Q&A: Adam Presdee, Service Director, GEZE UK
GEZE is a world leader in manual and automatic door control technology, window control systems for natural ventilation, smoke and heat extraction.
Can you tell us a bit about your background?
I have extensive experience within GEZE and the automatic door industry. I began my GEZE career as Sales Manager for the internal distribution sales team, before moving to GEZE UK Service as Operations Manager and then becoming Service Director.
Leading a dedicated team, the growth and innovation of the GEZE Service offering continually develops.
I’m always focussed on efficiency, growth and innovation to ensure the continued improvement of GEZE UK’s customer care and service experience ensuring the smooth running of all equipment with repairs, upgrades and legal compliance on all door operators with regular Planned Maintenance packages.
What does your company do? / What is your USP?
GEZE is a world leader in manual and automatic door control technology, window control systems for natural ventilation, smoke and heat extraction.
Founded in Germany in 1863, the company invests millions in research, development and manufacture of innovative solutions, and sets the global standard for advanced door and window technology.
ISO 9001, 14001 & 45001 certification with Lloyds Register (LRQA) demonstrates our commitment to Quality, Environmental and Health & Safety management.
Our products must meet a wide range of guidelines, standards & legal requirements; so are subject to constant testing & monitoring. They have a range of authorisations, test certificates and test marks from national and international institutes.
GEZE UK is the UK subsidiary of the international company GEZE GmbH, with 7 regional offices we offer a local service using local knowledge supported be the advantages being part of a global company offers.
What’s special about the platform and your approach?
GEZE offers door and window control and is an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM). We provide a complete service from specification, installation and after sales including advice and guidance on product suitability and legal and compliance requirements.
What advantage does it add?
We are able to research and develop legally compliant products according to local requirements and offer a bespoke service, with GEZE International R&D, parts and patents.
How does a product/service implementation actually look like and how do you measure success?
We identify a need, the current pandemic is a good example. The need for social distancing and for retailers to control the numbers of customers in store led us to introduce GEZE Counter. Based on our knowledge of our customers we can adapt our products to suit their changing needs.
Success is based on customer satisfaction and the longevity of our relationship with some customers is a testament of that.
How are retailers using your systems to gain competitive advantage and what does best practice look like? Can you share a case study with us?
GEZE Counter is a system that allows retailers to know the true occupancy and the people flow in and out of a store without the need for a member of staff, sometimes two, to stand at the door counting people in and then counting them out again – a time consuming task which is liable to errors. GEZE Counter provides queue management automatically and can save money, make better use of staff and meet government requirements. It also allows each customer to better socially distance themselves, feel safer and so have a better customer experience.
Any make of automatic door or type, whether swing or sliding door can be fitted with GEZE Counter with minimal disruption.
BP Fuels were quick to spot the benefits of GEZE’s Counter system and one of the first to sign up to have it installed and has now been rolled out to over 200 BP retail stores across the country. They were keen to adopt a system that ensures the health and safety of their staff and customers and provides data on current capacity. They chose GEZE Counter Plus, the system includes a large display pillar with an integrated traffic light system that controls the automatic door’s operator and links to a local network on a PC or smartphone to view, control and manage analytics in store. When the traffic lights are on red the doors are deactivated, but entrance is permitted when they go green
An internet and cloud based system, GEZE Counter Connect, is also available.
Are there other companies you partner with?
There have been many companies we have worked closely with to enhance the GEZE portfolio.
What challenges and opportunities do you see in UK retail for 2021 / What challenges are retailers facing in 2020?
The COVID-19 pandemic will continue to challenge retailers for the rest of the year with the ongoing restrictions and the need to social distance, ensuring the highest standards of hygiene and continued occupancy checks.
How will you address these challenges and turn them into successes?
Automatic doors already offer a complete touchless operation, we are able to convert many manual doors to ‘hands-free’ control providing the user with a safer, more hygienic access to retail stores, with additional occupancy control where required.
What is on the horizon for you as a company?
We continue to develop new products and solutions, such as the GEZE MCRDrive, a complete hermetically sealed door that fulfils the highest standards of hygiene in hospitals, intensive care areas or in the food or chemical industries. We also offer services for industrial doors and shutters, and can help retailers with fire door compliance with the potential of further future legislation.
For more information about GEZE UK’s comprehensive range of automatic and manual door closers call 01543 443000 or visit www.geze.co.uk
