Rewarding long-term partnership

By Distinction Doors.

In 2005, directors Craig Broadley and Jeffery Bates were seeking a business opportunity. Capitalising on Craig’s industry experience and Jeff’s engineering background, they saw the potential of composite doors as a more stylish and secure alternative to PVCU doors.

And so, as the replacement door market opened, the newly established Doorsmart was offering a modern solution: a GRP composite entrance door.

For more than a decade, Doorsmart has been a loyal, prepped Distinction customer. The prepped panels arrive at its West Midlands factory ready to be fabricated into high-quality and secure doors.

“Moving from prepping the panels ourselves was an easy decision to make,” Craid said. “Distinction made the option more cost-effective, and it improved lead times.

“Being a prep customer is less labour intensive, it reduces waste, and makes for a cleaner and safe working environment.”

The efficiency of this service is boosted further by Distinction Doors’ online ordering system.

“We find it very easy and quick to order the products and that too helps with traceability,” Craig said.

Doorsmart manufactures single residential doors along with stable doors, french doors and bespoke RAL coloured doors and frames. The company offers guarantees on all its products.

“The portfolio we put together speaks for itself,” Craig said. “We use only the best products on the market and provide our customers with a truly bespoke entrance door. From traditional to ultramodern – we do them all.”

The company’s portfolio includes the complete suite of Distinction products including the nxt-gen door range.

“We welcomed the addition of nxt-gen,” Craig said. “It combines outstanding quality and design. Aesthetically, with its flush finish the nxt-gen door range allows us to offer customers an alternative to the more traditional look. This has been appreciated by our customers and we’ve received extremely positive feedback from homeowners.”

Since 2005, directors Jeffery Bates and Craig Broadley (father- and son-in-law) put together a core team of family employees. The Doorsmart team get along famously: there’s an abundance of gentle humour and a genuine transparency that’s refreshingly endearing.

Both Stewart Woolley (production manager) and Darren Broadley (sales manager) have worked in the window and door industry pretty much all their working lives. Having this wealth of experience together with shared values has been key to the success of Doorsmart over the past 16 years.

Based in Wolverhampton its core customer base is in the West Midlands. The company also has many customers across Greater London, Bristol, and the home counties, thanks to their combined industry experience and contacts.

“We can pretty much cover most areas,” Craig said.

As Doorsmart has grown, so has its relationship with Distinction Doors.

“The biggest reward in being a long-term Distinction customer is the very good working and personal relationships with the staff, especially Steve Jones our area sales representative, and Lois Lockwood, who looks after our account in the sales office. Both excel in their roles.

“We have also been impressed and taken advantage of the marketing services offered by Distinction. The marketing team are a pleasure to deal with. They allow us to personalise the brochure which helps to set us apart from others in the industry. This has been a great added benefit of buying from Distinction.”

Steve Jones, business development executive for Distinction Doors, said: “Doorsmart is going from strength to strength. Craig, Darren and the team have a clear objective. Switching to a prepped door slab from Distinction Doors was a major step in achieving this; increase capacity while reducing stock holding, waste and costs in the business.

“They were quick to introduce our nxt-gen product and their feedback not only as a fabricator, but an industry expert was invaluable when we first established the range.

“We value our relationship with Doorsmart. It’s extremely rewarding, and we look forward to helping them develop and prosper further still in the years to come.”