Flat market focuses concentration on internal development

“A priority this year was to look over our product range and expand it with complementary products from other Group companies,” says Geoff Norcott, Group Vice President responsible for the UK. “We have also created a clear set of brand identities and continued to educate the market and develop our own management training. The fairly flat British market has enabled us to concentrate on establishing a strong base for the future.”

The UK regional organization was formed after the Yale acquisition in 2000 and now comprises six operating companies with seven individual brands. Geoff Norcott explains how the brands coexist and cover the UK lock market. “Our aim is to make each brand unique to its particular customer sector, so there will be little competition between them on the domestic market.

“It’s pretty clear actually. Assa, Abloy and Grorud, originally subsidiaries of the Group’s Scandinavian companies, all focus on the high-end market, but Assa concentrates on specifiers, Abloy on locksmiths and Grorud on the oem market for door and window fittings. CE Marshall is a specialist manufacturer of automobile locks and Chubb Locks Custodial Services a specialist manufacturer of detention locks. Security Products UK focuses its Yale and Union brands on mass-market sales – Yale on the residential side and Union on the commercial side.”

In 2002 the UK market showed slow overall growth, with little activity in new construction. Although the commercial and residential markets were both relatively quiet, Security Products UK managed to increase sales value after several years of reduced sales. For most companies, sales by volume remained at similar levels to last year. The exception – the car locks manufacturer CE Marshall – is heavily dependent on Ford, which had a poor year.

“We will improve profitability by moving assembly to the Group’s other car locks manufacturer, fab in the Czech Republic,” Geoff Norcott says. “The lower cost of manufacturing in East Europe will free us to concentrate on marketing, sales and design in the UK.”

The Professional’s Choice
In the commercial sector, Security Products UK is aiming to regain market share by relaunching the Union brand as ‘The Professional’s Choice’ and offering a range of new, redesigned and complementary products.

“This involved cooperation with many other Group companies,” says Geoff Norcott. “We have worked with Lockwood in Australia, Guli in China, Yale and Corni in Italy, KESO in Switzerland and Assa in Sweden. An excellent example of what Group strength can accomplish. In addition, our new Internet-based network includes specification software to help architects select the best products for their needs.”

Union has also designed a new styling package, offered to locksmiths and builders’ merchants to help them create a professional image for their business. It includes everything from product packaging and point-of-sale display material to clothing and stationery, all conforming to a uniform new look. The response from customers has been highly positive. Union also supports its network of locksmiths in upgrading the service they can offer to specifiers by providing direct lines to VingCard, Besam and Abloy.

Product ratings
“On the residential side the flat market has given us the opportunity to consolidate and improve our position,” Geoff Norcott continues. “A new product rating system, first introduced for padlocks, is now being extended to Yale’s whole residential range.”

The system aims to guide customers to the correct lock selection for their application. Symbols on the package quickly answer questions about what the product is, how it should be used, its design and the level of security. The original padlock system was devised in Australia by the Group company Lockwood, aided by local market research and evaluation of existing international Standards. It became the basis of a new Australian Standard covering strength, corrosion-resistance and functional performance and methods of testing them.

The high-security market in Britain is relatively small, but Group companies have a large share of it. “Growing the market itself is our prime aim,” Geoff Norcott comments. “We have work to do to make British customers understand the importance of high security and the link between security and safety.” Two major groups of highsecurity products, Abloy’s protec disk cylinders and a KESO high-security cylinder marketed under the Union brand, were launched during the fall, and Grorud and Security Products UK are currently developing more secure multipoint locking systems to increase oem sales to door and window manufacturers. “The UK government’s Private Finance Initiative may also give us some good opportunities in the detention and education sectors,” Geoff Norcott believes.

A massive new building project to provide 600 additional student residences for Britain’s Oxford Brookes University by September 2003 is currently underway. Jason Preece from the project’s specifier, Executive Security, has selected the Yale Pro-key masterkey system for the whole site, UNION lock cases for the bedrooms and cardlock systems on the doors. “I chose Security Products UK for their products’ reliability and the quality of supply. All the wholesalers hold Yale, Chubb and UNION brands.”

Education and training
ASSA ABLOY UK works to influence the market through distributors as well as end-users.

“We encourage distributors to sell more high-value-added products,” Geoff Norcott says. “That benefits them, us and the customers, because cheap imports carry low margins as well as often being inadequate. The new padlock and residential lock ratings have been a great help in educating the British market.

“We have also continued with our mobile exhibition, first launched at the start of the Volvo Ocean Race. It tours the country visiting trade shows and supporting local initiatives. We have assisted several local authorities to utilize funding to improve unsafe areas in an advised way, and the road show has visited these communities to inform them about the principles of secure homes. We visited 32 other locations during the year with the Neighbourhood Watch Association, which now covers some 6 million British homes. We also support the police initiative Secure by Design.

“Internal education and training are vital too. Representatives from all our companies attend various international Group councils and are responsible for spreading the information that they get there in the UK organization. Our own management training programs have been extended. Employees who show potential are sent on courses with modules covering Group philosophy, the market, product development, market research, the manufacturing process and financial management.”