Latest News | 25 March 2021
How Frame Fast managed to keep calm and carry on manufacturing
One of the few sectors that has been allowed to continue operating during the pandemic is manufacturing.
But it has been by no means an easy ride, with firms having to balance the safety of its workers with fulfilling orders, while also contending with supply issues.
Here, Nigel Leivers, director of Marketing Derby Bondholder Frame Fast UK, talks about what the region’s largest manufacturer of windows and doors has been doing to stay safe during the pandemic and continue to support its customers.
There’s no doubt about it – 2020 was a difficult year all round, and 2021 did not start off well either with the announcement in early January of another national lockdown, although hopefully the roadmap out will give us all a better year.
It’s been a very worrying and stressful time for anyone in business and the uncertainty of Covid-19 has hit us all hard.
Personally, I have never faced anything like it in my lifetime and cannot wait until this episode is part of history.
For Frame Fast, following January’s lockdown announcement, we made the decision to stay open so that we could continue to supply all our customers.
House building, builders and the home improvements sector has been least affected – and many customers are currently busier than ever.
It was a different story 12 months ago, when the country went into the first lockdown. We had to close our Derby factory.
However, when we did reopen, we were coming back to full order books – but having to operate within the new guidance.
In terms of what has been fuelling the market, the increase in sales has been driven by people moving or upgrading their homes.
We think that the prolonged time people have spent in their homes has made them think about what they can change to make their lives better.
Obviously, the travel ban has given many households more money to spend as they are not going abroad on holiday.
If homeworking is part of the future employment model, then creating home office spaces will continue to fuel extensions and improvements, as well as windows and doors.
We’re also seeing a lot of local builders buying up development and refurbishment properties – and that’s likely to continue as the property market remains strong.
During the first lockdown, we did take advantage of government grants.
We stayed open as long as we could as new build construction was the last to close.
When the construction sites shut, although as manufacturers we didn’t have to, at that point all our customers were under the ‘stay at home’ directive.
Within a very short period of time, all of our major suppliers were in lockdown, making it impossible for us to manufacture.
We came back as soon as customers were back at work – and our suppliers once again opened their doors.
Slowly to start with, as we had to get the extra Covid measures in place, this meant that we brought people back from furlough gradually.
To adhere to this, a Covid health and safety induction was given to all members of staff at Frame Fast.
Safety measures include that all staff in the factory, offices and delivery teams must always wear masks or visors and gloves.
We moved benches in production and marked the floor to ensure social distancing and there are signs on the walls and floors reminding staff of the 2-metre rule, hand washing and sanitising equipment.
We have given every member of staff hand sanitiser to keep at their workstation in all areas of our business. We always have in stock at least 40 litres to keep their bottles topped up.
Regular cleaning is essential. Our cleaners come in every morning for a thorough daily clean, followed by an hourly cycle of cleaning to ensure all touch points are kept sanitised throughout the day.
As customers still need to visit the Trade Counter to place orders, view products or for queries, we have limited the Trade Counter to two visitors at a time, and masks or visors must be worn.
Once they have been served, the Trade Counter staff will sanitise the areas the customer has been, including any products in the showroom.
The Trade Counter is also cleaned on an hourly basis for optimum safety.
Throughout this, communication has been key.
While we were shut for the few weeks during the first lockdown, we sent weekly e-mails to keep customers informed and our social media was constantly updated.
With the glazing industry seeing such high demands, we’ve tried to keep ahead of stock ordering where we can.
Supply issues within the industry – not just for Covid but issues with PVCu resin and imports of materials from China and Malaysia – meant everyone was affected.
Some lead times have been longer than we wanted but we made sure to keep our customers in the loop and aware of issues.
Brexit has added to the issues with supplies and this year we have seen shortages in composite door slabs imports, with hold-ups at the docks.
Local partnerships are very important – and we’re very lucky that we partner with local companies and have close relationships with them.
Our closest relationship is with Eurocell, in Alfreton, for our window and door system. They have a closed loop recycling process, so all our waste plastic goes back to Alfreton too. Also, there’s DGS in Castle Donington for hardware.
As a Derby-based company this means we offer customers maximum efficiency and speed, which is how the Frame Fast name came about.
The approach has been to keep calm and carry on.
We currently don’t have any staff on furlough and sales continue to come in from customers both specialising in window installation and the local builders we support, as well as the housebuilders and developers we supply.
One thing that I’ve seen through the Covid crisis is that UK manufacturing is a success story.
Within Frame Fast, we have had to make changes but we have been quick to adapt.
What’s needed next is the younger generation to get into manufacturing.
Over the last 20 years, a lot of effort has been put into the service sector but those jobs haven’t had the resilience of manufacturing positions.
The future at Frame Fast is looking good and to support our growth, we are looking at putting a new training scheme in for young people wanting to start their careers in manufacturing.
Author: Nigel Leivers, Frame Fast UK Director
