Stability breeds success

In an uncertain market, you need to partner with suppliers that offer stability and reliability as well as the products you need. Chris Pell, general manager of Total Hardware, looks at what his company offers to help navigate these turbulent times.

It’s fair to say that this industry has experienced three years of turbulence and it seems likely this will continue well into 2023. In a world where there is a lot of uncertainty, there are two things we can be certain about.

The first is that premium products remain a bright spot for growth opportunities.

The second is that it makes sense to partner with suppliers that work hard to ensure they can offer breadth of product range and continuity of supply so you can continue to be a reliable supplier to your own customers.

In both cases, Total Hardware delivers the difference you need.

When it comes to premium market products, our Superior 25 stainless steel door hardware range fits the bill. In fact, it’s proving so popular, sales of the range are up nearly 22% year-on-year which illustrates the shift in consumer demand for high-end, reliable products.

The range is suitable for all door projects, including doors situated in demanding environments. But while sales of this range are growing for many reasons, perhaps the biggest is that customers working at the premium end of the market have switched to offering stainless steel hardware as standard or as an upsell on their products.

Customers choose the Superior 25 door hardware range because it offers sleek, elegant aesthetics and delivers a suited range of door hardware for high-quality style that works across contemporary and traditional door designs. The range includes letterplates, LBP lever/pad door handles, LBP lever/lever door handles, a slimline pull escutcheon, pull bars, urn knockers, and letters and numerals. It is available in six finishes: white, black, chrome, gold, brushed stainless and flint.

All products in the range are manufactured from 304 grade stainless steel. They come with a 25-year surface finish guarantee and a 10-year mechanical guarantee as standard, so installers can fit with absolute confidence. Not only that, its durability and corrosion-resistance guarantee fewer call-backs or costly remedial visits, which helps to protect your bottom line and business reputation.

It isn’t just premium products where we have the ranges you need. We stock hardware products for all budgets and our scale means we have the ability to offer competitive prices on every product.

But our product ranges are just the start of what we have to offer. We recognise the uncertainty every business is facing at the moment and we’ve taken steps to minimise this uncertainty and protect our customers wherever we can.

Our independent status means we have been able to invest to ensure continuity of supply. We extended our Leeds headquarters by 20% last year so we could further increase the volume of product we stock. We also pride ourselves on our strong relationships with the leading hardware manufacturers, something that has never been more important.

This all means our OTIF rate is currently 97.45%, which gives you the supply reliability you need for your hardware products. What’s more, we have boosted staff numbers and purchased new operational machinery to ensure we can maintain fast delivery times and next day deliveries, even as we continue to grow.

It all adds up to an offering we know our customers appreciate. Genius PVC Trade Frames is a national supplier of windows and doors with an ambitious growth strategy to reach 2,500 frames per week in just a matter of years. Its key points of differentiation are quality, product design and outstanding customer service credentials.

Co-founder, Peter Dyson, said recently: “Total Hardware has an impressive breadth and depth of hardware ranges, as well as the quality our customer demographic needs. It has invested heavily to strengthen its offer, even in the face of supply chain uncertainty. It’s a proactive approach that echoes our own and it’s resulted in an extremely strong partnership.”