have a team of 10 altogether but the three sites are very much complemented by the website and the catalogue of products is increasing all the time.

Technically, you have 11 staff….you can’t forget Wesley, your ‘meeter and greeter’!

Wesley lies out on the front step all day and welcomes everyone. He enjoys the fuss everyone makes of him!

Watching your customers coming in and out, they obviously enjoy buying from you and your staff. But it’s clear that you aren’t just making a sale, you’re also providing technical knowledge…

I think that’s what a trade counter is all about. It’s a personal service and having first-hand knowledge of the trade, from fitting to surveying, is a big help. It’s very often a case of a customer coming through the door and asking ‘what’s this, and do you have one!’ Apart from being able to say: “If it’s in the catalogue, it’s in stock”, our main USP has to be the technical knowledge we have, and can pass on to our customers. We work with our customers, and we enjoy what we do.

Thanks David. It’s been a pleasure to meet you all…and not forgetting Wesley