Leading UK hardware distributor IFI is celebrating a decade as a supply partner for Rapierstar fasteners, which are used for window and door manufacturing and installation, as well as in timber and general construction.
The Cambridgeshire based company, which is the longest established trading division of Rapidrop Global, has been supplying products to window professionals for over 25 years. From its 30,000 sq. ft national distribution centre in Peterborough, IFI delivers UK-wide on a next day delivery service, utilising its own delivery fleet and a network of national freight carriers, and supplies the complete range of Rapierstar products.
Jason Hutchings, IFI National Sales Manager, said: “IFI and Rapierstar have a shared ethos that is about going the extra mile for customers and that helps to explain why we have grown strongly together over that past decade. The Rapierstar brand has certainly helped us grow fastener and fixing sales year on year for 10 years and now makes us a key distributor for the brand in the UK.
“Our mission is to support customers with all the specialist products they need to succeed in a highly competitive marketplace, which is why we are dedicated to supplying products that give our customers marketing, technical and competitive advantages, backed up by industry leading brands service and support.”
Employing 90 people and annual sales of over £20 million, IFI is now one of the largest distributors of the Rapierstar range of specialist fasteners, including StarPVCU and StarPin products that are widely used in the fenestration sector. It supplies around 100 million Rapierstar pieces every year to fabricators and installers, completing the link between Rapierstar’s main distribution centre in Cheshire and the factory floor or fitting teams.
Jason adds: “What we can always depend on is that Rapierstar never stand still and they are always looking for the next innovation. The fact that they use their own state of the art testing facilities gives our customers confidence that all fasteners and fixings are rigorously tested, and this ensures we are offering the best possible fastening for all applications with optimal performance and corrosion resistance.
“We have a wealth of experience and technical knowledge across IFI, backed up with a dedicated and loyal internal service team, that works with our customers closely to thoroughly understand their needs. As a result, we are very well positioned to be the supply partner of choice to window and door fabricators and installers.”
Rapierstar’s Technical Consultant Mark Calpin, who has worked continuously with IFI since he joined the company in 2010, added: “IFI continues to go from strength to strength because they invest time and resources in making sure they give window and door manufacturers and installers a superior quality range of hardware across the board – of which fasteners are a crucial element. We will continue to support IFI at all levels and look forward to working with them for the next ten years and beyond.”
As the UK’s leading specialist fastener supplier to the door and window industry, Rapierstar provides the widest range of products to distributors and fabricators of all the major profile systems. Operating from its HQ and 100,000 sq. ft. warehouse and distribution centre in Cheshire, where more than one billion items are held in stock at any time, Rapierstar’s team of technical consultants work closely with customers in all corners of the country to help them manufacture the highest quality finished products most efficiently and safely.
