Made for Trade has invested £500,000 in a acquiring and equipping a new 50,000sq ft manucacturing facility to begin fabricating the Visoglide Plus sliding patio door from Smart.
Its initial trade-oriented offering will be two track doors of multiple configurations up to 6.4m wide and 2.5m high, with potential to extend if the market demands.
Stock colours include white, grey, black, dual colour grey on white or with any RAL colour by special order. Hardware will be offered in white, black, grey or brushed stainless steel.
The configuration options chosen allow all doors to be supplied fully assembled, or optionally in kit form, and can all be glazed after the door is installed, with glass units available through MFT but delivered direct to site from the glass supplier.
Managing director Bradley Gaunt said: “As a leading aluminium systems manufacturer we often get asked for price comparisons on sliding patio doors. Historically, bifold sales have dominated the market and we favor volume production to deliver the best value for our customers.
“Over the last year or so though the voices asking for sliders has increased to a point where we believe the demand is there to warrant setting up a dedicated MFT production facility to supply it, and that’s exactly what we’ve done.”
The new facility, in Hartlepool, is capable of manufacturing 100+ door sets per week, with phased expansion plans to quadruple that number as market demand dictates. It has initially created 20 jobs in the town.
MFT’s Chris Wann added: “We chose to fabricate the Smart Visoglide Plus as the product shares the Visofold reputation for being a hassle-free trade offering, especially when it’s been precision fabricated by us! The company’s mission statement is the best products at the best prices with the best service and we always apply it with the trade customers in mind! When it comes to trade products the customers need to be confident that the product they have chosen will be fit and forget! And of course it’s got to be at the most competitive price point in the market!”
