KITCHENS, DOORS & CARCASSES Damien Connolly
Trade Mouldings Distribution
Matt Broughton spoke to Damien Connolly, Sales Director at Trade Mouldings Distribution as we hit the halfway point on 2024.
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s we close in on the end of Q2, business for Trade Mouldings Distribution in 2024 has been steady, as described by Sales Director, Damien Connolly: “We find the market is continuing to normalise after the two years post-Covid when demand was very strong. The contract sector in the UK has slowed with the interest rate rises throughout 2023, but hopefully there will be a small cut in the next quarter to spark some stronger demand again.” Business in Ireland, however, has proved stronger: “We have many products and are not over-reliant on any particular market or product, so it is a big advantage within the group.” The stability of the company has deep foundations. Trade Mouldings Ltd is part of the family-owned Trade Mouldings group, which was established over 40 years ago. It has one of the most modern equipped manufacturing facilities in Europe covering over 250,000 square feet, with the manufacturing headquarters based in Cookstown, N. Ireland.
The products manufactured include PVC membrane pressed doors, 5-piece shaker doors, laser edged doors, and wrapped mouldings and accessories.
I ask Damien what the main point of focus has been so far in 2024: “Developing new products,
managing the construction of the new Cookstown depot and trade counter, and reducing lead times on many of the MTO products we offer.”
The company produces in excess of 30,000 doors per week and distributes throughout the UK, Ireland and further afield. “We hold FSC, Fira gold and Iso 9001:2015 certification,” explains Damien. “Constant investment in modern technology and the latest production techniques has enabled us to stay at the leading edge of production, design and quality.”
“Through Trade Mouldings Distribution, we service independent retailers with kitchen,
bedroom and bathroom doors and accessories as well as the contract market for these products. On the independent retail side, we see the demand for bespoke products increasing as independents offer more bespoke solutions for their customers so they can compete with the sheds by offering a more tailored solution rather than solely competing on price.”
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On the independent retail side, we see the demand for bespoke products increasing
“We’ve Just launched the Fenton range; it’s painted sheet material we import. We then cut and laser edge it in our Cookstown factory giving us total flexibility and the ability to offer MTO components in any size,” explains Damien. The company completed a £4.5m investment at the beginning of 2023, adding five new twin-table SCM routers and an automatic board store: “This investment is well settled in now and is giving us more output with reduced lead times on our range of MTO vinyl doors,” says Damien. “We have also just installed a new spray booth and drying room to double output of our Painted to Order Albany, Malham and Hadfield timber doors. Work is ongoing expanding our Cookstown depot and trade counter to a new purpose build 40,000 square feet warehouse with nine meters of height for storage of finished goods to service the local Northern Irish market.”
42 BKU JUNE 2024
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