Marketing and product priorities for FIT

Chris Baron, co-director of Prefix Systems, shares his vision for this year’s FIT Show. With over 350 verified leads last year, expectations are running high.

There’s nothing better than an exhibition to whet the appetite of existing customers, and ignite interest with other show visitors. The FIT Show has become the cornerstone of our external facing business activities, with product development and marketing campaigns working in tandem, to help realise further business success.

We’re known for our roofing solutions, underpinned through our five sites that serve the entire UK. The introduction of Pavilion Systems has been one of strategic importance, allowing us to directly support the important south east part of the country with a wide range of products for the extended and outdoor living space sectors.  

There is much conjecture in the media about solid roofs and a number of various solutions in terms of technical capability, design options and ease of installation. Right from the initial design brief we wanted to hone and develop a solid roof chassis that would allow us to launch a roof to suit a multitude of applications, rather than just a one trick pony, or offer a confusing array of roof systems. We wanted to create a ‘one roof does it all’ approach and our diligent approach to design and testing has been fully vindicated.

WarmRoof is the most configurable solid, tiled roof system on the market and we’ve carried out exhaustive testing to back up and verify our claims. At the FIT Show we will be formally launching our hybrid version, which combines triple glazed sections, within a tiled environment that will create a stunning environment. The Hybrid has been tested out in the field over the past 18 months, with various installations resulting in stunning results.

Keeping to our roots in the roofing sector, we will also be launching our UrbanRoom gutter shroud, which was previewed at the FIT Show in 2016 to great acclaim. This is a roofing solution that combines an Ultraframe aluminium roof with a deep ‘flat face’ contemporary gutter shroud, with an optional internal pelmet detail. This should fully reflect modern conservatory living, with contemporary design to the fore.

The trend towards lantern roofs and orangeries will be again realised on the stand with an iX250 orangery solution and an UltraSky Opus lantern that incorporates hardwood undercladding.

The Opus system is also front of stand featuring a bifolding door system, uniting the performance and architectural detailing of an aluminium exterior with the richness and beauty of hardwood to the internal door leafs and outer frame. Sat alongside will be a range of Opus windows.

The launch of our aluminium Verandah system in 2016 was our first foray into the outdoor living sector, which is anticipated to grow in the short and medium term. It’s been marketed as a three-season solution for consumers looking for a stylish, period-inspired shelter, yet with the openness on three sides to enjoy the world outside. It will again feature on the stand but with a twist to show how versatile the product can be, reflecting how the Verandah can open up a world of design options.

Our aluminium window and door facility continues to flourish with typical Prefix levels of exemplary support and product quality and this will be further enhanced to include the new Alitherm 47 heritage window, which is designed to replicate the sightline of a typical steel window with a front to back dimension of just 47mm. In addition, the VS 600 is a new aluminium vertical sliding sash window, which benefits from specific hardware from Caldwell, with the flexibility in design that aluminium profiles offer.

Our aluminium conservatory kit offering, including all window and door frames and roof, will feature the Alitherm 800 range of windows with a contemporary roof to suit on our stand, as demand for aluminium products increases.

For our customers, this can ensure that the frames and roof perfectly match in terms of finish, can be manufactured to the most exacting of tolerances, are backed with our comprehensive customer support package, and that the products arrive in a single delivery.

We’ll also be launching a new perfect bound product directory, and visitors will also be encouraged to pick up our latest show issue newsletter.