This month, we sat down with Simon Whittaker, national sales manager at Amber Underfloor Heating. With the Future Homes Standard coming into effect next March, understanding how to tile over underfloor heating will only become more important. We discussed how tilers can become effective ambassadors for UFH along with a range of other topics in the following interview.
Q: Can you tell us a bit about Amber UFH and your role in the company?
A: Amber is an underfloor heating specialist supplier and distributer of both wet and electric underfloor heating into retailers and distributors across the UK and Ireland. The business itself has been running for circa 35 years with the Amber brand launching around 12 years ago. My role as national sales manager is to ensure all of our customers are looked after and supported to the highest standard and oversee the day-to-day running of the sales department.
Q: What makes you stand out in the market?
A: I would have to say our extensive product knowledge, customer service and market leading warranties. Since the launch of Amber 12 years ago, we have always strived to be the easy company, the company people choose to deal with because we are professional, knowledgeable, but most importantly easy.
For example, if customers want to place an order over WhatsApp, because its quick and easy, then that’s fine. Give one of the sales managers a quick call on their mobile at 5.30pm on a Friday. No problem, also fine. Forgot to order the thermostat for your customer who’s desperate for it, not a problem. Free next working day delivery.
In addition, our electric cable product also has a 20-year Floor Guard warranty. This means if there is a manufacturing fault with the heating cable within 20 years, Amber will cover all associated costs for both materials and labour. That’s something I refer to as “a proper warranty”.
Q: What are the biggest lessons you’ve learned in the last few years at the company?
A: Never take your customers for granted! If ever you find yourself looking at your list of customers and thinking, I don’t need to go and see those guys, they are doing well with Amber, that’s a mistake! Treat every customer as if they are your biggest, keep those relationships going and never make assumptions. Some of our best relationships formed with our customers are because a previous underfloor heating supplier took them for granted.
Q: What are customers looking for at the moment in terms of design and functionality for underfloor heating?
A: End users are looking for a middle ground between cost, efficiency and practicality.
For example, an end user can purchase a 2500 watt plug-in electric radiator for £30 which ticks the box for cost, but it’s far from efficient or practical! Underfloor heating, whether it be electric or wet is a much larger outlay in the first instance. Once it’s installed and being used though, it pays for itself in the long run, so that’s the cost box ticked! Your whole floor is giving off a nice toasty warmth making you feel all cosy – that’s the efficient box ticked! That just leaves practicality – no wall space taken up by big metal radiators, no restrictions on room layout and most importantly, wall to wall comfort: tick!
Q: What impact are wider economic pressures having on the market?
A: The single biggest pressure for our industry is cost inflation. We strive to be as competitive as we possibly can, and as a result of that, we don’t have large buffers whereby we can absorb the consistent price increases from purchasing costs, to freight, stockholding etc. Don’t get me wrong, every supplier within the construction industry is having to do the very same thing, but for the end user, they just see the numbers going up on their invoice!
Q: What are the biggest challenges facing the underfloor heating market and how are you handling them?
A: The biggest hurdle for any underfloor heating distributor, particularly electric, is the stigma that it’s expensive to run. Don’t get me wrong, the cost of electricity has gone up and down (it feels like mostly up) significantly in the last 5 years, but what people seem to not acknowledge is, the price of gas has increased significantly more as a percentage over the past 5 years than electricity has. In reality, a well-planned installation of electric underfloor heating, designed correctly, can be no more expensive to run than traditional radiators. What it will be though, is considerably more efficient!
Q: What role can the rest of the tiling trade (retailers/contractors/fixers) play in promoting uptake of underfloor heating?
A: The best thing the tilers and contractors can do is learn more about it. Electric underfloor heating can be installed 90% by the tiler now with the final connection being completed by an electrician. That’s all extra chargeable labour for the contractor, most importantly the end user will ultimately prefer one fixer to do everything rather than multiple trades in and out. If the fixers are prepared to learn about it, and how easy it is to install they will have far more confidence when recommending it. Often, tilers who don’t fully understand underfloor heating will actively try and put the homeowner off it, when all they need to do is learn about it. At Amber, we offer free of charge training, and you will often see us around the country at trade days for our retailers too. Don’t hesitate to pop over, learn a bit and grab a freebie while you’re there!
Q: Is sustainability a focus for Amber and for your customers?
A: Yes, absolutely! Sustainability is an increasingly important focus for both Amber and our customers. As the heating industry moves towards lower-carbon and more energy-efficient solutions, we are seeing greater interest in products and systems that can help reduce energy consumption and improve the overall efficiency of a property. Air source heat pumps are a great example of this, I’d say as much as 50% of the wet underfloor heating designs we do these days are designed to work efficiently when paired with an ASHP rather than a gas boiler.
Q: What is your core message tto the market?
A: I think my message has to be “Trust the professionals”. If you’re a retailer, distributer or a homeowner, don’t choose your heating system on what you think you know, or what you hear over the garden fence. Give us a call and we can give you the facts that will enable you to make a more well-informed decision when it comes to choosing the right heating system. I think the phrase is: Knowledge is power!
www.amberufh.co.uk
