HOPPE Company News
Handle of excellence. A history of HOPPE
HOPPE – Enjoy the feel of quality! Using high quality materials, manufactured at certified facilities, HOPPE products are designed to stand the test of time. But how did it all begin? Ged Ryan, CEO of HOPPE (UK), looks back at how the company’s journey has helped to shape the well-respected brand the UK door and window industry knows today.
HOPPE (UK) has been established in the UK for over 30 years but benefits from almost 70 years’ experience in the architectural ironmongery sector gained in many other countries across the world.
The HOPPE Group was founded in Germany by Friedrich Hoppe in 1952. The company grew rapidly during the post-war building boom, developing and manufacturing and selling door and window hardware.
The company run by the owning family is now being led by the next two generations, Friedrich’s sons Wolf and Christoph Hoppe, and Wolf’s eldest son, Christian Hoppe, who joined the company in April 2012.
The business is founded on strong values: trust; responsibility; understanding; credibility; honesty; loyalty; integrity and decency. These values are engrained in all HOPPE subsidiaries across the globe, including HOPPE (UK) Ltd.
Established in 1988, HOPPE (UK) was primarily set up to distribute HOPPE handles but when Charter Hardware was acquired in 1997, the HOPPE (UK) offering was extended to include a much wider range of associated door hardware, such as complementary letter plates, numerals and knockers. That’s when ARRONE became a brand of HOPPE group.
HOPPE (UK) moved to its current premises, a state-of-the-art distribution warehouse and sales centre in Gailey Park, Wolverhampton, in March 1999. The business was reorganised to focus on two areas: architectural sales and meeting the needs of door and window fabricators.
HOPPE (UK) today
HOPPE Group has always pursued long-term, workable relationships with employees, customers and suppliers that are based on mutual trust, and it’s no different in the UK. By creating a supportive working environment where employees feel valued, we are building a team that wants to succeed and genuinely wants to do well for the company and its customers.
We want all our people to be able to help all our customers. We make a huge investment in training to make sure staff are multiskilled, including helping staff achieve the widely respected qualifications from the Guild of Architectural Ironmongers and continuously updating their knowledge via CPD.
Nearly a third of the UK team has been with the business for over 10 years, with two staff achieving their 25 years’ service award this year. The loyalty of the HOPPE (UK) team is at the heart of our success and first class customer service.
Regularly throughout the year, we sit down with our customers to understand and review how our partnership is working. We discuss everything from delivery and logistics right through to feedback from their own customers. We want to make sure that every order is receiving the highest level of care and attention. It’s important that everything arrives as expected, on time and ready to go. And based on the feedback we get, we are achieving that.
Products and innovation
HOPPE (UK) and ARRONE have dedicated teams who look at the needs of the market and develop our product offering in line with demand.
Our aim is to add value to the supply chain by ensuring we are providing a comprehensive package of useful products at an appropriate range of price points, complete with the right technical attributes and testing. We want customers to know that when they fit HOPPE and ARRONE hardware, that the product will deliver as promised. Ultimately, we want them to be confident they can trust our brands.
This year, HOPPE has launched the eHandle HandsFree for doors, eHandle AutoLock, and eHandle ConnectHome for windows to offer homeowners a more secure, practical solution for external doors and windows. It builds on HOPPE’s existing range of mechatronic hardware for smart homes and smart buildings, including the tried and tested FingerScan, HandsFree and SecuSignal eHandles.
All HOPPE and ARRONE products are fully tested to legal requirements, as would be expected, but are also checked by third party certification bodies such as Certifire and Certisecure. We also test relevant security products to standards recommended by Secured by Design: Annex A of PAS24:2016 and TS007. This is part of HOPPE’s commitment to creating high quality products that deliver customers the best value long term.