Universal Arches has grown significantly in the last five years and with an estimated 65% market share of the bending sector, the company now estimates that the market as a whole has doubled over this period.
Universal says that the market statistics seem ‘quite incredible against a backdrop of modest performance elsewhere in the various segments of the glazing industry’, with several small bending companies ‘falling by the wayside’ in recent years.
However, new commercial projects are now becoming a reality, such as the Victorian mill recently refurbished with shaped frames in a recent project by Dempsey Dyer and Universal Arches.
While Universal invested heavily in computer hardware in 2014, 2015 will see a complete overhaul of its software systems and by the end of the year, it is hoped that the new system will even allow for delivery dates and times to be text directly to customers via SMS.
With the existing production capacity of 65 individual frames per day currently fully utilised, plans are now in place to raise this to 100 frames a day.
Leon Day, managing director of Universal Arches, commented: “The last five years have been incredible in terms of growth for us and the sector as a whole. Installation companies and commercial installers are now far more confident in the products we make and are eager to be involved in the replacement of old, timber shaped frames. I firmly believe that the bending sector has now woken up to the opportunities for replacements of all shapes and we also expect for sales of fully glazed products to rise.”
