For over a quarter of a century, Rhino Doors has been providing critical industries such as Defence, National Infrastructure, Oil, Gas and Energy with bespoke and NPSA-rated (formerly CPNI) engineered doors.

The key to success has been the commitment to quality engineering, innovation and commercial acumen over the years. With this in mind, in this edition of Spotlight on Rhino we take a step into the driver’s seat with Sales Manager, Mike Davies to find out more about what happens behind the scenes to create such a successful business.

First, we found out a little bit more about Mike and his professional background.

I started working at Rhino four and a half years ago and before that I worked in security industry sales, selling bi-folding, fast acting gates for a Dutch company. Unfortunately, my employment came to an end after the 2016 Brexit vote forced the company I worked for out of the UK. But as one door closed, another opened – this time it was to Rhino Doors and I haven’t looked back since.

On changes at Rhino since joining the team, Mike said…

Just after I started, we decided to try our hand with markets other than the traditional routes we would usually take, so we began developing high quality, high performance doors which were similar to the design of some of the traditional doors but much more multifunctional.

We then came across the acoustic, pressure and thermal performance doors rather than the security doors we would usually produce, meaning we were able to open our books to bigger projects. As this side of the business developed, we decided to hire Stuart Moss who came on board to manage major projects, such as bespoke blast doors, leaving me with more time to focus solely on the standard NPSA doors, which we are famous for in the UK.

How have orders changed over the past 5 years?

Originally, we were producing ones and twos of doors, which is nice because they run through the factory like clockwork and they’re quick and easy to install. But when we changed our approach to the type of doors we were producing, we began taking on bigger bespoke projects which almost doubled our average order intake.

How have testing regimes changed for NPSA rated doors?

In our traditional products we are the UK’s leader in large NPSA security, Government and military doors. NPSA accreditation is vital for our continued growth within the industry and without it there might not be a Rhino Doors.

Every now and then NPSA agencies issue new levels of testing – meaning that all of our single and double doors needed to be re-tested to the new standard as only the up-to-date accredited doors can be on the Government website. This is vital to us because it’s where we are able to be seen by security consultants, architects and those who predominantly buy NPSA doors.

On Brexit and the future of Rhino Doors, Mike said…

Before Brexit we were going through a process of harmonising standards across the board, which would help us to sell within Europe, but now we are unsure which direction the Government will take on this.

Thankfully, we are not overly reliant on EU sales and in recent years we have built some great relationships internationally, including the Middle East and Australia.

While the company’s international client base is growing year on year, we still see the UK as our number one market and one that is set to grow in the coming years.