Back row: (left to right): Tammy Richardson, Lloyd Best, Matthew Brown
Front row (left to right): Brett Cooke, Karen McKie.
Mr Best said: “We realised a while back that whilst radiators are quite traditional products and most people in the heating sector understand what they do and how they do it, the world is changing and we needed to be prepared for a world that is seeking carbon reduction strategies.
“Renewable technologies are driving advances in the market so developers, building designers, M&E consultants and even householders are looking for cost effective and of course heat effective products that can adapt to changes in the way we heat our homes and businesses.
“This is where this new project team comes in. There are a raft of information sources and business intelligence tools available to us that we have been utilising for many years, but it made sense for us to bring together a team of experts who understand how to get the best out of these information sources to give us a better way of identifying real opportunities in the months and years ahead.”
The team Mr Best heads up includes Matthew Brown, technical officer, Karen McKie, business intelligence officer, and business development officers Brett Cooke and Tammy Richardson.
The team primarily supports the regional specification team of more than 20 people working across the UK and Ireland in constant contact with people at every level of the customer chain, ensuring that information is shared and that solutions and subsequently quotations that meet these people’s challenges are provided quickly and accurately to make their lives as simple as possible.
“Where, in the past, we were very much radiator salespeople, today we are evolving into heating system solutions providers,” said Mr Best. “Being able to identify future opportunities more quickly and much earlier in the process gives us the chance to offer solutions that might not have been immediately obvious.
“We can introduce the concept of using radiators to achieve the desired outcomes, particularly with renewable systems. While these generate lower temperatures, they perform well with a radiator-based system, if you understand how to specify and procure the products that will provide effective heating and aesthetically pleasing heat emitters for whatever the end use is for the heating system in question.”
The impact the new team has had has been immediate and just a few months since bringing the team together, Stelrad is seeing pleasing results from the investment. By adopting a more sophisticated approach to responding to the needs of heating professionals, Stelrad is seeing a far wider take up of its offers.
Mr Best commented: “These are exciting times for Stelrad and for the products we offer the marketplace. Having this team together to maximise on the opportunities there are out there and to provide a level of support for the specification team that it has not been able to benefit from previously, means we’re making major inroads into the marketplace.”