Opening A New Window Of Opportunity

Nationwide Windows was established by a Rugby-based family in 1986 in order to provide domestic doors and windows for the local area.

The business continued to grow and started to win commercial and local authority contracts including supplying doors and windows to housing associations. Nationwide Windows moved further along Somers Road in Rugby into 86,000 sq ft premises in 2003 to house production facilities. In 2007, managing director John Whalley and operations director Daryl Cashmore led a Management Buy Out following the retirement of the original owners.

There has been a 15 per cent yearon-year growth following this buyout, and not long afterwards, the company started to supply doors and windows for the new build market. More recently it won a contract to sound-proof homes around airports in the London area. The workforce has risen from 134 in 2008 to 266 in 2015 and the company now operates throughout the UK.

The Plan

Space was becoming tight at its premises and when the 38,000 sq ft unit across the road became available in Somers Road, the company decided to buy the building.

The cost for purchase, fit-out and machinery was understandably high, but the company secured a grant of £200,000 from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) after receiving help and advice from the Coventry and Warwickshire Growth Hub towards the investment.

As well as manufacturing and installing windows and doors, Nationwide Windows can also now specialise in cutting the glass and manufacturing their own sealed units thanks to this extra space, which also lends itself to the expansion of its operation as well as to accommodating its growing commercial administration department and to service a significant contract for Rugby Borough Council.

The Results

A five-tonne crane was hired to bring in all the equipment needed for the glazing operations aspect of the business, since the machinery needed to be installed in sequence.

The new facility allows Nationwide Windows even greater control over their production process, and with the new space, the business has been future proofed in readiness for future growth.

The offices at the new unit have been refurbished and fibre optic cables have been installed to link the computers for the commercial administration  department, which deals with contracts from across the UK, between the business’s two sites which are separated by Somers Road.

Computers have also been installed to create a hub for a four-year contract for Rugby Borough Council to install doors and windows for its tenants. John believes the financial assistance from the Growth Hub in securing the premises helped lead to the creation of jobs in the region.

“The Growth Hub has helped to give us the opportunity to set-up this project without which, we wouldn’t have created these extra jobs and secured the future for all the people working here,” he said.

The Growth Hub Craig Humphrey, the managing director of the Coventry and Warwickshire Growth Hub, said Nationwide Windows is a great example of using the help available for forward-thinking companies. “Nationwide Windows’ existing and extensive fabrication facility and showroom – which superbly shows their vast range of doors and windows that are available to the general public as well as for commercial contracts – is now complemented by a state-of-the-art glass unit manufacturing plant,” he said. “We provided assistance with filling out the forms to apply for a grant from the ERDF and their successful application means they have been able to press ahead with their ambitious plans.”

“To have achieved such a significant growth year-on-year for the last eight years, despite the recession, underlines the quality of their products, and there are not many independent companies in this sector which both manufacture and supply doors and windows or produce their own glass units to do so.”

Coventry and Warwickshire Growth Hub was formed by the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership as part of its City Deal bid to Government.