Glass Times talks to Rob Horton, director at Horton Plastics, about the success of the company, its close working relationship with Rehau and Shepley Windows and the decision to integrate online sales into its business offer.

Glass Times (GT): Give us some background on Horton Plastics – what are the foundations of your business model?

Rob Horton (RH): We’re a retailer specialising in selling uPVC windows, doors and building plastics to trade customers. I’d previously worked for a prominent fabricator as an on-site trade counter manager, but when that company folded, I was approached by one of their main customers – Carson Powell Construction.

They wanted me to set up trade counter supply for the company, and I used my existing connections to help put CPC in contact with trade customers I’d worked with in my previous role.

The rest, as they say, is history – I hit the ground running and founded Horton Plastics in 2017, opening our first trade counter in Stoke. We’ve enjoyed great success since, expanding to a team of 25, with three directors.

That’s down to our business foundations and principles – we pride ourselves on great service and exceptional value for money and are always willing to go the extra mile for our customers when required.

These values were formalised and set out in our customer charter the same year we were founded, to let our customers know what exactly to expect from Horton Plastics. We make clear to them that nobody will go further than us in providing an outstanding service. This includes listening and acting on their feedback to improve their shopping experience, investing in systems and infrastructure to enhance our service levels, and assisting in their marketing and advertising strategies when called upon.

We started working with Rehau after we partnered up with the fabricator, Shepley Windows (Shepley). Though Shepley had originally been using a different supplier, they soon moved over to Rehau due to customer demand. It’s not hard to see why – the Rehau name is recognised for its quality, so their frames are easy to sell. It’s also easy to get trade supply with the company, which definitely helped move things along!

Rehau also stood out because of its environmental commitments. As part of our customer charter, we also focus on being environmentally friendly, and continue to look for more sustainable methods of waste disposal and recycling. Rehau’s work ensuring a circular economy of uPVC and maximising material recoverability meant we knew we were working with an organisation that shared similarly green aims.

GT: Tell us about your approved installer scheme. Why was this introduced, and what have the wider benefits been?

RH: Horton Plastics’ approved installer scheme was set up a year after our 2017 founding. We’ve never really wanted to do fitting as we’d be treading on our customers’ toes, but we’re keen to work with installers that are similarly committed to providing a high-quality service.

What this entails is ensuring we work with fitters that have up-to-date health and safety credentials and insurance back guarantees, among other criteria. We store these credentials and update them each year.

Our commitment in this area has been crucial to our success, and installers have responded enthusiastically. We’re now working with more fitters than ever before, and it’s encouraging to see such a response to maintaining best practice.

GT: A gross income of £7 million in seven years is a considerable achievement – what has been the key to your success?

RH: It goes back to the customer charter and putting customer service at the heart of our business model. It sounds simple, but the key is to just listen to the customer and do three things right – the right brand, the right price, and the right service. If you can succeed on these three fronts while being receptive to customer feedback, it’s a good recipe for growth.

Again, our customer charter makes it very clear – ‘nobody will go further than us in providing outstanding service to you.’ That means being agile and adapting to their working practices. For example, we’re happy to provide a quote through any medium, whether that’s over the phone, online, on WhatsApp and so on.

This also goes down to the little things, including providing the Horton Plastics toolbox to all customers. These are essentially goody bags that include swatches, colour sample, and voucher codes for our online store. We’ve sent out over a hundred, and tracking online sales from the vouchers, we can definitely say they’ve gone down well.

We also continue to invest in systems that improve the service we provide. This includes texting customers when orders are in, providing QR codes for easy fitting and allowing warranties to be registered online. We’re also expanding the infrastructure around Horton Plastics, including expanding our fleet to all new vans. If you’ll pardon the pun, we’re driven by the need to provide a top-class service for our growing customer base and ensuring everyone receives the best shopping experience possible.

GT: What Rehau products do you offer?

RG: We offer everything from the Rehau portfolio except the vertical slider. Everything is made to measure, with the customers’ order passed to Shepley for fabrication. Of the products we do offer, we’ve definitely noticed the Slinova sliding door growing in popularity.

Installers have been commenting on how its slimline design links into consumer trends, namely around wanting products with large panes of glass that can provide a more ‘commercial’ look. Given this, I’m not surprised that demand for the Slinova has increased, considering it was designed with a large glazing area that can let more outside light in.

GT: What is the relationship between Rehau, Shepley Windows, and Horton Plastics like?

RH: It’s very strong, and Shepley is integral to this. Some of the Shepley team have previously worked with Rehau and now have a close relationship with Horton Plastics too. We’ve definitely benefitted from these well-established lines of communication.

How this works in practice is through a clear delineation of duties. Rehau handles manufacturing, and Shepley deals with fabrication, meaning we can focus on the retail side of things. In this respect, we’re basically an extension of each other’s team, and it works well – we can be confident in giving delivery dates to customers knowing Rehau and Shepley can provide products on time.

A good example of this in action is when Shepley began fabricating Rehau’s Rio flush fit window around May-June last year. You’d think that overhauling operations like this would lead to some disruption somewhere for us, but it was all seamless. It’s reasons like this that show why the relationship is as strong as it has been, and why we’re selling more Rehau products than ever.

GT: What was behind the decision to integrate online sales into your business offering?

RH: We had started working on online sales just before COVID, and like many companies we were caught up in the ‘digital wave’ overhauling the shopping portal on our site. Though these obviously weren’t ideal circumstances, the lockdowns helped spur on the development of Horton Plastics’ online platform. We saw a huge level of demand for our products throughout this time, which really kept our momentum going as a business.

It’s also been crucial that we don’t rest on our laurels here. Our website now includes features that allow customers to design their desired windows step-by-step online, from the opening to the collar to the handles, before the going on to the checkout. Being able to visualise their order has been a key step in growing sales – we now deliver as far as Scotland, Cornwall and the Orkney Islands.

We’re picking up lots of new and repeat customers via the online medium, and this has been good to see. It allows us to build footholds in new areas without impacting local trade, yet we’re still picking up business through our branches. It’s good to see all round, really.

GT: Tell us about your unique Electronic Point of Sale (EPoS) system – how does this work and what are the benefits?

RH: Well, we’re still working on it at the moment, so I don’t want to go into too much detail! In a nutshell, it’s the next step for our already successful online offering, expanding on it while adding a new point-of-difference from other, similar websites.

It revolves around the use of smart links, which provide a unique online account system for each customer. Using these links, customers can benefit from the same discount structure they would receive in-person. We wanted to be able to offer the same level of customer service as we do in person, but in a click-and-collect format. I’ve high hopes for the new EPoS system, and we’re excited for its full rollout.