Strand Hardware has rewarded the skills and expertise of two team members by promoting them to senior roles. Jo Wallis, previously General Manager, becomes Operations Director, while Andy Michel moves from Warehouse Supervisor to Warehouse and Production Manager.

Jo joined Strand Hardware in July 2019 and has worked in the industry for more than 20 years. She began her career as a Supply Chain Co-ordinator for Allgood plc before joining GEZE UK as a Purchasing Assistant and later became its Purchasing and Distribution Sales Manager. She is MCIPS qualified and remains a member of the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply.

In her new role, Jo has day-to-day responsibility for all operational aspects of the business, including health and safety and human resources for Strand Hardware’s 20-strong workforce. She will work alongside Sales Director Craig Fox to support customer service delivery.

Outside work, Jo, who is married to Richard, enjoys running, exercise and spending time with their dog, Molly, who is a 3-year-old cockerpoo.

She said that she is looking forward to taking on more responsibility for day-to-day operations and becoming more involved in developing business strategy to “help strengthen the brand and help support its future growth”.

Andy joined Strand Hardware in 2012 and his new role will also see him take on more managerial responsibility including production planning, co-ordination, administration, efficiency reviews and quality assurance.

His duties now extend beyond the distribution warehousing to include manufacturing, alongside fulfilment and dispatch responsibilities.

In his spare time Andy is a keen amateur photographer who specialises in portraiture and is a committed family man who lives with his partner Edyta.

Strand Hardware’s Managing Director, Steve Marshall, said: “I am delighted to promote Jo and Andy within the company. They are both integral to Strand’s key operations, ensuring their smooth running and maximising opportunities for efficient and effective work practices.

“As a recent newcomer myself, I am pleased that they will strengthen the management team moving forward. They both have amazing qualities: Jo’s purchasing and sales background means that she is very target and deadline driven while Andy demonstrates great diligence and a commitment to managing services which are effectively the heartbeat of our organisation.”

It’s a triple crown for Steve Marshall who has not only taken over as Managing Director of Strand Hardware, but also its two sister companies – Strand Technologies and AliMet Fabrications.

The industry stalwart has taken the helm of the three Midlands companies following a 24-year career at GEZE UK where, for the past two years he served as Operations Director, following roles in the service and commercial teams.

However, his new challenge has taken him full circle – he began his career as an estimator for an aluminium door and window fabrication company (James Gibbons) before moving into the world of automatics (Newman Tonks followed by Horton Automatics).

Steve’s appointment is a significant step change for Strand Hardware and demonstrates a resounding belief in his abilities. It will be the first time that the company has seen day-to-day operations managed by someone outside the family-run firm. Strand was founded by Jonathan Franks in 1991 and his daughter, Catherine, took on the role of Managing Director in 2005. She will continue to help steer the ship in her new role as Chair of Strand Hardware.

Said Steve: “It is such an exciting challenge. They are three fairly different companies which at the same time complement each other. My work at GEZE UK has given me a background in door hardware, albeit that Strand Hardware has a different range of specialist products, but I know a lot of people in the industry that are customers of Strand already.

“GEZE also distributed iContact which is a pivotal product within the Strand Technologies range.   Although a relatively new company, Strand Technologies is going from strength to strength and diversifying into many new markets outside the door industry. I began my career with a door and window fabrications company, so AliMet’s business is not unknown to me either. All three are really, really exciting, and I'm looking forward to working with the teams, helping them develop and achieve further growth.”

He says he intends to spend his first 100 days ‘learning and planning’ - getting to know the teams, existing customers, market segments and identify opportunities for growth, development and diversification.

Steve will be supported at Strand Hardware by Sales Director Craig Fox and General Manager Jo Wallis in managing the day-to-day business operations.

Catherine Franks is to focus on special projects, strategy and investments. She said she felt certain that Strand Hardware and its sister companies were in “a safe pair of hands”.

