Sheerline’s Ben Hartshorn was named the fenestration industry’s newest Rising Star after winning the coveted award at the G23 Awards at the end of November. It was one of the most competitive award categories, with Ben up against seven other entrants for the accolade.
He was put forward by the team due to the exceptional and busy year Ben’s had, and how he has risen to the challenges and opportunities this has given him. In a relatively short space of time, Ben has progressed from assisting in designing and testing prototypes in the early stages of the product cycle, to leading product development from the ground up, as well as managing one of Sheerline’s key customer facing departments.
Although Ben was new to the fenestration industry when he joined Sheerline in 2019, he took the skills he gained during his apprenticeship and his previous experience as a tool maker and applied them to live projects. Not only did this help him hit the ground running, but it was also beneficial to the R&D team and business as a whole.
Products Ben has worked on include the recently launched Classic Heritage Door, which was previewed at the Fit Show 2023 in May. It is expected to become one of Sheerline’s most popular products with both installers and fabricators.
It offers authentic heritage features with its lockbox design, making it ideal for period renovations and modern properties that can benefit from classically styled doors. Ben also played a pivotal role in the development of several other Sheerline innovations, most recently Prestige’s reverse butt joint solution which is just being launched.
Alongside Ben’s product development work, he has become increasingly involved in ensuring Sheerline’s fabrication tooling and support is market leading, building on his past experience in this area.
Sheerline prides itself on recognising when team members go above and beyond, which is reflected in the fact that Ben was recently promoted to Technical Support Manager. This role requires him to oversee a team of national technical sales engineers committed to providing unrivalled support.
When speaking to Ben’s colleagues, two attributes that they particularly appreciate are the fresh perspective he offers, alongside a willingness to see the bigger picture, ensuring projects are delivered in a pragmatic way, that work for Sheerline customers.
Ben said of his award win: “Winning this accolade at the start of my career within the fenestration industry reflects Sheerline’s commitment to training and the apprenticeship process. Over the past four years, Sheerline has given me an opportunity to gain a vast amount of knowledge and build contacts within the industry.
“From a technical and design perspective, it’s great to be part of such an innovative team as this has enabled me to get involved with a variety of interesting projects. I’d like to thank the team at Sheerline for putting me forward for this award and the opportunities they’ve given me so far. I look forward to the future.”
