HEAVYSIDE: KEYSTONE LINTELS
believe that that builds to the merchant and to the brand.”
Pricing realism underpins that approach. Service and quality matter, but without credible pricing, you are not in the conversation. Hemmington-Green is clear that this does not mean reckless undercutting, something he says he sees a bit more of in today’s market, but it does require honest positioning.
Beyond lintels, the product range has expanded deliberately. Thermal solutions, brick feature lintels and specialist variants have deepened the core offer. But diversification has extended further into wind posts, non- combustible cavity trays, fixings and wallties via sister brand Keyfix.
The rationale is strategic. A broader basket helps merchants reach minimum order values more easily and reduces the temptation to source complementary products elsewhere. “Partnership as a term can be over-used, but that is truly how we see it,“ Hemmington- Green adds. “A defined five-step call plan governs merchant engagement. It starts with stock management, with identifying dead stock and addressing issues before they escalate into cash-flow problems. Training follows, a constant requirement in an industry characterised by high staff turnover. Pipeline management is an area where Keystone believes it excels. Lead generation is collaborative, and once quotes are issued, a dedicated internal team follows them up, contacting builders, clarifying details, confirming timelines and ultimately asking for the order.
Business development then divides into strands: retaining existing customers, recovering lost spend by understanding why it has slipped, and converting new business that might be currently spending elsewhere. “The last area within the five step sales plan is
marketing. We do have very strong marketing presence, and I’d like to think we do still have that disruptor element.
“Obviously, when we entered the market, we were the disruptor and we’ve retained that mindset, I think. So our marketing is sometimes a little bit different, a little bit challenging maybe, but there’s an active desire to work with the merchants, to tap into whatever we’re doing in the marketplace and amplify it directly into their customer base.” Another of the areas that Keystone prides itself on is error resolution, what Hemmington- Green describes as a ‘through-the-wall’ attitude. “We don’t get it right all the time. Humans are involved, so sometimes we make genuine errors. There’s an acceptance within our business that where an error is made, then we will literally go through the wall to get it put right for the customer. That’s our priority. We’ll then worry about having a bit of a debrief and understanding what went wrong afterwards.”
That customer service ethos is symbolised in
the boardroom at the company’s Swadlincote offices. At the head of the table there’s a single red chair, surrounded by blue ones. The red chair represents the customer, meaning there’s a constant reminder that every strategic decision should be viewed through that lens.
Construction does not exist in isolation, and the broader economic uncertainty has not helped activity. National housebuilders are cautious. If homes are not selling, they won’t ramp up building programmes, and that ripples outward, affecting the secondary markets and RMI activity.
Hemmington-Green is wary of overreliance on public spending, although he recognises that housing occupies a unique economic position. “It’s very easy to blame the government, but I do think in this instance they missed an opportunity in the last Budget to do something similar to the Help To Buy scheme. Not exactly the same, but they do need to find a way to kick start the house building sector, especially if they want to get even remotely close to their targets, which are ambitious to say the least.”
Looking ahead, further measured expansion is planned. There’s a soft-launch phase for the development of wall ties and the new fabricated structural steel solution, Keyfab. Sustainability remains an area of focus, reflecting wider industry momentum. “Lintels, though, remain our foundation. We’ll look at future opportunities within that space, whether organic or acquisitive, carefully. We’re continuing to blend that entrepreneurial drive that got the company started in the first place, structured partnership, product innovation, cultural discipline and long-term thinking in a market that we’ve seen only too often, can be obsessed with the short term.”BMJ
April 2026
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