Spotlight Radiator royalty
Chris Harvey, Stelrad’s head of marketing UK & Ireland, believes the manufacturer reigns supreme in the UK radiator market, boasting over half of the market share
Chris Harvey, Stelrad’s head of marketing UK & Ireland
safe heat for young, elderly and vulnerable people. In addition, Stelrad offers a range of special application radiators, ones that are more robust and able to take rougher treatment and others that withstand damp environments.
What are the modern-day HVAC challenges you face and how do you overcome these?
The demand for more aesthetically pleasing radiators is met by the wide range of designer and decorative radiators which are popular with commercial building designers and developers along with the demand for coloured radiators which is a more recent departure for the sector. Stelrad is able to offer many of its radiator designs in up to 36 colours which helps interior designers and architects to provide radiators that contrast or match colours in the colour scheme of the building. Indeed, Stelrad now carries some of its best-selling coloured radiators in stock available for delivery within 72 hours.
Who is Stelrad?
Stelrad is the leading radiator manufacturer in the UK with market share in excess of 50% of the radiator market. The group has manufacturing plants in the UK, in the Netherlands and in Turkey. It sells in excess of 2.5 million radiators a year into the UK market, the vast majority via building and plumbers merchants branches up and down the country.
Describe the range of products you supply?
Stelrad sells radiators to its immediate customers – the builders and plumbers merchants – both national distributors and regional and more locally based independent companies. Its products are used in a wide range of new build and replacement heating systems, including for most of the big national new build developers and the majority of smaller regional and local new homes builders. Stelrad also sells through the ‘one off’ marketplace, to installers who install them as replacement radiators in established domestic properties – privately owned and social housing properties – to replace elderly, possibly leaking or damaged radiators that need replacing. Radiators are also specified for a large number of small and medium commercial properties as well. Stelrad has a wide range of radiator models and designs that are relevant to use in differing environments.
Which of your products/services are in high demand and what is driving this?
All Stelrad radiators are in high demand for differing opportunities. The best selling radiators currently are Stelrad’s standard steel panel radiators – sold under its Compact and Elite branding. Increasingly, its designer and decorative radiators are being specified to upgrade heating systems particularly in new build properties. The arrival of the towel drying radiator for the bathroom took off 20 years ago and Stelrad now sells a significant percentage of these radiators for both the new build and replacement markets. As well as the traditional horizontal radiators, the market has grown
hugely for a range of vertical radiators that take up less wall space and for specially developed radiators for particular needs – in particular Stelrad has one of the best-selling ranges in the UK of low surface temperature radiators – radiators whose casing never exceeds 38˚C, designed to provide
12 January 2020 What are your future plans?
Future plans involve very much more of the same, building on the current successes, but there are a number of new designs and approaches in development to ensure that the company is not resting on its laurels. The company is developing new products and investing heavily in the Irish marketplace where it has seen sizeable growth in recent years. Vertical radiators are becoming ever more popular and the company is seeking new ways of providing differentiators in the marketplace to speed up deliveries and to offer different approaches to providing heating solutions, as the move away from gas and oil boiler driven boilers in new build developments towards the use of renewable systems utilising lower temperature ground and air source heat pump systems takes place. These are interesting days in the heating sector and Stelrad is ensuring it is keeping a breast of any moves to change the way heating is shared in the homes of tomorrow. With regards to Brexit, Stelrad has adopted the approach that whatever the
way forward for the UK in its relationship with Europe, people will still be needing radiators the day after ‘it’ happens. It has taken sensible precautions by building up stock and storing larger quantities of radiators in its national distribution centre to meet any eventualities.
www.heatingandventilating.net
www.heatingandventilating.net
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