2018:  Our most successful year to date

Written by Martin Izod

Looking back on 2018, I feel immense pride.  It’s been almost ten years since the birth of Safehinge and two years since we added Primera to the family. 

This year alone, we've seen a 40% growth in revenue across the Safehinge Group with the sales of Primera products growing at the fastest rate in eight years.  It’s incredible to be setting standards in both the Education and Mental Health sectors where our products are being specified by over 80% of Local Education Authorities and NHS care providers.


Image: Sheffield Children's Hospital

Working with the Priory Group

Priory set the standard as one the leading independent providers of mental health care in the UK.  We're delighted to have worked alongside them on a number of high profile projects this year including the Cheadle Royal and Middleton St George hospitals and the Mildmay Oaks rehabilitation centre.

Our products are installed in challenging, often high-risk environments where the buyer decision can quite literally be a matter of life or death.  We take great pride in the lifesaving details of our products and are thrilled that the Priory Group are depending on us to provide the safest doorsets for their service users.

Image: Mildmay Oaks

Continuously improving

You may have noticed that we like to be absolutely certain we've produced the very best, leaving no stone unturned in the design process.  As product design engineers, it's in our nature to push for ground-breaking designs; but it's also ingrained in our ethos of continuous improvement.  

Last year, our customers told us that - in general - they found the process for specifying doorsets a frustrating one.  “Slow, complicated and confusing” were words often used.  So throughout the year, we’ve spent considerable time simplifying our doorset range to allow our customers to choose from fewer, best in class products rather than an infinite range. 

Within this selection, we have invested heavily in a new Configure Price Quote (CPQ) system. The system will streamline the quoting and ordering process – a little bit like configuring a car before you buy it – and consequently improve the speed, simplicity of choice and quality of service for our customers.  Problem solved.

Image: SHP team discussing design sketches

Investing in our people

Last year, in his end of year review article, our Operations Director David talked about how our growing team meant that we were providing a more specialised support.  This year, we’ve invested even further by creating more key support roles such as the addition of Business Development Managers Clair Sharpe and Adam Neilson who have increased our depth and breadth of UK-wide support.

We’ve also welcomed new additions in the Admin, Doorsets, Marketing and Continuous Improvement teams across both offices. Each new team member has brought with them unique skills, making the team the strongest it’s ever been.  Our team really is our most valuable asset and it’s been a pleasure to watch it evolve.
 

Looking ahead

2019 looks set to be another exciting year as we continue to grow.  We’ve got new products and team members joining the family.  We might even see some first steps taken in a new direction... 

Finally, I’d like to thank everyone we’ve worked with this year.  Wishing you all a very merry festive period and a prosperous 2019!