Liniar House open day proves a huge success

Liniar House, an impressive new 178,000ft² facility, has been unveiled as the latest stage in the incredible success story of HL Plastics.

More than 150 invited guests attended the event to see business magnate Lord Digby Jones officially open Liniar House, the home of the company’s new warehouse, training centre and showrooms.

CEO Roger Hartshorn commenced the proceedings, describing the history and ethos of the company while referring to the impressive timeline that adorns the walls of the new Liniar showroom and charts more than 40 years of growth.

Continuing to thrive

Roger stated: “Liniar House will take customer relations to a new level. I am confident the strength of HL and its staff will continue to thrive with the facilities and culture we have created.

“HL Plastics now has the most integrated, well invested single site uPVC facility in the UK.”

Roger introduced special guest Lord Digby Jones, with the former Director General of the CBI and Business Ambassador of UK Trade and Investment delivering an inspirational and hugely entertaining speech. Having toured HL Plastics’ impressive facilities earlier in the morning, he praised Roger’s achievements and said it was a “privilege to share in the success” of the company.

Stunning showrooms

Further speeches were given by Martin Thurley, Managing Director of HL Plastics, and Nigel Bishop, Sales Director of Avantek Machinery, before guests were invited to explore the stunning new Liniar showroom.

Covering every product launched by the innovative systems company, the showroom beautifully displays the full and diverse range and provided a real buzz among visitors as they got ‘hands on’ with the products.

After lunch guests were given the opportunity to take a guided tour of the entire facilities, including the new Avantek showroom, the only one of its kind in the UK – featuring a range of fabrication machinery which customers can touch, feel and trial before buying, some from stock.

‘Beacon of success’

Customers, associates, staff and invited press were all suitably impressed with the new building and the thought and investment that has obviously gone into it.

Glass Times editor Nathan Bushell wrote: “Liniar’s new warehouse, showroom (for both machinery and finished product), and training centre stands as a beacon of success in today’s uncertain market.”

Mick Clayton, CEO of GQA Qualifications Ltd, commented: “It was great to be at the opening of Liniar House and have the opportunity to hear from Roger and Martin on the story so far and what’s next; whilst on a completely different scale, the ethos and culture that was highlighted is very much something that we at GQA try to operate and promote.

Entertaining speaker

“Lord Digby Jones was also an entertaining speaker with a number of common sense anecdotes and thoughts that fit perfectly with the theme of the day.

“The day looked to be a great success and the facilities are fantastic.”

Charlotte Davies, Head of Marketing for Edgetech UK, said: “The new facility is impressive and the large showrooms are a great addition as it’s good to be able to experience the current range as well as reflect on how far the company has progressed over the years.

“The tour impressed upon me the attention to detail and pride that everyone at Liniar takes in what they do and it made me proud to be part of the same group as such a market-leading company.”

Impressive facilities

Martin Dera, Director at Homeworks Solutions in Bath, was highly impressed with the new facilities:

“As I have come to expect from the team at Liniar, the official opening day spoke volumes for the company’s ethos, as well as to serve as an indicator for future growth plans.

“Everyone I spoke to on the day had high praise for the new purpose-built facility and the showrooms, as well as the future Liniar Training Academy – which I would definitely like to attend once it’s up and running.

“As an installer we are at the end of the supply line and frequently overlooked, at least prior to our association with Liniar. We really are made to feel like part of the family and our invitation to attend the opening day only goes further to reassure this belief and encourage us to push the Liniar brand forward at the coalface.”

Timeline of progress

Throughout the day, many guests commented on the extensive timeline on the wall of the new showroom, which begins in 1974 with the formation of HL Plastics, and leads up to 2017 with the launch of the EnergyPlus90 Passive House window system and the opening of Liniar House. This huge graphic leads visitors through each step of the company’s progress, with world events from the same year putting things into a wider context.

It’s difficult to believe that Liniar’s chamfered window system was launched less than 10 years ago in 2008, given the incredible progress of the brand over that short period of time.

It will be very interesting to see how that timeline continues to grow – there’s still plenty of space on the wall!

Find out more about the Liniar product range and follow Liniar on Facebook at LiniarUK.