NorDan Invests in Ireland with Acquisition of NorDan Vinduer Ltd.
Managing Director of NorDan UK, Alex Brown, details how the recent acquisition of the Dublin-based subsidiary opens up excellent opportunities within the Irish market.
The NorDan Group have recently secured 100% of shares in our subsidiary NorDan Vinduer Ltd. from the Dublin-based Carroll Joinery Group, further expanding and strengthening our organisation’s European market share. As Managing Director at NorDan UK, I am looking forward to the changes that will be brought about by this expansion and the opportunities it will present for collaboration between us and our Irish neighbours.
Exciting Possibilities
NorDan Vinduer Ltd. (NDV), with Carroll Joinery as the owner, has been selling and installing NorDan products in the Irish market since the early 2000s. With Ireland now generating some of the highest economic and population growth in Europe, there is a high demand for housing and construction as a whole, which presents a fantastic and timely opportunity.
NorDan windows have already been installed in Irish buildings for almost two decades and are practically a household brand, so having access to the existing NDV base in the Dublin region places NorDan at the centre of the Irish market. An important aspect of NDV is that, in addition to selling windows and doors, they are also responsible for ‘supply and fit’ installation, a unique service for our brand that requires additional resources and expertise within the organisation.
Since first introducing NorDan products to Ireland in the early 2000s, NDV has been generating good profitability, with sales in 2019 up 50% from 2018. There is clear potential for NDV to become the market leader in Ireland within our product category and the Group has the ambition to double sales to EUR 30 million over the next 3–4 years.
Moving Past Brexit
While uncertainty and complications surrounding Brexit may eventually present challenges across both the British and Irish construction industries, NorDan are in a more than ample position to cope with the waves. The Group, and NorDan UK, have the long-term vision, values and vertical integration necessary to sustain growth during the potential turbulence of the next few years.
In the last few months, NorDan has secured its important first foothold in Denmark with the acquisition of STM Vinduer. The company has also seen growth across the UK, with new offices opening in Gloucester, Manchester, Exeter, London and more. This has been driven by the combination of loyal customers and a desire in the British market for the durability, versatility and efficiency of our products.
While some companies might be battening down the hatches in preparation for Brexit, NorDan continues from strength to strength, reinvesting in exciting developments and the growth of individuals and leaders across the company. I believe this new investment in the Irish base of NorDan Vinduer will open many avenues for the organisation as a whole and be of great benefit to all members of the NorDan family.
Part of the Family
In many ways, NDV is already closely integrated with the rest of us at NorDan, sharing sales systems, product tests and documentation. The company is a strong and competent organisation with 30 employees under the leadership of CEO Sean Luskin, who has been with the company since 2005. The acquisition has been well received by those currently working for NorDan in Ireland, and Luskin sees great opportunities with becoming a fully owned subsidiary of the Group.
“We are now part of the bigger NorDan family but having said that we never felt any differently before the acquisition,”
Luskin said in an interview for our company newsletter.
“We have already enjoyed close collaboration with our sister companies, and proximity to NorDan UK in particular offers great synergies in a very interesting market. Through collaboration on several projects we have taken on major deliveries, and we look forward to both sharing and taking part in future ventures.”
Collaboration Across Borders
Having taken place on the 1st of February, this acquisition will give NDV even greater opportunities for closer cooperation with my team at NorDan UK, as well as with our colleagues at NorDan Poland. As Sean Luskin puts it:
"We all share the same type of problems and we each have a different set of expertise that we can share. For example, with 95% of our sales in Ireland we install the product. This I believe is unique in the Group and the expertise we have built up in this area can be shared with UK and Poland. The UK are very strong with building relations with key customers and with Customer Care. The methods they apply to achieve this are definitely something that NorDan Ireland can tap in to.”
On behalf of NorDan UK, I would like to welcome our Irish colleagues to the NorDan family, and I look forward to our close collaboration in the years to come.
