With a general election on the horizon, it came as no surprise to hear that David Cameron has said ‘red warning lights are once again flashing on the dashboard of the global economy’, arguing that trade deals and continued spending restraint are what’s required to ensure continued economic recovery. By contrast however, he confirms that the British economy is growing, with record numbers of new businesses, the largest ever fall in unemployment and employment up 1.75 million in four years. Thankfully, reports from across the industry seem to echo that message, and convey 2014 as a much better year for businesses and tentative predictions of continued market growth over the next five years have been well received.
At HOPPE, we have regular discussions with our distributor and fabricator customers to keep up to date with how they are finding the market and currently, there seems to be a mood of quiet confidence. Any economic recovery is a difficult time as companies try to decide whether to invest in new products, services, staff, factory space and equipment to up their capacity to fulfil growing order books, or sit tight for a while longer to make sure they get the sustained business they are hoping for. Meanwhile, more than ever before, they need suppliers that can offer them stability and something new to help them stand out from the crowd of other companies who will also be trying to maximise any new sales potential.
The HOPPE heritage
2014 marked the 25th year of trading for HOPPE in the UK and what a 25 years it has been. With continued growth from the outset, 1999 saw HOPPE UK move to a purpose built 5000m2 distribution centre, on the back of a £2.2m investment. Since then, we have taken the business from strength to strength. As well as continued product research and development in quality hardware for windows and doors, we have always appreciated that people are at the heart of our business, so have continued to invest in them, to ensure our customers are dealing with the most knowledgeable and experienced team in the marketplace.
Of course, aside from our history in the UK, HOPPE is fortunate to be part of HOPPE Group, which boats over 60 years trading into the European marketplace. It remains a family run business, set up by Friedrich Hoppe in 1952 and now run by his two sons, Christoph and Wolf Hoppe, and grandson Christian. Each play a hands-on role within the business – Friedrich Hoppe himself designed the ‘Frankfurt’ handle in 1965, which has since sold over 65 million pairs. HOPPE Group has a firm set of values by which it does business today. These include trust, responsibility, understanding, credibility, honesty, integrity, loyalty and decency – characteristics on which we pride ourselves at HOPPE UK. With seven manufacturing facilities across Europe, it is easy to see how we have the capability to produce 90 million window handles each year and offer customers over 9,000 products in our range – a range we are continually developing and expanding to ensure we meet the needs of the ever changing market.
The HOPPE promise
As the market continues to change and develop it is important to work with suppliers who understand the detail, can advise on legislation and compliance if required and who have the capability to research, develop and manufacture products in-house in order to make sure the market is getting what it needs. The investment into the development of quality, innovative hardware that outperforms its counterparts has played a key part in the HOPPE success and is something we will continue into the future. We know our brand, our customers and the landscape of the market and are expertly placed to continue to deliver hardware to suit their needs. 2015 will see us continuing to talk to our customers, to understand what they need from us in order to help make their business a success.
Call us on 01902 484 400 or log on to www.hoppe.co.uk for more information.
