A feat of Endurance

Glass Times editor, Luke Wood, visits Endurance Doors to learn more about the company’s new showroom and customer support as well as its commitment to ‘Project Zero’.

Endurance Doors has been manufacturing door products for over 28 years and now occupies a six-acre manufacturing facility in Brigg, North Lincolnshire.

Employing over 250 people, a key factor to its ongoing success is the fact it remains a privately owned company as managing director, Stephen Nadin, explains: “Over the years, through a commitment to continuous improvement, we have developed a product range that’s highly desirable to consumers but one that also offers the reliability and performance that’s demanded by trade customers,” says Stephen.

“Our vision is to offer the best quality products on the market, with a service offering to match – and a big part of achieving that is the agility afforded to us by being a privately owned outfit. We don’t have to answer to a board of investors so we can make decisions quickly and efficiently. That could be something as simple as a new product innovation or it could be something that has a much greater impact on the way we operate as a business,” he adds.

Key milestones over the years include the decision in 2009 to establish Rocal Extrusions, bringing production of weather bars, frame reinforcement and more in-house, the introduction of a unique moisture barrier system in 2013 to protect timber slabs from moisture ingress and the foresight in 2016 to begin investing heavily in consumer facing marketing.

And the move to get closer to consumers was bolstered in mid 2020 with even more investment in the Endurance brand…

“We began investing heavily in our consumer customer experience prior to the pandemic and that put us in a really strong position when Covid hit,” says Stephen. “The home improvement boom that followed brought a huge wave of demand.

“We’ve built on that with a new consumer sales manager, Wendy Thompson, who joined the team earlier this year and with the launch of our new showroom. We originally intended this to support our installer partners within a 30-mile radius but it’s been so successful – we’ve had homeowners come all the way from London – that we are now exploring the opportunity to introduce similar showrooms nationwide.”

As well as giving installer partners an opportunity to showcase the Endurance product range to their customers, the new showroom also provides valuable feedback on what end users are looking for.

“The vast majority of homeowners that visit are already ‘sold’ on a new door, they just want to get a better idea of options such as glass and particularly hardware,” says Wendy. “That gives us some really valuable insight. We know that there’s not much interest, currently, in smart hardware for instance but performance and energy efficiency in particular are key drivers.

“We can also keep our finger on the pulse for popular colours,” she continues. “Anthracite grey is still a big seller but we’re seeing more interest in softer greys, such as agate and also blues.

“It’s great for us to be this close to the end user but it’s also important to clarify that we don’t sell directly to them. All enquiries are directed to our installer partners.”

Endurance’s new showroom is just one part of a much broader service offering, including high quality lead generation, designed to support the company’s network of customers and approved installer partners, which now includes 280 members.

Endurance was a launch partner for Touch, the online sales tool developed by Business Micros that – among things – allows installers to design and order products remotely, manage enquiries and produce personalised quotes.

It has also introduced a new trade website, which gives access to valuable marketing assets, technical guides and training opportunities and has also launched a new internal resolution platform called Amicus.

Via Amicus, installer partners can raise support requests, which Endurance commits to fulfil within 48 hours. The system also delivers complete visibility of all subsequent customer support and transparency on how well problems are resolved.

“We are unique in the industry in that our route to market is almost exclusively through our installer customers,” says Stephen. “It’s therefore vital for our brand that we offer not only a great product, but outstanding service. Our customers are, in essence, an extension of Endurance.

“It’s why we set out very strict criteria to become an installer partner. But once you’re accepted, the service and support you receive is second to none,” he continues.

“That includes market leading sales support, training and also after sales support. We now have systems in place that provide email and text notifications for deliveries. Modelled after Amazon, it means installers can track deliveries in real time and sign them off digitally.

“We operate very strict standards during manufacturer, but in the unlikely event that a homeowner does report a defect, we have a team of service engineers that operates nationwide,” says Stephen. “We’ll liaise directly with the homeowner to sort the problem – that means our customers can sell with absolute confidence.”

Project Zero

Endurance has enjoyed a huge amount of success over the last 28 years, with investment in product and service putting it in an enviable position for the future – a future that will also include a strong commitment to operate more sustainably.

This move to greener operations follows an appraisal of current energy usage and emissions – the company’s trucks covered over 1.5million kilometres last year – and a pledge to work towards net zero by 2030.

Endurance has since signed up the World Land Trust Organisation, which funds the protection and planting of trees – and is now actively looking at ways to lower its carbon footprint, including the installation of solar panels, electric vehicles and improved waste and recycling management.

According to Endurance’s group purchasing manager, Andy Speakman – who has been tasked with heading up Project Zero – this not only demonstrates a strong to commitment to sustainability, but will deliver financial benefits as well thanks to improved efficiencies.

A win-win for Endurance and also for its customers.