Profine may still move to UK
extrusion – Mrosik
28th May 2019

Profine group is still seeking to start extruding profile in the UK for its Kömmerling business if the outcome of the Brexit issue makes it the best option, group owner and CEO Dr Peter Mrosik said at the FIT Show.

The EUR 700million group is exploring all alternatives, including building from the ground up, but it is also looking into acquiring one of two existing facilities, including Duraflex, one of the operations currently under review by its Masco Corp owners.*

“The UK is super important to us and we have a lot of customers in the pipeline here,” he told a press conference, “But all this is surrounded by the political situation and Brexit. We are still extruding in Germany and have some more capacity there but we want to use this transition period to prepare for every outcome. There are a couple of extrusion plants for sale in the UK – Duraflex is one of the options – but we are prepared to build a new plant if necessary."

Kömmerling MD Gareth Jones also outlined how the company evolved in the 12 months since he joined and added that the next step will be to put more into its commercial offering.

“Previously, some fabricators were taking from more than one system supplier. Now, more have gone over to use us as a single-source. We are all benefitting from that and we are talking to others who are looking to do the same.

“The next move is to look closely at developing the commercial side. We have some commercial work coming in through our sales team but we now want to bring in someone specifically to look at the specification side. We have the products to do it; we only need to structure our business to support them.”

*Earlier this year, the US-based Masco Corp said it was ‘exploring strategic alternatives’ for its cabinetry and window businesses including Duraflex and Phoenix Doors read story.