Sales team leaders look ahead to 2025

As 2024 draws to a close, Roto More interviewed the three regional sales team leaders in Roto Western Europe to find out what they achieved in last year and find out what they are looking ahead to for 2025.

Søren , Gerry, Vesa and Chris

Interviewed below are:

● Søren Milter Nielsen – Head of Customers and Markets for Scandinavia
● Gerry Claassens – Head of Customers and Markets for Benelux
● Vesa Nenye – Head of Customers and Markets for UK & Ireland

Søren Milter Nielsen

Hi Søren, how has 2024 been for markets in your region and for Roto?

We have to acknowledge that the construction market across Scandinavia has been hit hard. Depending on the country, the size of the market can be down by 20% or as much as 40%, so it is a serious situation. Nevertheless, from a Roto perspective it does give us some possibilities. In terms of our own sales we are ahead of last year and doing better than the markets in general.

The renovation market is also down, but not by as much as the new builds. Renovation is an area in which we aspire to make expansion, but at the moment this market is not a strong one for Roto because we do not have all the right products. We are currently working to provide solutions in this area, and when that happens we can expect positive things.

Looking ahead to 2025, are there grounds for optimism?

We expect all markets to start to pick up again next year. On a positive note, we are starting to work more with Deventer in Scandinavia. From 1st January we will be offering all of the Deventer weatherseal products. This is positive for our clients because we can provide gaskets that are designed to work with Roto hardware to provide the very best sealing performance, maintaining this over the life of the window. This is obviously very important in the winter conditions we get here. Another benefit of Deventer is that the TPE material is completely recyclable, so we achieve strong environmental credentials with C2C products.

Personally, I am looking optimistically that new builds in particular will pick up as we go through 2025.

Patio Inowa sliding system has become more popular as architects and specifiers discover the benefits it brings in weathersealing and energy saving, security and accessibility. With our partners we have launched a number of new products with Inowa over the last year.

The new product we will start to push out to the market in 2025 is Roto NX ‘C’. We can now sell this for use on open-out windows without needing a special release for each project. So this is something we will be talking about with customers. Of course we can also provide the inward-opening specification, and the concealed hardware is perfect for the Tilt & Turn market here because 90% of such windows in Scandinavia use concealed hinges.

Which Roto services are being used and are you planning to expand any in 2025?

E-learning is used regularly by customers, and this service is always growing with new modules being added. Roto Group is also issuing more installation videos for new products and customers really appreciate this. When setting up new fabricators, we make use of RotoCon software during the startup phase because it is a great platform for finalising and agreeing the specification.

What would you say about Roto to new customers?

In recent years many Scandinavian companies have been making acquisitions, buying up companies in countries like Germany, Czechia, UK etc. We want them to know we are a solid partner in their acquisition journey, because we are an established, stable company with high product quality and reliable logistics performance. We are also a partner for the design of new products and solutions; we develop everything by working with our customers.

Gerry Claassens 

Hi Gerry, how is the market in Benelux and what do you foresee in 2025?

Everyone knows that the volume of new buildings has dropped significantly and permits are taking longer. We don’t have a crystal ball, so it is hard to make predictions, but the important thing is that Roto is well placed to take advantage of the tide when it turns. We have the best products, a top team and the ability to supply everything on time

You did two trade fairs in 2024. How were they?

In the first part of the year we focused a lot around our two main trade fairs, those being Polyclose in Ghent, which serves mainly the Belgium and Netherlands markets, and of course Fensterbau, which attracts people from everywhere including our customer base.

We did a lot of following up on leads from both shows. Two products spring to mind as being the most popular for fabricators from our markets. For windows, Roto NX ‘C’ concealed tilt and turn hardware. For doors, our new double door solution, the Standard lever-operated espagnolette, which is easier to install and requires less milling of the profile. This product is also designed to make secure double doors that can pass tests such as SKG.

What are some other achievements for Roto in Benelux over this last year?

We have finalised the switchover of fabricators from the NT hardware to Roto NX. This puts us in a perfect position to introduce the Roto NX ‘C’ concealed solution to all of our customers during 2025.

For Patio Inowa, the customer base continues to grow and we are adding new profiles. Veka and Schüco are expanding their promotion of Inowa. We will continue these partnerships next year.

Another area in which we are working is sustainability. This is particularly important for big fabricators. Customers are asking more questions about our environmental compliance, for example whether certain chemicals are used. Roto is already prepared for these enquiries and we can provide the appropriate proof and assurances. This is because the entire Roto Group has a strategy and goals for sustainability.

For you, what are the main points of focus for 2025?

The main focus for me next year is promoting Roto NX ‘C’ and our complete door programme. With NX ‘C’ the fabricator can produce windows of a greater sash weight, opening new opportunities. They can more easily set the amount of tilt during production, again giving end users the best solution for their requirement. With the new double door solution, we can now offer door manufacturers a suite of products that will cover virtually every type of entrance door they need to make for domestic customers, bringing them Roto security and convenience.

We start 2025 with BAU Munich in January. We will have some new products, but I can’t say anything else about that yet.

Vesa Nenye

Hi Vesa, what has been positive for Roto in the UK during 2024?

The main positive for us is that we have increased market share and grown despite the very tough conditions. Everyone has been surprised that the positive forecast for market growth this year did not come through. The underlying market has continued to decline. But despite these factors Roto has performed extremely well. New customers are finding our products and switching to us.

Which products and services have been particularly successful?

We have seen significant interest in Tilt & Turn, partly because of contracts requiring this type of window. Patio Inowa, our market-leading sliding system also attracts serious interest. It is definitely the premium product in this sector now, and you can use it on any building, in any extreme weather or wind scenario, and get top performance.

Of course in this market we have a high proportion of open-out windows. Our FHR UNI hardware for fully reversible windows and the Twin-cam TSL for casement windows remain very popular.

A product area where we have seen a renewal of interest is Tilt & Slide. This is mainly due to the PS Air Com variant of our Patio Alversa system, which has positive handle control.

In terms of services, the new Customer Portal has been very well received. Customers can now send their purchase orders by email directly to the Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), which helps speed the process and eliminate errors.

 Your sales team is now also promoting Roto Deventer products. How is that going?

It has been a very positive development. We now offer a complete package of hardware and matching TPE weatherseals, so customers who buy both can be sure of premium performance in both these aspects of their windows and doors. We have gained market share here despite the market being subdued in general. If any customers of our hardware have not yet investigated the Deventer weatherseals, I recommend it because they bring great advantages in lifetime performance and sustainability.

What can we look forward to in 2025?

During the next year we will have some very interesting developments when it comes to gaskets and sliding doors. Roto continues to develop our Tilt & Turn solutions so you can expect something there.

I think Roto is expecting 2025 to be a much stronger year in the market, although the corner has not yet been turned and there is still a lot of uncertainty in the customer base. I have a cautious optimism that the first quarter will be subdued but that new housebuilding will pick up and normalise as the year progresses. When that happens, with all of the market share we have gained we expect a fantastic year for Roto.