HUNTER
STOvES
aSPecT 4 cOmPacT: The aspect 4 compact may be the smallest of the aspect
range, but it certainly kicks out some heat. This DefRa approved stove of-
fers a brilliant view of the flames, all whist utilising space efficiently.
It was February of 2015, and Hunter Stoves Group’s Research and
Development team were working on trying to improve a few of
their original Herald wood stove models. Rain pelted the roof of
the Cornish factory, as flooded country roads were making it hard
for people to get to work that day.
“I thought it was going to be one of those days; going over old
designs and finding ways to improve them,” said Hunter Stoves
Group’s Lead Engineer, Mike Stoneman.
Sixty miles away, Paul Grimes, the Managing Director of the
company, was sitting at his desk typing an email.
The company was doing well, its seven different stove brands
and 40 years of history had set a solid foundation for growth,
but where to go next, “was and will always be the question. It
was a two-line email If I remember correctly. It was based on a
conversation I had with Steve,” said Paul.
Paul Grimes and Steve Clatworthy bought the company in 1996
and together they re-established its Herald Stove brand as a
leading British stove range. They then developed the full series
of brands that make the Hunter Stoves Group the internationally
renowned stove manufacturer it is today.
The email Mike Stoneman got from Paul that morning got him
both excited and worried in equal parts.
“All the R&D Brief said was, ‘Biggest
viewing
window
possible,
hyper
responsive and extremely efficient. Simple
single control.’ It was the type of brief you
want, but that you sort of d read,” said Mike.
For the next few months the whole team
focused their efforts on the stoves that
would become the Parkray Aspect stove
collection.
“It seemed simple, but once we started
making the window larger and larger, it
got increasingly complicated,” said Hunter
Stoves’ Lead Engineer.
The frames of the stove doors had to
be smaller than anything that had been
designed up until then, and the increased
size of the window meant that the stove’s
Airwash technology system — the streams
of air designed to keep the stove’s window clean — had to be
modified to account for the extra surface area.
“They finally did it,” remarked Paul with a smile, “and we couldn’t
have been more pleased with the results. Once I saw the stove
and saw how it performed, I knew we had something special.”
Wood stove buyers seemed to agree, and after six months on the
market the Parkray Aspect collection represented 16% of the
Hunter Stove Group’s total sales revenue.
“All our stoves are built to last, eco-friendly, and aesthetically
pleasing. We have something for everyone and for every type of
home. With the Aspect, we wanted to take what had been done in
terms of glass size and stove quality, and take it that much
further. I’m happy to say that people liked
what we came up with,” said Paul.
Fast-forward to September 2017,
and the Parkray Aspect stoves have
taken the wood stove market by storm
and are the Hunter Stoves Group’s
best-selling range. With new models
and a double-sided version on the
way, the future looks bright for these
new wood stoves.
aSPecT 5: The bestselling stove across
all the Hunter Stoves group’s ranges, the
aspect 5 is highly controllable and offers a
distinctively large viewing window for the
perfect flame picture. With impressively
low cO emissions, the aspect 5 will keep
you feeling toasty whilst being environ-
mentally friendly.