Innovation as standard

By Ben Hartshorn, Sheerline’s technical manager.

At Sheerline, innovation is built into our DNA. We’re always looking for ways to improve our existing products, make our manufacturing processes more efficient, and find new solutions to the challenges our customers face.

In this article, I’m going to highlight some of the innovations we’ve launched over the past couple of years as well as shining a spotlight on the specialist services we offer our customers to help strengthen their businesses.

Reverse butt joints

While this kind of jointing method is commonly used with PVC-U, it is relatively unheard of within the aluminium market. Sheerline’s reverse butt jointing method has been developed specifically to cater to customer demand.

Using this method offers an array of tangible benefits including the fact it streamlines the installation process by eliminating the need for external glazing, reverse adaptors, and dummy sashes. This all saves time and money, but that’s not all…

For fabricators, they can offer fully internally beaded aluminium windows with both opening vents and fixed panes, which makes it ideal for large-scale commercial projects where efficiency is key.

In addition, it dramatically reduces remedial costs on commercial projects. For instance, if a pane of glass needs to be replaced in a fixed pane on a combination window, this can be accomplished from inside the property.

Fast Connect hybrid bead

Launched in Q1 of 2025, our (patent-pending) Fast Connect hybrid bead is – as the name suggests – a hybrid bead made from aluminium and a non-visible co-extruded Thermlock component. This means it has a bit of ‘give’ built-in, so it can spring back to shape easily.

This aids both glazing and perhaps more importantly, deglazing, making beads easier to remove if required, while ensuring they can be reused. As well as this added flexibility, we’ve increased compression in the co-extruded design from the 3.5mm of our existing bead to 5mm.

As a result, it easily accommodates both oversized (featuring blinds, for example) and units that are undersized. Finally, the bead also improves thermal performance and clips to the thermal break on the frame.

This universal bead is designed to work across the entire Prestige range, in two glazing sizes, 28 and 36mm.

Specialist services (as standard)

As a fully vertically integrated UK-based manufacturer, we’re able to offer specialist services in-house as part of our standard offering. With other suppliers you may experience long lead times or face having to find third party suppliers, but not with Sheerline.

Arched, curved, and round frames are growing in popularity, which is good news for Sheerline customers as we have invested in our own in-house profile bending machine. This service is ideal for homeowners who want to create architectural statements.

But it’s also ideal for those living with dated arches that are no longer fit for purpose and need to be replaced. Another service we offer in-house is woodgrain foiling, which is ideal for installers who supply PVC-U and aluminium as the frames can be matched.

The service ensures an authentic wood effect and is available in seven standard finishes as well as any Renolit foil to order. Homeowners can achieve a wood-look aesthetic without the upkeep and maintenance.

Looking ahead

As this article highlights, Sheerline is committed to innovation across the range, whether that’s a clever component you can’t see, a new approach to constructing frames, or changing a manufacturing process to make life easier for our customers.

We’ve got lots of new products in the pipeline and while we can’t share specifics just yet, 2025 is already lining up to be another successful year for Sheerline and its customers.