PURA Composites seeking distribution partnerships

Eco-friendly decking company PURA Composites Ltd imports and distributes throughout Ireland a range of composite materials including decking, cladding and screens. The company`s market share is growing rapidly and they are now seeking distribution partnership agreements for their PURADECK, PURACLAD, PURA SCREENS, and HARMONY DUODECK ranges with all major players in the Irish timber and builders’ merchants’ sectors. Their decking ranges utilise the latest composite technology to produce a long-life, low maintenance, slip-resistant, and child-friendly material while also offering a 15 year warranty on its PURADECK and up to 25 year warranty on the HARMONY DUODECK range. The company’s primary focus is on improving the environment. It achieves this by innovative use of a combination of Forest Stewardship Council FSC 100% certified hardwood timber from well-managed, sustainable sources and recycled plastic waste in its decking and composite products. Behind PURA Composites are two men with a solid pedigree in the timber and importing sectors. Managing Director Keith McMahon founded Timber Ireland in 2011 which specialises in timber importing and nationwide distribution of timberbased products and services. He has over 30 years of industry 2020 has been a year like no other. Like many companies government restrictions have limited the ability of the sales force at Niko Bathrooms and Uppercross to engage with their customers in normal face to face settings. This proved extremely difficult as it upset the culture of how their sales force operate and interact with their customers. As some of the restrictions were lifted in the past couple of months, they decided something had to be done to try and lift the spirits of their customers and employees. The company came up with the idea of creating a Fantasy Football League which is based on player performances in the English Premier League. It`s a simple process, your team is awarded points depending on how the players on your team play. The company league name is “Niko/Uppercross 2020”, and their scoring started from Game Week Two (19th September). The league sees their customers make one team per store and compete against each other. The employees of the stores build a team with a budget of ¤100 million of fantasy money! The store with the most points will win a One for All voucher at the end of every month worth ¤100 and then the overall winner will win a ¤500 voucher. experience which began in his family timber and builders merchant business McMahons Builders Providers. Commercial Director Declan Timoney has 35 years timber merchant experience which began in McMahons Builders Providers Dublin operations. Keith McMahon says, “Our entire ethos is centred around a range of products that offer low maintenance and long life, are socially responsible and kind to the environment, safe and childfriendly. Not only is our slip-free composite decking comfortable to walk on barefoot, it’s also a naturally splinter-free surface. Both stockists and end-users have the satisfaction of knowing that they are selling and buying a product that’s great for the environment. Consumers are increasingly switching to composite materials instead of plastic as global challenges around plastic waste and the ability to plant forests to meet future timber demands increase, composite products provide a sustainable and genuine alternative to timber” To find out more information about becoming a PURA Composite stockist, contact their sales office 01-8427669 or to order a sample email sales@puracomposites.ie or visit their

NIKO BATHROOMS & UPPERCROSS LIFTS SPIRITS

website www.puracomposites.ie When the company first released the news to their sales force, they immediately wanted to join the league, but this would have defeated the purpose of the customer league as they have some serious fantasy players among their ranks! So, they built an internal league where all their employees can join and compete for similar prizes. The purpose of this Fantasy Football isn’t to talk solely about football, it is to bring back and reconstruct the relationships that Covid-19 has restricted all of us in having due to the recommended guidelines of limited social gatherings and social distancing. The company`s aim is to have a competitive league where people can create conversations and start to enjoy talking to people about positive subjects once again, and of course who doesn’t want to win the prizes!

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BRINK’S CASH SERVICES OFFER PREFERENTIAL RATES TO HAI MEMBERS

The Brink’s Company, a global leader and the world’s largest cash management company have agreed a preferential deal for HAI members. Brink’s are at the forefront of new technology and innovation and are delighted to be able to bring HAI members the latest in cash automation.

WHY should HAI Members use CASH IN TRANSIT?

IT IS CHEAPER TO USE BRINKS THAN LODGE CASH

LOCALLY IN THE BANK

Banks are charging between ¤4.50 – ¤8.00 per ¤1000 lodged to business customers. Brinks, in contrast, allows you to completely avoid the charges imposed by banks for cash deposits

Save time and staff resources

Eliminate risks to the personal safety of you and your staff.

Insurers factor in owner risk for bank walks while quoting premiums

Free deliveries of Coin/Note orders in conjunction with collections

Gain access to a full online lodgement, reporting and ordering portal. The Brinks deal for HAI members offers a secure, competitive alternative solution for banking your cash and cheques. They collect and transport your cash deposits securely to their cash After the successful launch last year of their ‘how to mix concrete’ videos and handy concrete calculator, Irish Cement have now added another ‘how-to’ video to the series. This time the series takes the viewer through a step-by-step guide on how to lay a concrete base for a garden shed. The short animated video, less than three minutes long, builds on the previous series and provides easy to follow guidance and tips for the DIY enthusiast. Commenting on the new video, Richard Bradley, Head of Technical Marketing with Irish Cement said, “We were keen to add more video content to our website. The previous videos and particularly the concrete calculator proved to be very popular with our bagged cement customers when we launched them last year. For this video we chose the base for a garden shed because it is a very achievable project for those interested in DIY. The video provides some simple steps to achieving a great result and depending on the size of the shed the base can be scaled up or down. The video contains some common tips and techniques that can be used in other concrete projects.” Does your customer need to mix concrete for a DIY project at home, like a path or a patio? Are they or you as a retailer centre where they count, verify, report and EFT your funds directly into your account overnight. They also can deliver any coin/note orders you may need. There are no additional delivery charges when orders are delivered on your scheduled collection day. As an example, there is a potential cost saving of ¤48 - ¤100 p/week on an amount of ¤15,000 lodged, depending on your current bank.

