From little acorns

AIC is just beginning to get a foothold in the UK market. Stephen Wilson explained to EiBI how an emphasis on product quality will help the supplier of boilers flourish in a tough market

The saying goes that mighty oaks from little acorns grow. Stephen Wilson will be hoping exactly this as he nurtures the first roots get established of a new player in the UK boiler market.

The managing director of AIC Heating UK may be overseeing a fledgling operation in the UK at present with just eight members of staff but the parent company, based in Poland has a turnover of over €60m and is a sizeable player in the European and US markets. The European headquarters and R&D facility are in the Netherlands. “The UK is the next stage of the journey for the group,” Wilson told EiBI. “When we started we had a piece of paper and no offices. We met in a café and got it up and running.”

Based in Inverkeithing, just north of Edinburgh, the group is investing heavily in new offices and training facility. Wilson, formerly managing director with another boiler and tank manufacturer , expects a steady growth in the size of the workforce from the current eight. “We have the technology and the knowledge. Our first product for the UK is the Nesta Chrome wall-mounted range that is available in five sizes from 60 to 150kW. We are looking at the light commercial market, leisure centres, hotels, and office blocks, care homes and hospitals. That will be the core of our business.”

Wilson acknowledges that the boiler market is a tough place to be but is being realistic in AIC’s place in the crowded forest of UK boiler suppliers. “With the product range we currently offer from 60-840kW we are looking to capture around 3-4 per cent of the UK market, which I think is achievable.” Already the first boilers are in operation. “We have installed units in schools, leisure centres, as well as a couple of prestigious hotels.”

Wilson says that the company’s preferred route to market will be by the wholesalers although he admits it seems easier dealing with the independent wholesalers. However, he is adamant that all training and commissioning will be carried out by AIC or AIC trained engineers.

So how will AIC make inroads into a market dominated by some big names? “We don’t want to be the cheapest,” he said. “We want to be somewhere in the middle but offering top-end quality. We’ll leave the cheap stuff to others. But there is no such thing as a bad boiler any more so we have to add something to it. I’m confident that we can with both added value products and customer back up.”
Wilson believes that the key to offering extra quality lies in the use of stainless steel – not just in the heat exchanger but also in other parts of the boiler including the low loss header and the manifolds. “It’s a more stable product, gives long life and is 100 per cent recyclable.”

This emphasis on delivering a quality heat exchanger is in the company’s DNA. Established in 2001 as design business, AIC introduced in 2004 the firetube downfiring heat exchanger that gets rid of corrosive substances. But the big turning point came 2011 when the group expanded into North America. “Seven manufacturers got on board and use the heat exchangers to this day,” stated Wilson. “The US now accounts for a large percentage of the company’s OEM business.” Closer to home AIC supplies heat exchangers that can be found already in the UK market. With over 500,000 already installed, this is a tried and tested product in the UK.

The group’s success is built on design and engineering, believes Wilson. “There are over 200 design engineers in the business enhancing existing products and developing new products; that’s around 35 per cent of the staff. The management team have engineering backgrounds as they want the products and development method done in a particular way to get the best designs to the market.”

The company insists, for example, that all welders joining the company, however well trained they might be, go through its own AIC training academy so they carry out the process in just the way the company wants.”

Further into the future Wilson can see that there will be a threat to the traditional boiler from electric energy heat pumps and boilers and other lower-carbon technologies. “Our preparations are well underway to have products in this market”.