Since joining the team at the beginning of January, Simon Broadley has made nothing short of a very impressive start at Aspex. So much so that we thought we would catch up with him to learn more about one of our newest recruits, and to see how he has adapted to life since his arrival from Leaderflush Shapland.

Explain your role at Aspex and a typical working day

I have a rather unique role in the business as a Design & Specification Manager. It’s very unusual for someone to work so closely with both the sales process and the generating of architectural specifications. To sum up my job in one sentence, I develop integrated doorset and ironmongery solutions for multi-sector projects, as well as advising on technical regulations including accessibility, acoustics, fire safety, and security. On a day-to-day basis, I arrange appointments with numerous architects in the South East and London area, with whom I have built up close working relationships since 1987.

What is your experience in the sector?

I’ve worked with doorsets and ironmongery my entire life, but I’m a bit of a world traveller, so I’ve managed to gain some truly priceless experience from my ventures in Hong Kong, Singapore, and the UAE. I worked for over 10 years at Leaderflush Shapland as a Design and Specification Manager before joining Aspex, and before that I was with Laidlaw for over 15 years.

What made Aspex your perfect new home after leaving Leaderflush Shapland?

I’ve watched Aspex grow rapidly for years now, and I’ve always admired how they’re a ‘can-do’ business with a truly great reputation that has been established by keeping promises and delivering true professionalism. I’m a registered architectural ironmonger as well as a door expert, and I’ve got a plethora of experience and a vast array of contacts from my previous roles, which has made me a useful cog in the proverbial wheel, and Aspex really was a perfect match for me.

What reaction have architects had to your move to Aspex?

It’s been such a positive response from everyone, and architects have been pleased to specify Aspex for their current projects. The company has built an excellent reputation in the construction industry, and we have been able to deliver a great service during a

period of very sudden increase in demand throughout January, which sets us off very well for the year ahead.

As a company, what do you think Aspex’s biggest strengths are?

Undoubtedly, one of our greatest strengths is our close relationship developed with key doorset manufacturing partners both in the UK and in Europe; this allows us to supply very high quality products suited for different market sectors. We are not limited to a single manufacturing capacity, we can focus on creating integrated doorsets, cubicles, ironmongery, and access control solutions to meet the design requirements, and we can offer suitable products for a whole host of different building sectors.

Aspex is a very responsive business, which means we can react quickly to business trends and provide a closer service to architects and contractors, which is something that they really value.