Testimonial from Sean McNamara - Finance Director - Home Project Centre Limited (HPC Ltd) Oct 2020 “A key factor for Home Project Centre engaging Brinks was staff safety. With the risk of snatch & grab thefts, Brinks have allowed us to ensure that staff are never required to transport cash. Our bank account fees for ordering change and making lodgements have reduced. Rather than going to the bank to collect the change order and make lodgements, Brinks save us staff time and costs by coming to our retail locations and doing it for us.”

In the coming months Brink’s will be launching a new range of Smart Safe solutions ‘Brinks Complete’ with an in-built early payment model which they feel will revolutionise retail banking

in Ireland. For further information please contact: Jim Copeland, jim@hardwareassociation.ie / 01 2980969 /

IRISH CEMENT ADD A NEW `HOW-TO` VIDEO TO THEIR HELPFUL SERIES

087 6671361 or Email: denise.mccarthy@brinks.com unsure about the correct ratio of cement, sand, and gravel to mix? Would they or you know what to do if there was too much water added to the mix? The answers to these and many more questions can be found by visiting the dedicated website www.irishcement.ie/howto. Irish Cement, a CRH company, is Ireland’s leading manufacturer and supplier of cement in bags and bulk for over 80 years. Irish Cement has been trusted by professionals for generations. For more information visit www.irishcement.ie

UNITED HARDWARE LAUNCHES NEW 7,000 SQ. FT. TRADE SHOWROOM

United Hardware has launched an impressive new showroom facility at its Head Office and Distribution Centre in Dublin. This is a solution that will allow it to showcase the latest product trends to its retailing members in place of the traditional trade show format which the Group has suspended as a result of COVID-19. United Hardware will showcase the latest products and innovations on a phased, appointment-only basis with retailing members to ensure that best possible social distancing is always maintained. Attendees will be temperature-checked on arrival and provided with sanitiser and facemasks for their visit. The showroom has already successfully welcomed its first tranche of member visits, however, all future tours will be dependent on COVID-19 related travel restrictions imposed by the Government at any particular time. Commenting on the launch of the new facility, Lourda Kildea, Purchasing & Marketing Director, said, “We’re delighted with our new showroom facility and we expect to put it to great use over the coming months. This facility gives us the flexibility to continue showcasing the latest products and innovations across our industry in a safe and controlled environment where members can feel comfortable. It also gives us an opportunity to deliver a more personalised experience as attendees will be accompanied by a dedicated point person on their visit to answer any questions they might have.” “With some level of travel restrictions likely in place well into the New Year, we’re forecasting another summer of strong consumer demand and are already putting a massive emphasis on ensuring that our members are best equipped to satisfy the appetite of the increasingly home and garden proud consumer.” Product categories on display include Summer 2021 garden furniture, accessories and BBQs, home decorating, heating, bathroom furniture and accessories, tools and much more. United Hardware also launched its latest own brand ranges that include BathWorx, GardenWorx, BuildWorx, Love Nature Bird Feed, LaundryWorx, CleanWorx, and Ecozone, an environmentally friendly cleaning range, all of which are on display at the new showroom facility. United Hardware Ltd supplies and operates the Homevalue retail brand on behalf of its members who together have over 150 stores across Ireland and combined retail sales in excess of ¤400 million. These members employ over 1,900 people across 26 counties.

KILSARAN TO OPEN THEIR NEW PRECAST PLANT IN 2021

Kilsaran is excited to announce its entry into the precast market with the launch of a new precast concrete manufacturing facility at their Brownstown site in County Kildare. This site, scheduled to come on stream in early 2021, will be dedicated to the delivery of factory finished materials to the Construction Sector. The new precast offering will fit seamlessly into Kilsaran`s well-established product range that has long been recognised for its site-based benefits and reliability. It now has the enhanced advantages of factory production bringing increased certainty in quality and budgets. Their new fully automated structural precast concrete plant features the most advanced concrete production machinery available in Europe. It has been assembled in a circulation plant that has robots providing shuttering, placing fixings, prefabricating reinforcement cages, and placing concrete to the highest degree of accuracy. Computer-controlled production systems transfer information from designers directly to the robots, meaning that just in time delivery is always available. Buildings of all sizes can now be designed, manufactured, delivered, and assembled by Kilsaran. The company are now actively speaking with clients regarding their precast requirements for 2021 and beyond as well as building a team of talented personnel to run the plant. The first panels from the new plant are on schedule for delivery in Q1 2021.