While Brexit might have dampened some companies’ enthusiasm for setting up shop in the UK, the same cannot be said for Dutch coatings company Anker Stuy.
The family-owned company, which is the market leading joinery coatings manufacturer in the Netherlands, established a new sales operation in Peterborough in the summer of 2019, with the official opening in October.
Emile Stuy, who is the third generation of the family and who, along with his brother Armand runs the company set up by their grandfather in 1950, explained that after operating in the UK via an importer/ distributor, the time was right to set up a physical presence.
“Mighton Products has been distributing our products in the UK for about four years and the co-operation is going very well,” said Mr Stuy. “However, we felt that if we wanted to acquire medium to large sized accounts, we would need to service and supply them direct. We also wanted more control on what we sold into the UK in terms of product and how we marketed it.”
The arrangement now is that Mighton, which also sells hardware and ironmongery, focuses its Anker Stuy product sales on the smaller joinery customers that it can supply with next day delivery, while Anker Stuy itself concentrates on the larger accounts.
It’s a similar model to that of the company’s operations in Poland, the biggest wood processing market in Europe in terms of volume, where Anker Stuy has a warehouse with local staff serving the Polish market. Its other international operations – in Brazil, Germany and Austria, for example – are via importer/distributors.
As mentioned, Anker Stuy is the leading joinery coatings manufacturer in the Netherlands – “bigger than the PPG and Akzo brands” – and its domestic market is its biggest. However, it has serious ambitions in the UK.
“Our goal is to make the UK market 10% of our total turnover, which is €20m,” said Mr Stuy. “If we reach €2m in the next five years it will be a significant part of the Anker Stuy group.”
Despite the economic uncertainty that Brexit has brought, Mr Stuy is confident this is achievable.
“I have spoken to customers about this a lot,” he said. “The market for the smaller joiners who target homeowners who are decorating, or moving house and buying new doors and windows is still going strong. And in the social housing market in the UK there is huge demand for safety and quality, especially, for example, for fire retardant exterior doors following the Grenfell Tower fire.”
And, he added, while larger projects are moving more slowly as everyone waits on Brexit, more business could follow.
“There are a lot of imports coming from eastern European countries, such as Poland, Estonia and Latvia, which are selling sash windows into the UK for €700-800. After Brexit there could be an import tax on construction materials and that will benefit local joiners,” said Mr Stuy, although he admitted that there was an element of crystal ball gazing with that prediction.
Anker Stuy’s route to market is direct to the wood processing industry, so joinery companies, cladding manufacturers and so on and supplies both interior and exterior coatings, although it is stronger in the latter.
“We switched to water-based wood coatings in the early 1990s when labour laws in Holland put a stop to working with solvents indoors. The technology ensures that the water uptake in wood is very minimal, which is why we can guarantee a certain life span of the surface.
“This durability is important in the UK, which has a similar climate to the Netherlands,” he added.
Research and development has continued since the 90s and last year the company introduced its Hydrolux range, which is based on TRI-CRYL technology and is “the best of both worlds” in terms of fast processing and durability.
“It is a total paint system processed in one day and it is very durable,” said Mr Stuy. “All our products have KOMO certification from the Dutch accreditation board, SKH. This states that water uptake in wood is under 150g/m2.”
He added that the company also produces its own high quality pigments, which are “comparable to the automotive industry” and can guarantee against reduction in colour and gloss over many years.
Processing speed and durability top the wish-lists of most customers.
“Manufacturers want to optimise their production line to save on time and labour and energy costs and they are also interested in life span guarantees and after sales.
“We were the first coatings supplier in the Netherlands to sell our products online and we have the ambition to do this in the UK as well,” said Mr Stuy.
“We created an after sales plan for Dutch joineries whereby the customer registers their window or door online in our warranty plan, so we can track them and give them annual advice on maintenance. Then in 10 years we can recommend they repaint and order the coating from us. Some of this after sales revenue goes back to the window producer.”
The Hydrolux range is selling well, said Mr Stuy, as is Woodstain TP for the cladding market.
“It is an alkyd emulsion product that has the same benefits as the old classic alkyd paints but it is water-based. It dries very quickly so you can put three coats on in a day. It is also unique in that, while acrylics have a milkiness, this is translucent and gives the wood grain a lovely sheen.”
While the trend for cladding is translucent finishes, opaque colours still predominate in the windows and doors exteriors market. Natural matt finishes are in favour for interiors, said Mr Stuy, which is in contrast to the fashion in the Netherlands, where high gloss surfaces are popular – something he’d like to promote in the UK.
As for product innovation, a new primer has joined the Hydrolux range. This has the advantage of covering up the finger-joints that could otherwise be visible in laminated window components.
“The laboratory is the most important part of our company,” said Mr Stuy. “We have eight chemists in-house, working on formulations to optimise products and also to develop new ones specifically for the wood processing market.”
Product development is driven by market demands and also, of course, by legislation such as the Biocidal Products Regulation (BPR). “The EU is always talking about the risk of certain raw materials to the environment and human safety – cobalt for example – and how these can be reduced within paints,” said Mr Stuy. “If there is legislation on it then of course we will have to adjust to new materials.”
Whatever the regulatory demands, the company has ensured it is providing UK customers with strong technical support. The human factor is the recruitment of Dave Christie as general manager. With 25 years experience in the industry at AkzoNobel, PPG and, more recently, Remmers, Mr Christie is a well-known advocate of the UK’s timber and door sector and is a committee member of the Wood Window Alliance.
Graham Avery, who has more than 30 years industry experience, many of them spent at AkzoNobel, has also joined the team.
“They are there to support the customer, make sure the paint is doing what it should and, if necessary, advise on any adjustments to the production line. We are growing fast so hopefully we’ll have an additional person on board in 2020.”
Anker Stuy also has a close working relationship with paint line equipment suppliers such as Giardina (and its UK agent, Schuberts) and Cefla.
“When a customer asks us how they can optimise their production line we can invite them to see a line at one of our customers in Europe and then, if they are interested we take them to Giardina, for example, and they can investigate further how it works and what the investment would be.”
Mr Stuy added that an Anker Stuy innovation in the Netherlands is “single piece production”, whereby window components are coated with two layers of primer before assembly. The primer dries in just 15 minutes, the window is assembled and then just one coat of topcoat is necessary.
“This saves a lot of space and time,” said Mr Stuy, adding that a Dutch customer is incorporating this technique on a Makor line.
Anker Stuy is keen to emulate its success in the Dutch market in the UK and believes its “no-nonsense philosophy” will win the day here.
“We don’t have multi-layered management and are fast decision makers,” said Mr Stuy. “We are very flexible and can create custom-made products. We are close to the customer.”
