Hinckley-based Eco Window Systems may have had a business ‘baptism of fire’ but now, after more than four years of trading and lots of hard work, they have become the proud recipients of Liniar Approved Fabricator status.
The scheme rewards loyal fabricators who ensure Liniar products are manufactured to exacting high standards while using only Liniar-approved parts – but it’s been a long road for the Leicestershire firm to get to where they are today.
After spending 15 years fitting windows and doors and getting “sick of working for other people”, Tim Moore took the brave move to launch his own fabricator company and in 2010 Eco Window Systems was born.
One of the first decisions Tim had to make was which system house to use for his profile – but it proved to be an easy choice in the end.
“I selected Liniar mainly because of word of mouth,” explains Tim. “And what I was hearing was that Liniar was the best product on the market. I did some research of my own, really liked what I saw, so got in touch and the rest is history.
“Liniar has lots of plus points. It’s so easy to fabricate because of the lack of steel, which saves a lot of time in the production process.”
Starting up with just two staff, including Tim, the early days were a tough slog, working around the clock, six days a week, to produce 20 frames.
“It was very hard to begin with. We had to build up a good clientele, which wasn’t easy as there is a lot of competition in the area.”
With all his time spent on the shop floor Tim had very little time to concentrate on important administration duties. This isn’t an uncommon problem for new businesses, but he realised that he had to do something to sort it out and fast!
With more than 14 years of experience in the window industry, Gemma Harrison was the ideal candidate to help Tim get on top of the situation and she was hired as a processor in March 2012.
Gemma began her career as a secretary with a local firm after leaving school and was trained in the industry from day one, picking up a wealth of knowledge, including how to run a successful business.
“My old boss is still a very good friend and associate of mine,” explains Gemma. “It was with regret that I had to leave but I felt the time was right for a bigger challenge.”
She immediately began to tackle the organisational side of Eco Window Systems, soon striking up a great working partnership with Tim to get the business running efficiently together.
Testament to how smoothly things began to be run is the fact that the turnover of the business in 2012-13 increased by an incredible 120% on the previous year – with a further 21.5% increase the following year!
The support we have got from Liniar has been immense, just immense! The back-up and support we’ve had from the sales, technical and marketing teams has been incredible.
In June 2014 Gemma was made a director of the company – but she’s quick to share the praise over Eco’s turnaround of fortunes.
“The whole thing has been a massive team effort and it wouldn’t have been possible without all of the hard work that Tim, our salesman Roger Buckham and the whole factory crew have put in. As the saying goes, there’s no ‘I’ in team.
“Roger works extremely hard – not only does he continue to bring business through the door but his amazing sense of humour keeps us all motivated and cheerful every day.”
So, after more than four years of trading, Eco Window Systems are now going from strength to strength – with January sales for this year up 54% on the same period in 2014.
Now with seven members of staff, Eco are producing 80-100 frames a week and Tim is full of praise for all of the help that they’ve received from Liniar.
“The support we have got from Liniar has been immense, just immense! The back-up and support we’ve had from the sales, technical and marketing teams has been incredible – they’ve really helped us get through some tough times but now we are striving.
“We’ve now moved on to the Energy Plus 6 chambered profile system which is just one of the ways that they help us to offer our customers something different to our competitors – which is what we’re always aiming for.
“We’ve also invested in a new 4-head welder machine from Wegoma which has been fantastic for increasing production efficiency. We’re now looking for further new machinery to take Eco to the next level.
“And if we keep growing like we have been, then we might have to think about relocating to bigger premises within the next 18 months.”
All in all, the future is looking very bright for Eco Window Systems.
