Profile Group, the parent company of APL Window Solutions, was the Supreme Winner at the recent annual Waikato Chamber of Commerce Business Awards. APL’s brands nationwide include Altherm, First and Vantage Windows and Doors.

Profile Group took out the Foster Construction Group 2022 Supreme Award plus the Business Growth and Service Excellence awards at the capacity audience gala event at Claudelands Arena.

The entries for Profile Group focused largely on the establishment and rapid market impact of its recently created subsidiary, Architectural Glass Products (AGP), which occupies a new, 400-metre-long assembly plant at Hautapu, near Cambridge, manufacturing Insulated Glass Units (IGU’s).

The group represents a family of businesses that form New Zealand's only integrated supply chain for aluminium window and door solutions. The Chamber of Commerce awards follow on from success in August when Profile Group’s Hautapu operation won two Excellence and Best in Category Awards at the 2022 Property Council national awards.

The judges in the Waikato event said that Profile Group were "world-class role models" in numerous aspects including future vision, innovation and product design, ongoing commitment and "an ethos of genuine care for the community, Aotearoa and the environment".

Waikato Chamber of Commerce chief executive Don Good said Profile Group was on a big journey as an enterprise, “to redesign how they do business, how they manufacture even more efficiently, how they reimagine and repurpose waste streams, regenerate the natural world around us and enable their people to realise their full potential across all facets of the businesses…. Their structures, processes, and more importantly, people, set the standard for service excellence both nationally and internationally."

Profile Group CEO, Craig Vincent, who was a finalist in the CEO of the Year category, said that a key part of his management style was to provide leadership and, “allow others to get on and do their roles.” Customer care and empowerment were also important. “I have always ensured that our customers’ businesses can run as well as our own. We spend major resources on systems and upskilling of our network of over 70 window manufacturers nationwide. Customers shouldn’t have to spend valuable time managing their supplier. It should be easy, indeed a pleasure, to do business, a seamless relationship. If our customers grow, we grow. It’s very simple.”

Craig said that the large Hautapu property would eventually see the group’s four current manufacturing operations, centred on Te Rapa, relocated to the new campus. The buoyant Waikato economy and proximity to Auckland provided a strong foundation for the group’s future growth and customer service objectives.

These sentiments reflected those expressed at the awards by Don Good. “The Waikato is in a good place with strong foundations. The region is booming. You can see wherever you go that the Waikato is establishing itself as New Zealand's economic powerhouse behind Auckland.” Mr Good said that the region’s strong farming foundation, booming tech industry, strong construction sector, superb educational entities, and well-located logistics industry were making the Waikato a key component in the country’s economic future and an excellent location for business enterprises.