Case Study from: James Hargreaves Plumbing Supplies
Learn how James Hargreaves brought underfloor (radiant floor) heating design in-house and grew their business with h2x.
Name: Dave Patrick
Role: Technical Sales Manager
Company: James Hargreaves Plumbing Supplies
Location: Lancashire, United Kingdom
Results at a glance:
• Eliminated dependence on third-party underfloor (radiant floor) heating design companies
• Completed over 800 underfloor heating designs in h2x since June 2025
• Faster turnaround from initial opportunity to quotation, leading to increased UFH sales
• Multiple team members trained to design independently in 2 training sessions
See how this was done:
The Background
James Hargreaves Plumbing Supplies is one of the UK's leading independent plumbing and heating merchants, with a network of 40+ branches and a dedicated underfloor heating, also known as radiant floor heating in the USA, division. Dave Patrick, Underfloor Heating Technical Sales Manager, leads the UFH department at James Hargreaves, working directly with installers and contractors to develop system designs and quotations.
Before adopting h2x, James Hargreaves relied on third-party companies to produce their underfloor (radiant floor) heating designs. When an installer rang with an opportunity, Dave would send the floor plans to an external design house and wait for them to come back with a layout. That process often meant delays, limited control over the layout design quality, and no ability to iterate quickly when a customer needed changes.
The reality for most UFH suppliers is similar: Design is either outsourced at significant cost and with slow turnaround, or handled using outdated desktop software that lacks the automation and calculation depth which modern projects demand.
The Challenge
For Dave, the pain of outsourcing underfloor (radiant floor) heating design was felt at the point of sale. Every extra day that he had to wait for an outsourced design was a day the customer might choose to go elsewhere. He had no visibility into the design process, no easy way to revise a layout when site conditions changed, and no branded output that reflected James Hargreaves. The designs he received from third parties were generic, and he had no way to verify whether the heat loss calculations were accurate or whether loop lengths were within safe limits.
Competitors in the UFH supply market were facing the same constraints, but most were not doing anything about it. Many still provided basic loop layouts without factoring in actual thermal values; they were essentially just filling in a floor plan with pipe and hoping for the best. Dave knew there was an opportunity to differentiate James Hargreaves by offering something better: properly-engineered designs backed by real heat loss data, produced in house quickly and professionally for customers.
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The Solution
James Hargreaves adopted h2x to bring their entire underfloor (radiant floor) heating design capability in house. Dave became the primary designer, using the platform to produce complete underfloor heating layouts, from floor plan all the way to branded quote documents. Their workflow transformed from a multi-day, outsourced process into something Dave could do himself with full control.
With h2x, Dave uploads the floor plans received from the client and traces the rooms, and the platform automatically calculates heat loss for each space based on insulation levels, floor coverings, and design temperatures. Loops are generated with a single click and sized according to actual thermal data, rather than guesswork. Dave can then configure custom transit pipe routes, adjust wall offsets, split large rooms into multiple circuits, and produce a complete drawing set with manifold schedules, coil lengths, and a bill of materials.
h2x's branded output has been a particular advantage. When Dave sends a quotation to an installer, it arrives with professional drawings, detailed system specifications, and instantly distinguishable James Hargreaves branding. It is a complete package that gives the installer confidence and gives James Hargreaves a professional edge over competitors still sending basic, unbranded layouts.
Since adoption, new h2x features have rolled out for UFH, and they have made an immediate impact on Dave's day-to-day work. The ability to change transit pipe routes was something he described as a "game changer," especially when revising quotes and working with different system types. The padding feature gave him control over loop placement after installation had already started on site, allowing him to correct circuit lengths that required adjustment. And, as the loop generation engine has become faster, larger projects that used to take noticeably longer now run four to five times quicker.
The Results
Since adopting h2x, James Hargreaves has completed over 800 underfloor (radiant floor) heating designs through the platform.
The shift to in-house design has directly contributed to growth in underfloor heating sales. Dave has found himself so busy with new opportunities that on one occasion he reached out to the h2x support team to help him keep up with the volume coming through. Multiple team members have been trained on the platform, and the business has invested in custom training sessions to bring new users up to speed on heat loss calculations and loop design.
The competitive advantage of h2x is clear. While other suppliers in the market continue to offer basic layouts without proper heat loss calculations, James Hargreaves can deliver fully engineered designs grounded in actual heat loss data with every quotation. That level of quality and professionalism wins business, and Dave has seen it firsthand as the UFH division of James Hargreaves has grown.
Looking Ahead
James Hargreaves continues to push the boundaries of what they can achieve with h2x. Dave is an active voice in shaping the platform's development too, as he regularly provides feedback on new features and requests additional enhancements that reflect real-world design challenges. h2x listens to Dave’s feedback: from additional product types like overlay boards to more granular control over auto-looping behaviour, his input is helping to drive the development roadmap for h2x's underfloor (radiant floor) heating module.
The relationship between h2x and James Hargreaves has been a genuine partnership. As Dave put it, James Hargreaves has invested in h2x just as h2x has invested in James Hargreaves, and the results speak for themselves.
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