2006 Best Business Innovation Award winner builds on success

Since winning the Rowan Best Business Innovation Award last year, Alumet's new ABLE Facade System has been phenomenal, with orders over £6.2 million.  Alumet was one of two winning companies in the Rowan Best Business Award and was chosen because they needed help diversifying with a new and highly innovative product.

Alumet was one of two winning companies in the Rowan Best Business Award and was chosen because, although it was already a very successful company, it was diversifying with a new and highly innovative product. Rowan has since been helping the company to identify a number of actions they needed to take in order to bring their new innovation to market and make it a commercial success.

"Alumet impressed the judges because the company had taken a step outside their comfort zone and looked for new products and markets," says Chris Rattigan, MD of Rowan and chair of the judging panel. "Since then we have been working with Alumet to help them make their new innovation a success. Alumet has an extremely able team of people and our approach was to help them think laterally. We provided the catalyst for fresh thinking - and we are delighted to see the success they are enjoying."

"We are looking forward to what this year's competition will bring - judging by early entries there will be a wide variety of very exciting companies and innovations to choose from."

Meanwhile Alumet points out that anyone who's been taking more than a cursory interest in the construction industry over the past year or so will know that things haven't being going so well for makers of similar solutions (several of the UK's leading facade contractors have gone out of business). This puts the fact that Alumet's turnover has doubled in the past three years into some context. One reason for the success is that it has proved adept at making the most of the latest trends in its industry, in particular partnering with key clients such as HBG, Taylor Woodrow, The Kier Group, Millers, Thomas Vale and Lovell Partnerships.

The ABLE Façade System is currently being tested to withstand the blast of a terrorist bomb, once all of the certification is in place the system will meet both the MoD and Foreign Office criteria.  Research has shown that Alumet may well have the only off-site fabricated, fully glazed, bomb resistant facade system not only in Europe but the entire world. Not bad for a company that is only 14 years old!!

Alumet sees innovation as no longer just an option but a necessity to stay ahead of their competitors. They have developed the Avon Brise Soleil solar shading system (Avon Solar Control) that fully conforms to the Government's Sustainable Development programme. This means Alumet can now offer its clients full facade solutions, a one-stop shop for the complete building envelope. New design offices have been opened in Halesowen, Yorkshire and Essex to cope with the rapid expansion. And in 2007 the company won the Rowan Best Business Innovation Award for the highly innovative ABLE Façade System.

Alumet is a great example of how businesses can continue to innovate throughout their development and the Rowan Best Business Innovation Awards are designed to recognise this as much as the new innovations of start-ups and entrepreneurs.

Rowan Group helps a wide range of businesses, from major companies to start-ups, to make their sales and marketing more successful and deliver increased revenue and profits. The company specialises in taking a hands-on approach to help its customers improve revenue performance. Where other consultancies are well-known for weighty reports on what needs to be done, Rowan gets involved at the sharp end, leading change from the front and becoming part of the client's team. Combining the best in practical sales experience and the highest quality business processes, Rowan helps businesses by delivering improvements in top-line performance and commercial outcomes. From getting innovations to market to leading transformation in sales, Rowan focuses on the top-line to help customers meet and exceed revenue and profit targets.