Andrew Sargent is a very frustrated man. He is general manager of Thetford-based Advanced Air, which manufactures grilles, dampers, fan coil units and now chilled beams.

He has just launched the Epic, a new fan coil unit which costs up to 20% less than the equivalent unit from competitors and it will, in addition, save those who install it about 33% of the energy bill of competitor units.

Further, it does not need commissioning as it is self-balancing which is another saving. Yet it is a hard sell for his salesmen.

'Our Epic fan coil unit is a world beater. But many of the consultants we have seen so far are traditionalists. They have used fan coil units from a competitor for years and don't see why they should change.'

Nevertheless, he has had at least one large success. On one London project some 1,200 of these FCUs were installed because the American developer had specified the units. They are working well and saving him money.

The developer had dealt with Nailor Industries, the US parent company, and was happy to deal with its UK arm - 'and we proved him right', says Sargent.

Self-balancing

However the contractor insisted on commissioning the fan coil units even when he was told they were self-balancing.

'I suggested he commissioned 10 at first. He didn't bother with the rest,' says Sargent.

The Epic fan coil unit delivers specific fan power of 0.15W/l/s whereas the best of the competition delivers sfp of 0.3W/l/s, he claims.

'What we have done is turn the fan on to its side (and the industry on its head) and installed a bigger DC motor which works more efficiently.'

The company has produced a new brochure explaining the Epic.

The good news for Sargent is that for the first time in the history of the Nailor companies, the US and Canadian firms will be importing chilled beam units from the UK and are using the UK knowledge base - in the person of Mick Holland, Advanced Air's technical manager - to begin manufacturing the units over there.

Advanced Air began in 1973 and is owned by Toronto-based Nailor. The group turns over Canadian $133million (about £89million) while the UK arm turns over £10million. There is 700 staff members overall with 130 in the UK. There are manufacturing plants in Toronto and Calgary in Canada, Houston and Las Vegas in America and here in Thetford, Norfolk.

Sargent took over Advanced Air in 2002. It makes fire and fire smoke dampers, grilles, diffusers, VAV units, control panels, fan coil units and now chilled beams.
'All our products are independently tested to the highest standard. Advanced Air is well-known for its dampers and to extend our remit the company has been following the Nailor route by expanding its offering.'
Hence, the frustration!

'Advanced Air is a well-kept secret.'

But slowly this is changing. More and more clients are visiting the manufacturing plant and one or two have started bringing their clients. They are surprised by our factory and testing facilities.
But he admits: 'it takes time for consultants and contractors to realise that a company has moved on. What they do not see are the resources behind the company, what we are trying to do and the quality of the products.'

Take quality for instance. Currently Advanced Air is working on a selection of grilles where the contractor wants a specific performance.

'Usually customers use what is available. We have asked this customer what performance he wants. If we can design a grille so that it offers the optimum performance, this reduces the size of the grille and the damper arrangement and probably all the other parts. We have the flexibility to offer bespoke grilles where needed. And this probably means less cost on the project.'

Complete package

And this is what Sargent sees as his goal. He wants Advanced Air to be seen as a terminal air conditioning provider, offering a complete package.
More to the point, he urges customers to consult with Advanced Air early in the project.

'We are the experts; we can help with the design of the project which will usually help save time and money.'

Indeed, he would be happy on the bigger projects for one of his technical staff to have a desk in the contractor's project office so that he will always be available to offer advice.

'It will save everyone time and money. It is not good to call us in at the last moment.'
On one job, he says his products were specified by the contractor and Advanced Air was offered a desk on site. He jumped at the chance to be involved.

Under Sargent the company has changed dramatically.

When he took over as general manager, the UK arm had £1.2 million debt and was not making money. Eight years later, it has moved from a rented factory in Bury St Edmunds to a building Advanced Air owns in Thetford, paid off the debt and nearly all the mortgage, bought new machinery including some robotics and increased its workforce.

He knows what he wants. And he wants more involvement from the factory floor.
For instance, factory staff wanted to introduce bar coding on all parts. It's working well, reports Sargent, even though staff was initially reluctant to approach him in case he turned the idea down or it did not work but he told them he was the one who had to take it on the chin.

'It is a case of changing the culture of the staff and this means the administrative and technical staff too.'

Committee of managers

He is also considering a committee of managers to come up with ideas. And he is all for internal promotion. If there is a job going and there is a worthwhile internal candidate, then he or she would be encouraged.

However, Sargent admits any company sometimes needs to take on external candidates because they bring new ideas and, hopefully, the good bits from the cultures of different firms.

He sees Advanced Air as a young, enthusiastic company with the potential to grow. He wants to treble the £10 million turnover within 10 years.

It would, he says, be easy to sit back and grow slowly year-on-year as it has been doing since he took over but Sargent believes that now the company is ready for a more dramatic growth. Advanced Air has great potential to expand exponentially, especially as it brings in new products to extend its franchise.

Take the grilles range, for instance! A standard offering a few years ago introduced Advanced Air to the market but it has since added swirl and high capacity slot diffusers with more grilles being developed at the moment.

And new for Advanced Air is a range of chilled beams.

But Advanced Air does not stand still and Sargent is thinking ahead.

'The nuclear industry will be spending vast amounts of money in the next few years. Firms will need dampers, thousands of them. We make dampers but not the heavy duty ones. We will be calling on our American parent for its knowledge of heavy duty dampers which it makes.

'We are looking at future marketplaces and seeing where the money will be spent. And I am prepared to invest money if the market is there!'

Sargent says Nailor is not particularly acquisitive. It prefers to grow organically although it has bought companies which were going for a song. He adds he would look carefully if a firm came up.

But there would be difficulties.

'Nailor companies work in their own distinctive way and there could be a clash of cultures. And while you were putting this right your eye would be off the core business.'