IN PERSON IN PERSON: TREVOR HARVEY
Fresh from its first post-IPO acquisition, Stelrad CEO Trevor Harvey talks to Fiona Russell Horne about the radiator company’s plans.
STELRAD HEATS UP FUTURE SUCCESS L
ast year was an important year for radiator manufacturer Stelrad Group plc. It went through an IPO in November, bringing in a high-quality group of shareholders and professional investors, with whom the company has established a good working relationship. The IPO came at the end of a significant period of investment, the previous six years had seen considerable sums spent upgrading the manufacturing facilities and a post-pandemic period of growth and commercial success, with volumes growing 20% compared to the previous year, and by 9% over the pre-pandemic year of 2019.
CEO Trevor Harvey led the IPO and says: “I felt we had achieved everything we possibly could under private ownership. I could see growth opportunities ahead of us and I wanted a long- term ownership structure with stability and saw the IPO as the perfect solution.
A truly pan-European business, the company has facilities across Europe, notably Turkey, the UK and the Netherlands. Already, the new financial footing has proved worthwhile, with the new acquisition of the DL Radiators group, based in Italy. The acquisition extends the range of radiators available to Stelrad’s existing sales and distribution network, expands its routes to market, provides a complementary brand and increases manufacturing capacity.
Harvey says: “This is a compelling transaction for Stelrad and allows us to grow our business through the provision of additional products and through geographical expansion. DL Radiators has strong brands with a significant customer
base and we look forward to working with the team to realise value opportunities and expand the market for their higher value product ranges. Following completion of this transaction, Stelrad will be a market leader in six countries and hold a top 3 position in five more. We will continue to develop our mainland European relationships with the long-established regional distribution players in those territories, ensuring we continue to adapt to evolving routes to market.” There have, of course, been challenges in the last 12 months, with significant price pressures on things like steel and volumes have been challenging.
That said, there has also been a continued focus on premium products, Harvey says.“The backbone and foundation of our business is Steel panel radiators, and we’re the only manufacturer that operates a good, better, best system. Adopting that good, better, best approach allows consumers to move through the aspirational ranges that we have and differentiate their living space.
The other focus has, naturally with the push towards decarbonisation, been towards products that will fit with newer, lower carbon heat-generating technologies. Harvey says: “All European governments are pursuing a net-zero agenda, and the issue for those who participate in the industry, is not if it’s when. With gas boilers in new builds banned from 2025, it will lead us into a very interesting period where we have low carbon, low temperature heating systems in all new builds. There are still some debates over what will be the winning heat-source technology, but the early signs are that it will be some form of heat pump, possibly air-sourced. Of course, Stelrad radiators are as valid on a
20
low temperature system as they are on a high temperature system, like a gas boiler. All hydronic emitters are compatible with renewable systems; however, we have extended our portfolio in recent years specifically adding the K3 range and more vertical products.”
He says that the company has already seen a similar shift in attitudes in its other markets. “We’ve seen heat pumps come across Europe, gas boilers were banned in the Netherlands in 2018/19, and on the back of that we’ve seen a significant uptake in our verticals and K3s. The K3’s are a product with three panels and three convectors. Historically you would see single and double panels but rarely a triple. We’re now selling large volumes of triple panel products in the UK, and these have increased surface area which allows you to get the required heat output from the product. We are now seeing noticeable traction in those products as heat pumps begin to establish a foothold in the UK marketplace” Harvey says that one of the key strategies going forward is to continue the development and sale of products to suit these newer technologies, as well as the decorative and premium products.
“We are a leader in specifications, a trusted partner to the new build sector, having almost exclusive arrangements with four of the major national house builders. Plus, we have the number one specified product in the social sector, a brand that is known everywhere, and we have unmatched logistics.” BMJ
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net July 2022
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