PBM visits Mirka UK’s offices in Milton Keynes to discuss the importance of dust-free surface preparation, focusing on the company’s training provision and merchant support services.
Finally afforded formal city status in 2022, Milton Keynes has been the subject of some harsh criticism over the years, from its much-maligned roundabouts to its infamous statues of concrete cows. However, the former new town’s planners clearly had foresight and laid the foundations for a thriving community, meticulously planned from the ‘grid system’ boulevards of the centre and encompassing some of the best green spaces in the country.
In fact, the city offers closer proximity and greater access to more parkland and open spaces than virtually all other urban centres across the UK. The park system planned out in its development is now enshrined by the Milton Keynes Parks Trust, holding a 999-year lease on around 4,500 acres and also looking after around 400 acres of lakes.
Sitting on the banks of Furzton Lake (initially created to act “as a basin for floodwaters during rainy spells (which) has matured into a peaceful oasis for local residents and wildlife to enjoy”) is Mirka UK’s office and training centre — a further bastion to the inherent merits of effective planning and preparation.
A mere pebble skip away from the legendary Milton Keynes Bowl concert venue, the modern and welcoming facility acts as an impressive showcase for Mirka’s comprehensive portfolio of surface preparation tools and accessories, from corded and battery-powered sanders and dust extractors to a wide range of abrasive pads, polishers, hand tools and other related equipment.
Recently refitted, the facility provides a number of well-appointed meeting rooms and breakout areas which can be configured to accommodate around 20 guests at a time. Examples of the supplier’s POS display units and sector-specific literature reinforce the Mirka brand identity, whilst the beating heart of the building is the impressive training centre created to allow visitors to get ‘hands-on’ with the company’s wares.
“Stockists will be better able to sell the merits of the products if they have put them to the test themselves.”
Operating across a number of industry sectors including construction and decoration, woodworking, and automotive alongside transport & industrial applications (Mirka is reputedly ‘the’ name in automotive surface preparation and finishing, whilst its solutions are widely used on boats, trains and buses…), the training facility is designed to be a flexible space that can be tailored to the bespoke needs of its customers.
Reinforcing the ‘classroom’ setting of the meeting rooms above, a purpose-built, 1,000 square foot workshop-style space is geared to maximise the user experience, providing a range of rigs and practical demonstration areas to ensure that its team of dedicated in-house trainers can deliver sessions that allow users to try the company’s tools and accessories.
While building and decorating professionals are clearly one of the prime audiences, the training centre — and the sessions themselves — are frequently adapted to a merchant audience. The clear philosophy being, that stockists will be better able to sell the merits of the products if they have put them to the test themselves.
Dust extraction
A perfect example of this is in dust extraction. Increasingly adopted by professional decorators, the impeccable host for PBM’s visit, Business Sector Manager — Construction & Decorating Ryan Jones, explained that “the market is getting there…” with around 60% of professionals now using dust extraction equipment, and especially among the younger generation of tradespeople.
“Cost can remain a barrier,” Ryan conceded, “but customers can really see the difference once they use the products and realise they can save time at both the start and the finish of a job. The key thing is, using dust extraction equipment makes things easier and allows people to do more in less time.”
Indeed, further advantages are also to be found for customers working on commercial and non-domestic contracts, which are increasingly mandating dust-free sites whilst the less intrusive working conditions also mean that areas of, for example, a school or hospital won’t remain out of use for so long.
And these principles clearly translate to the more typical domestic refurbishment setting, allowing trades to move onto the next job faster and leaving behind a more satisfied customer. Furthermore, when factoring in the intrinsic health benefits of not breathing in dust all day, the message becomes even more compelling.
While such tools and equipment may traditionally not be seen as a key element of a builders’ merchant’s product offer, the market is clearly there — and is growing. Moreover, these solutions will enable merchants to expand their reach and retain customers from specialist competitors.
With dedicated product managers and research and development teams in its Finnish homeland continually working to refresh and improve the range, the multinational Mirka business ensures the rapid delivery of stock on the ground via its European Distribution Centre logistics hub in Belgium.
Beyond encouraging merchant customers to visit and make use of its MK centre, the business also stresses its capacity to support merchants at the local level. Its Construction & Decorating sector team includes seven ASMs out on the road to facilitate branch visits and demo days in store, whilst a host of POS materials and display units are also available to help generate sales at the trade counter.
Click here for more information on the Mirka product range and its support services for merchants.
Mirka UK has introduced Abranet Yellow, designed to enable the “fast, clean and healthy dust-free hand and machine sanding of ceilings and walls.” Coming in two formats of 225mm discs and 80x230mm strips, and in three grit options (coarse, medium and fine), the combination of its softness and fast-cutting, net structure ensures the abrasive is flexible enough to deliver even, controlled sanding with an electric sander or hand sander, while the net design enables “efficient material removal and excellent dust extraction.”
The abrasive is especially suited for long-neck sanders such as the Mirka LEROS, and performs “exceptionally well” with random orbital and rotary wall sanders, offering smooth compatibility across various sanding machines.
Designed to withstand contact with screws, nails and uneven surfaces, the abrasive is also suitable for hand sanding blocks like the Mirka DecoSander, providing painters with a reliable dust-free solution for large surfaces and detailed areas.
