Hurst has invested in a new paint shop at its site in Hull.
The new £200k paint facility comprises of Downdraft preparation bench, bunded paint mixing room, fully enclosed spray shop with forced air input system, ATEX-rated flash-off area and a Schubox Catalytic IR drying system.
The whole facility is supported by an overhead track system allowing products to be loaded from the prep area and suspended throughout the whole process to the despatch area.
Hurst said the new paint facility will give it greater control over the manufacturing process, while minimising error and reducing lead times in the process.
Mark Atkinson, Hurst’s sales director, said: “This is an exciting development for us. Our recent customer research found that the majority of our customers have seen an increase in demand for bespoke colours, and it is important that as a key supplier we can react quickly to those demands.”
Hurst surveyed its customer base at the start of 2024 to learn more about how the latest trends among door specifiers and homeowners were feeding through to supply and installation.
It found that 62% of respondents consider the appearance and design of the door to be the most important factor in selling entrance doors. It also found that four in five respondents had seen an increase in demand for bespoke colours.
Mark continued: “We know that colour has become really important for our customers. They use colour to differentiate their offering, and we can supply them with over 1600 RAL colours now.
“Our new paint shop will give us greater control over product development, including new colours, that will allow homeowners to make bold statements with their entrance doors.
“They’re going for every shade of grey, pinks and blues. And they are taking greater care to match the colour of the entrance door with the interior design.”
A statement said that Hurst’s increased colour capability dovetails neatly with its investment in its marketing support, including its new augmented reality (AR) sales tool which fully integrates with a new composite door brochure and professionally created sales videos.
The door styles featured in the new Hurst AR Composite Sales Tool include options drawn from across its Classic, Cottage, Contemporary and Designer Collections.
Mark added: “We know definitively that our customers want to be able to offer a wide range of colours to their customers. Not only have we invested in the infrastructure to allow us to do this on a quick turnaround, but we are also providing the modern marketing tools to help them sell.”
