Jewel in the crown

Helen Tunnicliffe, head of marketing at Aperture, discusses why WarmCore is the jewel in the group’s principal product crown.

A unique and much-loved product occupying the domestic and light commercial sectors, WarmCore technology has helped to redefine expectations of aluminium windows and doors.

The launch of the hybrid WarmCore aluminium folding sliding door in 2014, followed by the window in 2016, were greeted with enthusiasm across the market as companies recognised the USPs; for the first time, fabricators and installers didn’t have to trade off between thermal efficiency, strength and aesthetics.

Built around a full-width thermal core, which maximises the use of lower conductivity material, it is up to 25% more efficient at keeping heat in homes than traditional aluminium solutions. Yet, it doesn’t compromise strength as the outer faces of the profile are high grade aluminium, positioned to add the greatest structural rigidity while looking good too.

However, since its launch, WarmCore has had little investment in marketing or product development to address some of the improvements identified by customers. Since joining Aperture last year, I’ve been working closely with the product development teams, and as new Warmcore range extensions, products and finishes become available, we’ll be prioritising our marketing activity to make more fabricators, installers, specifiers and homeowners aware of its unique benefits.

For anyone who has missed it, we recently announced that the WarmCore system is now available in a choice of six new foils and 13 additional powder coated colours, which easily solves the problem for dual colour configuration – an issue highlighted by some customers. The new range of on-trend foils includes Light, Ginger, Honey Oak in super matt, and Monument Oak, Amaranth and Macore in matt. Our investment in a Graf Welder means WarmCore is also now fusion welded.

We also recently launched the WarmCore French casement window with all the same great features as our current standard and flush casement windows, but with the benefit of a much larger opening area by using a flying mullion, which opens with the sash. Not only is the window design clean, modern and contemporary, it provides a stylish solution to meet fire escape regulations where this is a requirement. We have also designed a two-part flying mullion end cap, which is a neat solution for dual colour windows. All our WarmCore windows are manufactured to the highest standards, using top quality components. The French window locking mechanism uses Yale-approved gearing, which has successfully passed PAS24:2016 testing.

There are many other exciting developments due across WarmCore as we will continue to invest in this unique offering that gives customers such a great opportunity for added-value sales. Developments in the pipeline include suited hardware and even a residential front door.

With the right investment and second-to-none product designers in-house, we see WarmCore as a real jewel in our business, and we’re forecasting it will represent a significant percentage of our overall sales over the next 12 months.

The challenge for me and my team now is to educate and reinforce the brand and its USPs across all sectors, to support our customers, and attract new customers.

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