Building door brand foundations for exceptional future growth
Never one to follow the crowd, Gerda Doors managing director Danny Williams reflects on the challenges of building a brand new door brand for the UK market, and looks forward to expanding on the progress made to date into 2025 and beyond.
Frustration is an emotion that can either block you, or drive you forward. For Danny, frustration is a massive great flashing sign with the words ‘You could do it much better’!
This was the sign that kept popping up every time Danny and his team at Pioneer Trading were dealing with composite doors back in 2020.
“I was frustrated with the poor quality. I was frustrated with the shoddy service. I was frustrated with the inferior product performance,” said Danny. “Surely, with all the knowledge and expertise we clearly had in the door sector as a whole, there was a half way decent alternative to the composite door. I did look. I scoured the market, but could not find that perfect blend of quality and price.”
At least, he did not find it in the UK. But he did find a real gem in Poland. Gerda Doors.
“The design and construction of Gerda doors are like nothing I had come across in the UK,” continued Danny. “The entire range consisted of steel and aluminium faced entrance doors that instantly threw the look and manufacturing techniques of composite doors far into the shade.
“It was clear that Gerda offered that balanced combination of style, construction and performance that would ensure it stood head and shoulders above the current UK door market crowds.”
Since its UK launch back in the spring of 2022, Gerda Doors UK has worked hard at building strong foundations for growth. According to Danny, much of this was about ‘anglicising’ the product, achieving the necessary UK quality accreditations educating the door installation market about the far superior benefits of the product, creating a brand awareness that comfortably filled an increasingly obvious gap in the market for a quality, high performance door that was affordable.
He adds that one of the biggest challenges was encouraging people to step out of their comfort zone. When there has been a monopoly on the market, it can sometimes feel unnerving to step out of that rut into something new and unknown.
“Witnessing the light of realisation of the potential of Gerda in our door installers’ eyes, and then seeing that potential come to fruition as more and more companies have actively sold the door from their showroom, has strengthened our faith and confidence in bringing Gerda to the UK,” said Danny.
With 70 dealers now signed up to the Gerda network, and a more thorough understanding of, and confidence in, the Gerda brand within the industry, Gerda UK is now turning its thoughts to strengthening its brand on a wider consumer level. The company will be significantly investing on more widespread marketing to help boost lead generation and conversion for its dealer network.
Of particular focus will be the thermal performance of the door. Built to withstand the particular harsh, freezing temperatures of an East European winter, the Gerda steel and aluminium doors offer thermal transmittance as low as 0.74 W/m2K for solid doors, and 0.81 W/m2K for glazed doors.
“Considering our new Labour government seems intent on pushing through the Green agenda, homeowners, property developers, landlords and housebuilders are going to be increasingly forced down a certain pathway to guarantee compliance with tighter regulations,” said Danny. “Gerda is well placed to give that certainty in terms of thermal performance, with the added benefits of good looks, faultless security, and exceptional engineering.”