Features

Soler & Palau re-launched in the UK market as a direct business this year. H&V News catches up with commercial director Alan Price to gauge the progress that is being made

H&V News: In our January interview, Soler & Palau was in the process of appointing distributors for the H&V market. How is this developing?

Alan Price: We have been very pleased and surprised at the level of genuine interest shown from all areas of the H&V distribution sector.

Our discussions and deliberations are well advanced and our feedback indicates that we have been seen as the ‘sleeping giant’ among ventilation product and fan manufacturers and subsequently our commitment to work directly with H&V distributors has been welcomed by them as a great opportunity.

Recap your strategy for attacking the h&v market directly:

Globally S&P is committed to working directly with H&V distributors in each country that it operates in (98 at last count). We have enjoyed a long and very successful business partnership in the UK with the market leading brand.

We manufactured and they marketed the product and built a very successful brand in the process. We are now fully committed to building the S&P brand based on the vast range of innovative products available to the market, through local distributors, at very competitive prices.

You mentioned you were poised to make some key appointments. Can you tell us about those?

Yes, as an OEM supplier of fans to UK customers we have operated with a relatively small and dedicated team of internal and external sales engineers and area sales managers. I

n order to work closely and effectively with H&V distributors we have appointed specialists in the H&V area who have a wealth of experience and understand the specific requirements of customers in that market.

We have also appointed a marketing manager to consolidate the investments in exhibitions, brand recognition, literature, price lists and other sales support tools, such as promotions.

There are many other key appointments in the pipeline; technical support manager, area sales managers and internal sales engineers.

What opportunities are opening up for Soler & Palau as you re-establish yourselves in the UK market?

We are excited about the opportunities that are opening up to us in the H&V market and beyond.

There is no doubt that this is a bold move, especially at this time but we are looking forward to strong and sustained sales growth in partnership with the network of distributors that we are working with.

If we offer them the right level of support and service as we move forward we are sure that they will reward us with strong sales in the future.

Which product areas are looking to be key for 2009?

Initially we plan to promote a core H&V product range that includes H&V staples such as plate and cased axial fans to suit a variety of applications and performance requirements.

Changes in filtration requirements have pushed up the pressure demands for kitchen extract ventilation and subsequently our contra-rotating high pressure axial fans are proving very popular against more traditional long-cased axials that struggle to perform.

In the domestic and commercial ventilation markets heat recovery ventilation systems will soon be necessary to meet the minimum requirements of building regulations and beyond that on-demand ventilation should be a growth area.

We already have the products and as the manufacturer the prices we can offer are very competitive. What we now need to do is tell people about them!

Given the downturn, is Soler & Palau changing its growth predictions for 2009?

Absolutely not! Our predictions were and still are realistic. We know that we have the products that the H&V market knows and loves at the prices that they need. We have the infrastructure in place.

We have the stock to meet our customers’ requirements and we have the people to deal with their enquiries.

2009 is just the start for us; we have made the necessary investments and we’re committed to growing strongly in the UK in the years ahead. But this time it will be under our own name. There is no going back.