Rapierstar has appointed the highly experienced Paul Balfe as its new Technical Consultant for the north of England – taking the team’s collective fastener know-how to more than 135 years.
Paul joins Rapierstar following three years with KAT UK, where he was Product Development Manager in a role that involved working extensively with its aluminium window and door customer base and several systems extruders. His expertise in this arena is now set to benefit the window industry more broadly as Rapierstar develops its unique range of austenitic stainless steel fasteners specifically for aluminium systems. Paul will also be involved with the continuous development of Rapierstar’s market leading Star PVCU range of window screws for plastic windows and doors.
Overall, Paul’s career spans more than 30 years which includes 12 years running his own door and window manufacturing and installation business, plus various roles within Spectus and Heywood Williams. His expertise covers both PVC and aluminium, with the latter likely to prove particularly valuable to Rapierstar customers according to Managing Director, David Furness.
David says: “It’s fantastic to have Paul join our team. His technical expertise is a great asset which will help shape future fastener designs and ensure our customers have access to the highest quality products when they need them. He joins us at an exciting time for the business as our strong growth continues and we add new products to our range which stem from our ongoing innovation programme. Our range of fasteners for aluminium typifies this as we work closely to help customers optimise quality and provide credible customer warranties.”
Rapierstar now supplies fasteners to more than three quarters of the UK and Irish door and window market and are the most widely recommended screws by major systems companies and leading hardware suppliers. With its recent investment in logistics and supply chain technology, the company now delivers on time in full and error-free to customers on a record 99.4% of occasions.
Paul adds: “I’m delighted to be joining the UK’s most experienced specialist window screw and installation fixing company, and look forward to working with Rapierstar customers to help them create even better quality products that build and maintain their great reputation. Choosing the right fasteners for every aspect of the window or door construction and installation is absolutely vital if the finished product is to deliver on the promised security, safety, functionality and longevity. Together with my colleagues, we will help our customers to avoid the pitfalls and arrive at the best solution.”
Rapierstar operates from a purpose-built head office and 100,000 sq. ft. bonded distribution centre near Congleton in Cheshire, with supporting sites in Belfast and Norwich. Its own-branded products are designed and manufactured to exacting speed of insertion, strength of drill point and high plating standards, with quality assured through comprehensive testing at both its manufacturing plants and its ‘in-house’ R&D test facility at Congleton.
