Gowercroft invest £350k to expand window manufacturing capacity

The company has always been committed to delivering window and door solutions that trail-braze on innovation and importantly meet market needs in a better way that its competitors.

In 2015, the company’s first major overhaul and review of its products resulted in the development of the Classic Range. This is a traditional looking range of windows and doors, with ultra-modern performance levels, suitable for renovation and new build projects – and it continues to be the company’s best seller!

Then came the launch of the award-winning Heritage Range, which uses 6.2mm ultra-slim Pilkington SpaciaTM vacuum glass, in order to deliver unrivalled performance within the conservation sector. The Heritage Range has been well received across the country and orders are beginning to pour in.

New Product Line for window manufacturer

Now, there are even more exciting products in the pipeline, including the Frontier Range, which is highly energy efficient and sustainable, making it ideal for passivhaus buildings. The new range is due to be released later in 2019 and we look forward to seeing it redefine the eco-house market!

The national attention received so far through awards and the high-profile projects has enabled premium window manufacturing company Gowercroft to further strengthen its sales team, bringing on board talented salespeople from across the country, as well as building up a nationwide dealership network.

Rapid growth and new products have also meant that further investment has been needed to ensure that production can keep pace with burgeoning sales! To this end, directors of the business set about identifying the maximum capacity of the current manufacturing facility and exactly what would be required to achieve optimum efficiency.

State of the Art production machinery

The solution has been to install two state-of-the-art machines: the SCM Dogma window line and the SCM M100 5-axis CNC-router.

“We are delighted that the combination of these two machines, along with high-quality Oertli tooling, has enabled us to improve some of our production techniques and achieve greater efficiency with minimal tool changes,” said Darren Young, Production Director.

Premuim wooden windows manufacturer Gowercroft has part-funded this major investment through a grant from Invest to Grow, facilitated by Derby University. The remainder of the funding has come directly from cashflow.

“We have highly ambitious growth aspirations, backed by 21 uninterrupted years of trading, so we were determined that the business wouldn’t be put at risk through debt. Assistance from Invest to Grow has helped us to deliver the whole programme without mortgaging our future,” said Andrew Madge, Managing Director.

Window Manufacturing Machinery Installation

When the machines were ordered in Autumn 2018, the reorganisation of the workshop to accommodate them began in earnest. This included the sourcing and installation of an entirely new extraction unit solely for these two machines to work in conjunction with the existing one – delivering the shavings into a custom-built trailer to be taken to a local farm for use as animal bedding.

It also involved the integration of the software system and a major overhaul of the power circuits to cope with the expansion. The machines and tooling arrived in early-Spring and configuration of the system was complete by mid-Summer.

“We are all delighted with the result of the investment,” said Andrew Madge, “It will enable us to continue our growth trajectory, whilst improving lead times, and the quality and the value of our proposition to customers.”