Picture above: Bradley Gaunt shows the clip in bead and removal tool

A visit to Made For Trade’s impressive new premises at Billingham shows the huge developments the company has made since the pandemic hit our shores. But what was demonstrated at this Editor’s Visit, attended by Glass News’ Editor, Chris Champion, and Publisher, Christina Shaw, was the importance of the Korniche lantern and, latterly, the Korniche bifold door to the company’s portfolio of products. And how did that come about?

Made For Trade has always been a bit of an enigma. How do they produce quality products and put them out at a price that makes competitors think twice? Are they a system house or a fabricator? From once having an installer team they now sell only to the trade….is there a recognised installer scheme and do MFT sell direct to the public? How have they reinvented themselves from PVCu, and conservatory roofs to an Aluminium innovative designer and manufacturer.

I’m not sure it’s easy to answer those questions but the nearest I can come to it is to say that Made for Trade is not a fenestration company. What? But that is the truth. Basically, they are an engineering company that makes fenestration products, and products that are, essentially, niche. They make products that have margin in them: margin for them as the manufacturer and also margin for the installer, and that margin is improved greatly for the installer by being quick and easy to fit. If that’s the case, why isn’t everyone following the model? Well, that’s where the ‘engineering’ bit comes in.

When their conservatory roof business stumbled through their supplier seeing their success and trying to charge them more so they could have a share in MFT’s profitability, there was a radical rethink as to what they were doing. Do they design their own roof? Now that’s not as out of left field as it sounds. It needs to be remembered that the Gaunt family has an engineering background. Younger son, Bradley was in the company and big brother Ashley was in Italy designing automotive suspensions and chassis for high end cars. Between them they had all the knowledge and skills to design products and also the skills to understand what was essential and what could be engineered out to save cost. It was at that stage that I first met the Gaunts at their small premises and conservatory showroom in Stockton-on-Tees and it was shortly after that that Richard invited me to come and ‘see what Bradley and Ashley have been up to’. So there, in a small and cold workshop, Bradley produced a Korniche aluminium roof lantern. This wasn’t a quickly put together prototype but a completed product that was packed like an Apple IPad. Beautiful box with everything laid out in it for an installer to put it together, and not just that but an instruction manual that was illustrated with very few words in it. Obviously Bradley and Ashley had played with too much Lego Technic as lads because that’s what the manual was like….an installation manual for dummies!

Having been wowed by the product and presentation, Bradley then asked me to time him as he put the Korniche lantern together. I can’t be completely accurate but my memory says it was about 12 minutes that it took him to complete the construction. Even while Bradley was building what I thought was an amazing product he was commenting on things he was going to improve, and change, and those changes were all about making things easier for the installer rather than about the engineering itself.

As they say, the rest is history. Korniche by Made For Trade was off to the FIT Show where not just demonstrations were performed but installers were invited to do it themselves. I believe that at that first FIT Show they took a stand measuring 16 square metres….and the stand size has increased at every subsequent exhibition.

I have mentioned the Gaunt Family and it would be easy to think that there is an element of nepotism involved with them all working in the company but that couldn’t be further from the truth. They are all there on merit and the string that runs through the whole company is engineering. Take Chris Wann, a family friend and an old school buddy of Bradley, who is now Business Director. He too is an engineer and one who worked in the Oil and Gas industry. In fact, all the designers are engineers in their own right. What I found very interesting, and it goes back to my comment about MFT not being a fenestration company, when recruiting they draw the best people from industries that are outside fenestration. Although it isn’t a rule per se, it has only just been broken by bringing in Andy Jones to drive commercial sales. It’s an interesting view to take and what they are looking for is to bring new ideas and skills into the business, and that applies to processes, too. The business processes have become important as the company moves rapidly away from being an SME and the sales and turnover increases. Growth from a £5m turnover in 2014 to in excess of £40m now is impressive and they describe that growth as being through ‘engineering disruptive products’. In other words, products that are destructive to other products that fill that space. The Korniche Lantern is a case in point. In short order it is reckoned that it has over 50% of the lantern market with over 400 per week going out of the doors. It’s also easy to forget their bifold doors. They have been producing the Smarts bifold since 2014 and introduced the Visoglide in 2021 and designed their own bifold in the same year. As you might expect, their own Korniche bifold boasts a number of clever engineering innovations including a bogey type bottom roller to allow for unevenness in the bottom rail which can occur during installation, a special locking system to prevent jemmying of a bifold door leaf and a patented clip-in bead – Speedbead – that is demountable. The Speedbead is interesting and backs up the whole engineering ethic. They have redesigned the bead numbers of time to ensure it is just right and does not deteriorate no matter how many times it is clipped in and out. So at 400 to 500 bifolds per week, this is an important product. A guessing game was going on as to what product comes next because MFT will not stand still. There were hints that two products are on the stocks but despite plenty of effort I don’t think anyone has managed to guess correctly. Maybe we find out at FIT in May?

The growth is astronomic, and I don’t just mean in turnover terms. The staffing levels motor along in line with turnover and there are now nearly 270 staff in the company. Although there are still premises in Stockton and Hartlepool, the old Samsung premises in Billingham is very much Head Office. It is huge but they are already saying that it will be filled very soon. What was a fairly dilapidated building has been renovated to a very high standard and the offices and facilities are stunning. In keeping with a large and mature company the facilities for the staff, and to attract quality staff, are amazing. A fully kitted gym, break-out rooms, showers and a beautiful canteen/restaurant. The offices, too, are beautifully appointed and I have never seen larger monitors for the engineers – vast curved screens that wrap around the operator.

I’ve mentioned the importance of processes and there is evidence throughout the company: HR departments, Finance and all those departments you would expect in mature company. They gained ISO 9001 certification this year and the dedicated IT department is helping in developing the whole gamut of processes. Investment is continuing apace and that includes machinery including bespoke kit for making the clip-in Speedbead, for instance. The next thing is sorting out transport and getting away from relying on third party transport – not inexpensive investment but they recognise that by having responsibility for delivering their own products, cost can be engineered out of packaging. Oh, and they’re looking into supplying glass along with the products.

The marketing is interesting, too. They advertise heavily in the trade press and also in consumer titles, and attend trade and consumer exhibitions. It’s a big commitment but they prove the rule that you need to ‘speculate to accumulate’. They have a pincer movement whereby the homeowner asks for Korniche by name and, because of the quality of the products and ease of fitting, the installers are also happy to offer Korniche. Old fashioned thinking? Don’t knock it if it works and it undoubtedly has for MFT. Importantly, they are promoting the Korniche brand but not selling direct to the homeowner, thus creating brand identity while generating leads for their own 2000 plus trade customers.

Richard says, “The company has evolved over the 40 odd years with valuable lessons learnt on the way. Those lessons have shaped the company today and I’m proud that Bradley and Ashley are carrying the flag now, with a great team around them. Going forward, the company is in great shape to continue disrupting the market.”

It is not just a case of maintaining the status quo but also taking the company into the future. Initially, back in 1979, Richard Gaunt found himself being pushed into the industry. He had invested in someone else’s idea and wound up having to take control himself when he ended up being left with stocks of Duraflex profile, large stocks of cavity wall insulation, machinery and a large vehicle. He then set about selling to the trade counters only to realise that getting paid was not always easy. Richard freely admits it was like fighting in the Wild West!

And then to what Made For Trade is today. Richard and his family should be very satisfied. However, I know they won’t be because what drives them is excellence and we shall see many more beautifully engineered and innovative products sold under the Korniche brand.