Future proofed
We talk to Alunet Systems’ managing director, Steve Hudson, who discusses the recent decision to rebrand from Alutech Systems and what the future holds for both the company and its customers.
Q: Can you provide some background on how Alutech Systems began?
Steve Hudson (SH): We had a really successful business in JDUK, which was distributing garage door components to fabricators of roller garage doors. Our supplier at the time gave us the opportunity to bring in aluminium profiles.
At that point, it was for bi-folding doors with the possibility of windows going forward. So, we took the decision to start off a new business, to stock and distribute aluminium profiles to fabricators all across the country.
Q: What prompted the decision to re-brand?
SH: We had a lot of successful years with Alutech, our previous supplier, growing the market in the UK. When the war in Ukraine started, it sent a bit of a jolt to us that our only supplier was from a pretty unstable region.
So, with a heavy heart, we took a decision to move away and look for other suppliers, and then fully re-brand as time went on.
We took the time and opportunity to do lots of travelling, lots of air miles, to decide which set of companies, which set of extruders would be best for us for the future and to give us the diversity in terms of product range.
We focussed heavily on quality, and the ability to be able to make many tonnes of aluminium for us each year. It was a tough job but we’ve got a great team that all worked really well to achieve it.
Q: With new suppliers found, what else needed to be done?
SH: After a sigh of relief that we’d found new suppliers, everybody in the business really stepped up a gear and looked at everything that needed doing. And that was everything imaginable, from brand new websites to re-branding all of the vehicles, re-doing all of the brochures and marketing materials, order forms – the list went on and on.
Q: How will the re-brand affect your customers?
SH: We’re really confident that we’ll be in a much stronger position. We’ve got far more ability now for R&D and to introduce new products. We’re going to be launching some new products very shortly, which have been developed and brought to market really quickly.
And it’s given a much wider depth of suppliers, which will allow the whole of our client base to be confident that we have a much more robust supply chain.
We’re very confident for the future.
Q: What does this mean for the future of Alunet Systems?
SH: In short, it gives us an awful lot of opportunity to be able to do things specifically for the UK market.
In the past we were tied to only one supplier and the products that they had to offer. Whereas now, with multiple suppliers, multiple extruders, in different countries in and around Europe, it gives us that diversity to be able to use the products that are right for our customers’ needs.