“I would not move aside, if it were not for the certainty that Steve is absolutely the right person for the job. Managing three companies is not easy, each has its own unique demands but Steve has huge amounts of experience working within complex working environments and to time-sensitive deadlines. I feel confident that he will be able to support all three companies and help them grow.”

There may be a long, hard winter ahead. Amid fears that the UK is heading for a season of ‘super colds’, flu and increase in COVID transmission, the NHS has launched a campaign to encourage people to get vaccinated to boost their immunity. But vaccines are only part of the solution – they can only counter expected strains of diseases that can mutate and strike when our immunity is at its lowest.

The hard cold fact of the winter season is that when the temperatures drop, we head indoors. We commune with others for longer, often without the benefit of natural ventilation. We are in the vicinity of airborne contagion and we frequently touch things that others have – passing on bugs as consequence.

So, what can we, as specifiers, developers and facilities managers, do to stop the spread? As with smart buildings, we must consider how our environments will be used and plan to protect – down to the smallest detail.

Buildings that are in public use need to be carefully considered. Hospitals, care homes, nurseries, schools and colleges accommodate the sick and vulnerable. Other purpose-built facilities will see large congregations: retail, hospitality, leisure and fitness, also need to think about the visitor ‘journey’ as well as travel: trains, buses and planes and their passenger hubs.

Minimising risk reduces opportunities for infection and with this in mind, natural ventilation, contact and cleaning are key.

At Strand Hardware, we work with selected distributors who work closely within specialist sectors. For 30 years, we have listened and worked with them to source, obtain and modify suitable architectural ironmongery to meet exacting standards.

Combining durability with resilience, our range of door and window hardware, control systems and emergency/panic hardware is designed for longevity.

Anti-bacterial coatings can be applied to many of our products – an essential method of defence particularly when used in buildings within the health and care sectors where infection can be prevalent and patients more vulnerable.

We open windows and walk through doors many, many times throughout the day – so frequently that we become oblivious to the contact we may have.

A rigorous cleaning regime is essential but the architecture of a single door, with its intricate fixed and moving parts, can be an obvious trap for dirt and germs. Naturally, there will be a focus on minimising contact transmission by cleaning handles, fingerplates and other door architecture that has frequent use, but what about those all-important fingerguards and drop seals?

As the UK stockist for Athmer finger protection, we know that our products have undergone rigorous testing using a range of cleaning agents.

Extensively tested using the most common cleaning agents and disinfectants from the RKI/VAH list. They were examined for possible reactions and resistance to:

• Bacillol AF
• Incidin +
• Trichlorol
• Optisept
• Milk of lime
• Terralin
• Helipur

The tests found little or no reaction to the 100% pure solutions, with only slight discolouration of fabric due to deposits caused by evaporation of the cleaning products. No negative impact was caused to the durability or function of the components.

Catherine Franks, Managing Director of Strand Hardware, says: “Athmer finger guards offer a quality product range which is durable and reliable, preventing injuries by eliminating the danger of accidental finger entrapment between the closing edges of the door leaf and the door frame. Specifiers should choose products that have been tested to BS8613 as well as being tested with cleaning products.”

The need for deep cleaning to combat disease has never been more pertinent, especially within health and care sectors where efforts to limit contagion have been stepped-up to minimise contamination through contact.

This includes doors – entrances to wards, operating theatres, laboratories, emergency rooms and other public areas.

Naturally, there will be a focus on minimising contact transmission by cleaning handles, fingerplates and other door architecture that has frequent use, but what about those all-important fingerguards and drop seals? All door parts have a propensity to trap dirt or germs but can they take the impact of rigorous cleaning and remain effective?

Strand Hardware is the exclusive UK distributor for Athmer finger protection which has undertaken rigorous testing of its products using a range of cleaning agents.

