Liniar

The most up-to-date brand of uPVC frames on the market, Liniar was created by bringing together some of the most knowledgeable and forward thinking designers in the window industry – with more than 500 years of experience between them.

With a focus on research, development and design, the Liniar range continues to push the boundaries when it comes to product innovation.

Continued investment in infrastructure, technology and a great team of people has brought market-leading success and sustainable growth.

At Liniar, we understand that customers want everything to match. That’s why our product range spans not only windows, doors and roofs, but lots of clever design ideas for your home such as bi-folding doors and windows to give your home that real ‘wow’ factor. Our matching range of silicones also ensures a perfect finish for coloured installations.

Our designers love coming up with new product development ideas, and Liniar has built a well-deserved reputation in the window industry as one of the most innovative systems companies around. This culture is embedded throughout our business, a fact of which we’re justifiably proud.

Liniar – the brand
Liniar’s trading company, HL Plastics, has been a leading name in the uPVC extrusions industry since 1974.

Located in the heart of the UK, Liniar’s in-house team designs and manufactures the entire range of lead-free uPVC products, helping to build a reputation for innovation.

Liniar manufactures three different ranges of products, supplied to a variety of different markets:

Liniar fenestration products (windows, doors and conservatories) – supplied to window and conservatory fabricators to make into finished products;
The Liniar decking and fencing range – for caravan parks, holiday homes and domestic gardens;
Liniar’s range of plastic piling – for retention, construction, waterways, flood prevention and road and rail infrastructures.
The Liniar brand has become synonymous with innovation and its products are recognised as being among the most modern in their respective fields.

HL Plastics’ state-of-the-art factory played host to the Prime Minister in 2014. David Cameron held a Q&A session with 150 members of staff, giving praise to the team for its impressive growth.

Liniar – the story
Roger Hartshorn, Liniar’s former CEO, began his career at HL Plastics as an apprentice on the shop floor. Roger created the Liniar brand, launched to great acclaim, was voted number three in the 2013 Window Industries’ ‘Top 30 Most Influential’ list, and featured in the ‘Manufacturer 2014 Top 100 Influential Individuals in UK Manufacturing’.

The Flamstead Group of companies, owner of HL Plastics and the Liniar brand, along with Wegoma Machinery Sales, has been included in the prestigious London Stock Exchange’s first two editions of their book ‘1,000 Companies to Inspire Britain’, with HL Plastics winning the Derby Telegraph Company of the Year in 2014. The innovative Liniar window system was also voted ‘Systems Company of the Year’ in the 2014 National Fenestration Awards.

The icing on the awards cake came in 2017, when the Liniar ModLok bi-fold door system was awarded the prestigious Queen’s Award for Innovation.

In 2015, the Flamstead Group was purchased by Quanex Building Products in a deal which saw Roger Hartshorn continuing as former Group CEO and a ‘business as usual’ approach to new product development, investment and expansion plans.

The Group also includes Avantek Machinery, innovative machinery supplier to uPVC and aluminium window fabricators. With a massive showroom of operational window fabrication machines, and machinery available from stock, Avantek is able to deliver the latest models, including its own Supercut, with drastically reduced lead times from the industry standard.

The Flamstead Group has already created more than 500 jobs in the Derbyshire area and continues to grow and add to the local economy. With a large number of long-serving employees within the business, the group also has a history of offering career development through training and apprenticeship schemes.

With a purpose-built, state-of-the-art factory and warehouse, the Liniar range also boasts the biggest mixing plant in Europe. Operating an on-going investment programme, Liniar utilises the very latest technology in its machinery to ensure maximum energy efficiency.

This all combines to be certain that the whole product range is consistently manufactured to the highest possible standards.

Liniar – innovation
Liniar’s philosophy as a company is to create and innovate.

In doing this, our customers can be confident that Liniar’s whole range meets every necessary legislation and standard, while also complementing contemporary trends.

It’s vital to us that we provide our customers with something better than their competitors, with a constant stream of new ideas and concepts from our designers meaning we are always one step ahead.

This video shows the meticulous procedure that every clever idea has to go through to become one of the products that we manufacture.

Usually beginning with a flash of inspiration sketched down on paper and then transformed into a 3D design, using the most up-to-date SolidWorks software, enabling us to engineer the model into three-dimensional form.

Stress analysis testing (FEA) is then carried out to make sure that the product is capable of withstanding all possible stresses that it will have to contend with once fabricated.

When the structure and design has been approved, we can then program and print a prototype of the 3D model. This exciting stage brings an on-screen image to life and gives us a solid object that enables us to test it for function and fit.

Once the design has been 100% approved we forward it on to be manufactured and alert our network of fabricators about Liniar’s very latest innovation.

Liniar – the showroom
It’s not usually the case for a systems house to have its own showroom – but at Liniar we believe it’s vital to be able to proudly display our full range, allowing visitors to see the styles and feel the quality.

We welcome Liniar fabricators and installers to visit our vast showroom. It’s also ideal for our fabricator customers to bring along their own customers – that way they can see how Liniar products are created. Please note: the Liniar showroom is not open to the general public, unless by special, prior appointment.

We also have our very own cyclic testing robot – Mark II. He is responsible for putting Liniar products through an extensive series of tests before they are introduced to the marketplace.

Read more about Mark II – you can also follow him on Twitter at @Liniar_robot