Record Year for Listers – The Secret’s in Innovation
As Listers file record figures for the third year running it’s hard not to speculate what they’re doing to buck the market trend. Mark Warren, Listers’ Managing Director, makes no secret of how they’re achieving their results.
“It’s a two-part process.” He explains, “The first part is to understand that it’s the installer who drives the market. Respond properly to what he really needs and you’re half way there. And that means a lot more than printing him a few brochures.”
Although Listers weren’t the first to market with an energy rated window, they were the first to offer a ‘C’ rating as standard on all their Elitis Energy windows. Now they’ve raised the bar still further by introducing their Elitis Energy A+ product. Elitis A+ carries the maximum ‘A’ energy rating, thanks to neutral SGG PLANITHERM TOTAL and the low-iron SGG DIAMANT glass, WHS Halo high efficiency multi chambered lead-free profiles and warm-edge spacers. “With Elitis A+ we’ve worked hard to reduce the cost of the ultimate performance; A+ is a small premium above our standard ‘C’ rated product. But within that low uplift, you’re also getting Secured By Design locks, so installers can give their customers the energy savings and the security they want at an extremely keen price.”
“It’s all about staying ahead of the curve,” says Mark, “We know that Home Information Packs will eventually become mandatory for all homes, so we already provide a warranty and certification pack with all our windows. Profiles will need to be lead-free in 8 years’ time, but Elitis is already a lead-free product, because people want it now. If the industry’s going to turn itself around it needs to respond to customers, not chase legislation.” With Listers reporting both sales and profits up again this year, it would seem they have a point!