Does your supplier meet your customers’ demands?
We talk to Listers’ MD Roy Frost about why single source supply across windows, doors and lanterns will help you meet demand while cutting costs.
Listers has celebrated the outcome of this year’s FIT Show, as it continued to promote its expanding door offer. The national trade fabricator unveiled Sheerline’s new lift-and-slide patio soor, new aluminium entrance doors, and a brand-new heritage French door, all of which had been seen nowhere else.
Listers also exhibited its Sheerline S1 lantern at the FIT Show which, according to Roy, was a direct response to homeowners looking to whole-house refurbishments, including extensions.
“Right now, people are thinking twice about moving because mortgage interest rates keep rising in line with the Bank of England base rate, which continues to rise to help keep inflation at bay,” Roy says.
“Overall, house prices may be falling, but if homeowners are already on a good fixed rate deal, they may wait until the markets settle before moving house.”
Despite a willingness to ‘wait and see’, those underpinning reasons to move aren’t going away, Roy says.
“Two key reasons why people move home are for more space and more light, and both of these can be achieved by extending a property,” he says. “Even if a full extension isn’t chosen, a lantern in an existing flat roof, with a bi-folding/sliding door replacing a window, can create a more open and welcoming feel.
“As a result, we got just as much interest in our Sheerline lantern at the FIT Show as we did our new doors – especially because homeowners are looking for a suited finish.
“The Sheerline S1 lantern is a fantastic addition to our range, and it is a perfect fit with Listers’ goal of offering premium products at an affordable price point,” Roy says. “And installers love the Sheerline lantern, because it is probably the easiest lantern on the market to fit.”
The Sheerline S1 Lantern was designed from the ground up to incorporate new innovative ideas that create a warmer, slimmer and much more secure roof lantern. It’s the only SBD-accredited lantern on the market, and security features include: anti-tamper screws, enclosed anti-tamper glazing, security tape, a patent pending glass lock, and the unique high security ridge end.
The Sheerline S1 Lantern can achieve U-values as low as 1.0W/m2K, and can accommodate glazing depths of between 28mm and 44mm. It has also been designed to reduce its impact on the environment, sourcing aluminium from Wales, extruding in the UK, and recycling all aluminium waste.
Other unique features include: an integral LED light channel around the perimeter of the roof; and modern roof vents that use automated powered actuators that offer reliable ventilation without the risk of leaks.
Sheerline aluminium roof lanterns are available in a choice of 10 styles from square ‘pyramid’ designs to grander options suitable for larger ‘orangery’ style installations. Maximum sizes range from 2.4m up to 6m long, all set at a 25º pitch and all weather rated for the whole of the UK.
“Significantly, we are currently offering the Sheerline S1 Lantern on a five-day lead time in white, black grey – which is the same as our Sheerline bi-folds,” Roy says. “This provides the homeowner with matching aesthetics across the whole property but it also makes life easier for the installer, because all products can arrive at site in one delivery.”
“And if homeowners don’t need the lantern to match their windows and doors, we also recently launched the new Luma aluminium rooflight from Eurocell,” Roy says.
Luma flat rooflights are fixed, with a sleek and contemporary look and feel, and are made to measure in sizes up to 2.5m2. Unlike roof lanterns, there are no bars across the glass to interrupt the view of the sky or cast shadows across the room below.
They have an integral drainage system with self-cleaning glass, and are secured from the inside, which means they are straightforward to install, and easy to look after. The laminated glass also reduces external noise, and provides an extra level of security.
Thermal performance also features highly, and the thermally broken Luma aluminium rooflights can achieve U-values as low as 1.3W/m2K for double glazed and 0.92W/m2K for triple glazed.
