EGGER is a family business, founded in 1961, with its first chipboard plant in St Johann, Austria, which is still the company’s head office today.
Since then the company has grown to 17 plants in seven countries and 23 Sales offices worldwide with over 7,000 employees. EGGER has two plants in the UK; Hexham in Northumberland and Barony in Ayrshire.
The EGGER Group is one of the largest manufacturers of wood based materials in Europe. Its products are used in the construction, furniture and interior design sectors. Catering for all markets, EGGER products can be seen in walls, roofs and flooring in residential/commercial applications, offices, hotels and retail outlets.
WLN – As a top Mezzanine Flooring supplier, what have conditions been like in the past year for your business?
With the launch of our EGGER OSB HDX 30mm board we have hit the ground running with customers recognizing the quality and benefits of using OSB HDX in place of traditional 38mm chipboard alternatives.
WLN – How have recent international developments affected you and how have you responded?
With recent events internationally, including the drastic falling in the value of the pound towards the end of 2016, this of course has had effects on our overall cost base. Where possible we have, and continue to try to absorb these costs for as long as possible through production efficiencies and investments in technology.
WLN – What are your flagship products and services?
EGGER UK produce a wide range of construction products for housebuilding, timber frame, offsite modular, merchant customers and of course EGGER OSB HDX boards for industrial/commercial and mezzanine flooring applications.
WLN – What makes you the ‘go to’ supplier in your category?
EGGER never stand still and continue to develop existing products and generate innovative new products, by listening to our customer’s feedback so they have the best products available for their needs.
WLN – How do you help customers improve their business performance?
With EGGER OSB HDX, we have developed an innovative product which only needs to be 30mm thick (as oppose to typical 38mm chipboard alternative) which means it’s around 20% lighter, this despite the panel size being 11% larger. This means customers get more coverage per board and it’s easier to manoeurve saving time and money on site.
WLN – How have you changed your offering to customers in the last 12 months and why? Have you added anything new?
Following discussions with our end users, we now sand EGGER OSB HDX boards which provides us with added benefits, particularly with wear and tear. It also allows us to look at future developments with EGGER OSB HDX with potential coatings for various site requirements.
EGGER OSB HDX is a very new product anyway, as typically 38mm chipboard is used, but as this can be heavy, bulky and difficult to manoeurve on site we developed the thinner, lighter and wider panel to overcome these issues yet still outperform 28mm chipboard technically.
WLN – Have you made any enhancements to your customer service?
EGGER OSB HDX is produced in our German OSB mill, and is shipped over to the UK where we have 2 x distribution hubs which hold our required stock levels. This means customers are able to order OSB HDX as part of their normal loads, and mix and match with other chipboard/OSB products. We also have dedicated distributors making EGGER OSB HDX easily available all over the UK and Ireland.
WLN – Which markets are your customers in? Which ones are growing fastest?
Primarily EGGER OSB HDX customers are in the mezzanine flooring market, however the boards are also suitable for racking, shelving, working platforms and decking. As businesses grow they will often look to relocate premises in order to expand their operations. This can be very costly and time consuming, never mind the upheaval involved in moving a business to a new location. Often a more economical and efficient answer can be to consider installing a mezzanine floor in the existing premises. This can allow businesses to make the most out of their current premises with the potential of doubling the area for a one off cost as opposed to either moving entirely or increasing rental costs.
WLN – What’s been your most memorable recent project?
EGGER UK’s new OSB HDX 30 mm loadbearing panels have been used by leading commercial interiors firm; Company Image Commercial Interiors, based in Leicester, in an extensive refurbishment project to update office and showroom facilities at Donington Park race circuit for tenants BookaTrack.com Ltd, the UK and Europe’s leading track day Organiser. Andy Dawson, project manager at Company Image, explains: “We specified EGGER OSB HDX panels to create a mezzanine for the first floor because of the product’s strength and quick fitting method. Although the sheet sizes are larger, the new boards are actually lighter and easier to handle than traditional 38 mm chipboard panels. These advantages allowed the floor to be laid quickly and efficiently, saving time and costs for the client.
WLN – What were your other major achievements in the last 12 months?
EGGER UK Ltd posted a record turnover for the financial year 2015/16 of over £266million.
WLN – Are you branching into any new areas, targeting new customers and taking on more people?
With the development of the sanded OSB HDX boards, this gives us potential to look at coated options, such as Protect, Class O foils etc.
WLN – How important is staff development and training to your growth?
Development and training are key to our growth and success, we have various internal training schemes as part of a large EGGER project, including EGGER Kompact, where training is provided to all employees, by employees.
WLN – Looking ahead, what factors do you see affecting your business? How are you turning these into opportunities?
As with most companies there is a degree of uncertainty with Brexit, however with our set up and investments we are in a strong position going into 2017.
WLN – Which major trade shows and other industry events are you involved in over the next year?
We will be attending various customer events, along with NHBC shows and we are also looking into attending the next IMHX to showcase our EGGER OSB HDX product.
WLN – What headline news from Egger (UK) Ltd can our readers look forward to seeing in Warehouse & Logistics News in 2017?
News on our continued investment into not only our UK operation, but the wider EGGER group factories across Europe. We also continue to develop and be innovative with our products so that our customers always know they have the best possible materials for their requirements.
WLN – And finally, in our social media age, if you had to sum up your company in a 140-character tweet what would you say?
EGGER UK – always known for being pioneering and innovative. Providing our customers with the best possible products for their construction needs.
EGGER UK LTD
0845 602 4444
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