Peterborough: 01733 574 747
Gloucester: 01452 305 519
Tradeframe was started in 1982 by Mike Chambers. It was a specialist supplier to the retail window industry of UPVC and aluminium windows and doors. As the market moved away from aluminium in the 90's Tradeframe concentrated it's efforts on UPVC. It also began to manufacture conservatories. In 2003 the business moved to a bespoke factory in Peterborough to meet the growing demand. In 2005 Will Nicoll came into the business as a consultant. He had previously owned and sold several successful retail and manufacturing businesses in the window industry. In 2006 Will Nicoll purchased the business from Mike Chambers.
The business grew steadily under the new stewardship and in 2008 Windowmaker, another specialist manufacturer was merged into Tradeframe, adding to the efficiency of the factory.
Will Nicoll had a history in retailing windows. He was always frustrated by how difficult it was for people to buy windows. Firstly they had to cope with the misleading 50% off discounts from initially inflated prices. They then had to run the gauntlet of having a double glazing salesman in their house for hours making fanciful claims about their products, before quoting them a falsely high price and discouning it several times until the customer gives in. Most of the national companies still operate like this today. The advent of the internet and websites gave Will the idea that was to become Tradeframe.com Ltd. He realised that on a website you could tell customers everything they needed to know regarding the quality, specification and standards of all the products in the range. Importantly, it could be done without expensive salespeople. The first thing anyone who is buying a product or service wants to know is "how much". At Tradeframe customers can quote themselves from the website or if they wish a surveyor will come out and quote them and do the technical measure at the same time.
Such was the success of Tradeframe.com in Peterborough it was decided to open in Gloucestershire and then in Swindon in Wiltshire. These areas were chosen as Will has tried and tested people that he had worked with before to operate the depots here. They are always looking to expand the branch network but the availability of top surveyors and fitters means that this is a slow process.
The manufacturing side of the window industry has gone full circle in the last decade. Most manufacturers concentrated on their specialist areas of the market, but things have changed. With the re-emergence of Aluminium, and windows now coming in 100's of colours instead of three, and with the range of doors and conservatory roofs increasing tenfold, there is no factory that can manufacture all of these products under one roof. This has given rise to a number of "super fabricators". These are businesses that have several factories in various locations making all of the products now available. In 2014 Tradeframe was approached by Glazerite, one of the largest and most succesful manufacturers in the UK, with a view to selling the manufacturing business to them and forming a strategic supply partnership with Tradeframe.com . This has allowed Tradeframe.com to concentrate all their efforts on retailing, safe in the knowledge that all of the products are being manufactured in state of the art facilities and to the highest standards across the UK by Glazerite.
Anyone buying from Tradeframe.com can be assured that they are buying first class product, made by top manufacturers from a company that has been around for over 30 years.
We decided to create a quick video to address some of the more common questions we receive, and also to show why you should buy from Tradeframe.com:-
We have now recently expanded our fitting areas, allowing us to provide the full Tradeframe.com Supply & Fit service to more customers. Take a look at the maps below. If you are close to the edge of our of our areas, feel free to give us a call.