Original and best

Glass Times gets an exclusive look at the new brand developments at Doorco. MD Dan Sullivan reveals all.

DoorCo has achieved exponential growth over the last five years, and we’ve significantly grown our market share to become one of the leading manufacturers of composite doors in the industry.

We’ve built a reputation for being the innovators and disruptors, and it’s about time our brand reflected this. We don’t compete with our customers, ever, but we do desire to be a household name; the quality and style of our doors deserve to be asked for by name and we strongly believe in supporting lead generation for our customers.

Historically, the way the brand has been positioned has led to a lot of dilution as it moves down the supply chain. There hasn’t been a strong enough vehicle for customers to adopt, leading them to having to adapt to suit their own customer’s needs. That’s why over the last 18 months or so we’ve been investing in our marketing.

It started with a new strategy in the first lockdown, when we were forced to close and cease manufacturing. With the very real threat of a global recession on the horizon and no idea when we could return, and what we’d come back to, we decided to focus our attention on creating leads for our customers via one of the only lines of communication open to us: social media. Instagram was identified as a key platform and we grew our following from 60 to 2,600+ by sharing directly with the consumer aspirational images of our door product portfolio.

We also had two new innovations to launch, and we were determined to make them a success. DoorCo is an independently owned business, and the buck stops with me and Jayne. It was time for change.

The launch of Gripcore (our solid timber-core door) and Flip (our new glazing cassette system) were the first steps in building the DoorCo house of brands. Each one has a unique identity, a strong brand, and a comprehensive suite of marketing materials to aid and support promotion.

Our foam-filled core composite door is one of the best on the market and it is the foundation of our business. With all the new innovations coming into play, the foam-filled core composite door could be seen as an ‘entry level’ solution, but we’d rather view it as an inclusive introduction to the world of DoorCo. It is deserving of its own name and a new identity that suits its class. And what better choice than Original.

Original is developed specifically for the UK market. It has passed the rigours of PAS24 in line with Approved Document Q, offering the highest level of security, with increased resistance to forced entry, and reinforced 44mm GRP skins as standard. Furthermore, our dedicated overseas manufacturing partner, DoorCo KR, is audited by Trada UK and every door is Q-Mark stamped, giving UK customers peace of mind on manufacturing process and quality.

The Original door outperforms other market alternatives with outstanding thermal performance. Inside, the PU foam core reduces heat loss and is encompassed by an LVL (laminated veneer lumber) subframe to provide strength and rigidity. The door protects the home from the elements and will have minimal thermal expansion and contraction rates under extreme temperature variations which is perfectly normal.

Very little has changed within the portfolio because our product offering is already market leading. Instead, we wanted to build on what we already had and continue the evolution of DoorCo.

The foundation is still DoorCo’s nine slab options with the same wide range of door designs, appealing to both the commercial and retail sector. We have, however, categorised these styles into three collections to support the evolving trends in architectural design: Traditional, Contemporary, and Designer.

Within the collections there have been a few evolutionary adjustments as we switch over to our new glazing cassette system, Flip. The Flip standard cassette has a redesigned bevelled finish that has refreshed our traditional doors and has opened up opportunities for new options on favourites. For example: Merion, Lytham and Gleneagles have stylish new grid options; the square option has given a new dimension to Pevero and Belfry designs; and it has enabled us to create a new twin square design, Pinehurst.

Flip’s two squared-off contemporary designs are partnered with our unique Monza II and Links doors to create the exciting new Designer collection.

We are still offering Inox as a contemporary glazing option alternative.

As with any updated collection, there are changes to our glass and colour offering too.

To support the launch of Original, we’ve invested in a comprehensive suite of marketing collateral to aid and support customers’ own marketing. This includes a redesigned door brochure in line with the new Original brand that is aspirational and will hopefully create desire with every homeowner for a DoorCo door.

There’s still more to come from DoorCo over the coming months with Paint, Glazing, and a whole new refresh of the DoorCo brand, a lot of which is introduced in the new Original brochure: bit.ly/3gshZxe