The products were extensively tested using with the most common cleaning agents and disinfectants from the RKI/VAH list. They were examined for possible reactions and resistance to:

• Bacillol AF
• Incidin +
• Trichlorol
• Optisept
• Milk of lime
• Terralin
• Helipur

The tests found little or no reaction to the 100% pure solutions, with only slight discolouration of fabric due to deposits caused by evaporation of the cleaning products. No negative impact was caused to the durability or function of the components.

Finger protection is a vital safety measure in public buildings, particularly those where children or vulnerable people are present. A closing door will exert a massive amount of pressure on fingers or hands trapped in the hinge gap and can cause injury.

Catherine Franks, Managing Director of Strand Hardware, was keen to point out that not all fingerguards are made equal.

“There are a great deal of cheap plastic finger protectors coming into the UK which may not have durability or resistance to cleaning products. As with heat, cold or aging, detergents can cause plastics to become brittle,” she said

“Athmer finger guards offer a quality product range which is durable and reliable, preventing injuries by eliminating the danger of accidental finger entrapment between the closing edges of the door leaf and the door frame. Specifiers should choose products that have been tested to BS8613 as well as being tested with cleaning products.”

Three leading Midlands entrepreneurs have joined together to launch a new venture – Strand Technologies – producing technology-based solutions for safety, security and control which can be used across a range of industries.

Catherine Franks, Paul Ryan and Simon Bowden all run and manage businesses within the door hardware and automatic doors sector and have previously partnered on other projects.
They have now launched Strand Technologies (April) to spearhead a range of products which can be used to monitor and remotely control a variety of operating systems including automated pedestrian entrances, access control systems, industrial doors, gates and shutters as well as road signage and refrigeration.

Catherine Franks is heading the company as Managing Director, overseeing day-to-day operations and aligning Strand Technologies entrance solutions market alongside her existing business, Strand Hardware.

Simon Bowden, who previously worked for GEZE UK, Record and GU Automatic Doors, has taken on the role of Commercial Director, managing sales and new product development, while RTR founder Paul Ryan, is Director for strategic support for business development.

The business, based in Walsall - the home of Strand Hardware, has iContact among its product range. This is a device which can be applied to any electro-mechanical operating system for remote monitoring, control and diagnostic management.

By connecting the ‘black box’ to automatic doors, industrial gates, shutters and barriers, it uses ‘real time’ information to enable remote or on-site diagnostics and operations via a digital user platform.

iContact has a variety of application interfaces including ‘virtual engineer’, safety reporting and diagnostics, ‘Sentry’ for safeguarding public buildings, and WebTAG for commercial and domestic remote management of buildings.

Strand Technologies also has the Virtual Usher – a range of products to manage volume and footfall entering buildings using a traffic light management process with a user platform to control occupancy rates.

Said Catherine: “iContact was introduced to the market some years ago and was probably ahead of its time but it’s application has extended well beyond its envisaged initial use. We are continuing to develop the system to ensure that it can be fully integrated against technology standards across the globe.

“The pandemic has taught us that there is a need for technology-led solutions to be applied in real situations to enable efficiencies and cost-effective problem-solving. Strand Technologies gives us opportunities to fully focus and develop these types of products and systems to make life easier for the end user.”

Simon reinforces this view: “There is enormous potential within a product range of this type. It offers a great deal of versatility which means that it can be used across a wide range of industries with very specific needs.”

Added Paul: “We are delighted to finally unveil our plans for Strand Technologies. The demand for smart entrances is only going to increase and by harnessing the power of technology, we can extend our products to meet these needs.”

Over the years, the team have proven that they work well together and that business can also be “fun”.

In the lead up to the launch, the directors trickled out a social media ‘teaser’ campaign, ‘The Three Amigos’, which features their younger selves overlaid with hand-drawn illustrations of their personality types: angel, devil and joker.

“Although we are involved in a serious business, we are all of the same mind that it’s important to bring something of yourself to the table. We enjoy working within our industry and Strand Technologies creates a bridge to sell our products within a wider range of markets.

“Technology is the enabler – we are the problem-solvers,” she concludes.