Forward thinking, traditional values: Epwin Group records more than 35 years in business

The Epwin Group, the specialist low maintenance building products supplier has recorded its 35th year in business in what remains a turbulent year for the UK window industry.

Set up by Group chairman Jim Rawson in 1976, the group has grown to become one of the leading innovators in sustainable PVC-U building technology recording its 35th year of continuous trading this summer.

With flagship brands including Profile 22, Swish Window and Door Systems, Swish Building Products, Quantal, Sierra and Permadoor among more than 30 Group businesses, the Epwin Group remains a leader in sustainable innovation in PVC-U building technology.

RECO22 the Epwin Group’s latest offering, is a new window profile manufactured solely from recycled material. It became the first and to date the only window system in any material type to secure a dedicated A+ BRE rating across domestic applications earlier this year.

Jim Rawson, chairman, Epwin Group, said: “After 35 years we’re still very much holding our own in what is without doubt an exceptionally difficult market for any one in it. If there are green shoots of recovery they’re looking pretty fragile and will need to be carefully nurtured if they are to blossom.

“I don’t believe we should be looking for or resting our hopes on the prospect of any quick governmental fix. October 2012 and the Green Deal is still some way off and how much of a part windows and doors will have to play in it is still unclear, although we obviously wish the current GGF campaign well.

“Instead it will be those companies who pursue steady and sustained growth through effective sales strategies and relevant product innovation who will make it to the other side, whenever that may be. As for us, well we’re quietly getting on with doing business. We see product development and innovation as integral to that strategy and we continue to invest in product innovation across our individual brands within a sustainability mindset.”

The Epwin Group’s origins can be traced back to the 1975 Hanover Building Materials Exhibition. Featuring PVC-U, a new product to the UK building industry, Jim was quick to spot its potential applications as a flexible, durable and low maintenance material, two years later showing his prototype PVC-U window at the Ideal Home Show in London.

Floated on the Stock Exchange in 1987, the Epwin Group was brought back into private ownership after more than a decade of success as a public company to give the management team greater opportunity to focus on the business and customers.

Claiming many industry firsts, including the manufacture of the UK’s first window system made solely from recycled PVC-U in 2004, the Group continues to fly the flag for the PVC-U window industry and will attend Ecobuild at London’s Excel centre on 20-22 March 2012.