Glass News June 2020 by Christina Shaw

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Speaking to Glass News’ Editor, Chris Champion, profine’s Managing Director, Gareth Jones, said: “The KÖMMERLING brand in the UK has been increasing market share, most notably in the last 18 months and profine Group has been continually looking at various options in terms of opening a dedicated manufacturing facility. We have considered acquiring suitable businesses

and even building our own facility but this acquisition with over 20 extrusion lines, a mixing plant and several foiling and injection moulding machines is ideal for profine’s ambition to manufacture in the UK and continue to grow its market share.” Now, as profine UK Extrusions Ltd (www.profine-uk.com), the company’s profile will continue to grow and this is the fulfilment of Gareth Jones’ vision for the company: “On joining profine I had said that it was imperative that a manufacturing facility was established in the UK and the board has supported me in finding what we believe to be the ideal solution. Acquiring the Aperture business has added products to our portfolio with PVC-u vertical sliders, patio doors and bi-folds within the Evolve brand and, of course, the WarmCore product.

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The Aperture Group, based in Huthwaite, Nottinghamshire, was known for its brands such as Legend, Synerjy, Evolve, Calibre Doors, Norvik New Build and WarmCore. The deal was for the purchase of both the extrusion and finished products assets from the administrators of Aperture Trading Ltd, for an undisclosed sum.

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profine Group, has acquired essential assets from Aperture Group, formerly Synseal, one of the leading manufacturers of window and door systems in the UK.

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HI HO! HI HO! IT’S OFF TO WORK WE GO... It’s probably in a somewhat haphazard way but our industry, at least, is finding its way back to work although, at the time of writing, not if you are in Wales, Northern Ireland or Scotland. To be fair there was never going to be a day that everything re-opened, en masse, and it would have been unrealistic to expect that to happen. However, it feels as if everyone is making their own decisions based on the health and safety of their workforce and there is no cohesive, industry wide consensus. We all value our independence and the fact that we can make our own decision but I have heard rumblings within the industry that we probably would have benefitted from one organisation having briefings and discussions with government and imparting information to the whole industry. As it is, we have a number of organisations, all having a degree of contact with various departments within government, but no organisation giving a definitive lead to the industry as a whole. I know this is controversial and may offend some people but I have always felt it was strange that the industry had no trade association representing the whole industry. What we have is membership organisations representing their members and, don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong in that. But it does mean that we have a fragmented industry as opposed to many industries that have one Trade Association that represents everyone. And that, in turn, it means we get a mix of messages. This was brought home to me during a press briefing that was held by Certass. A very pertinent question was raised about the messages coming out of the GGF, CORGI Fenestration and Certass and whether there was consensus between them and whether they shared their thoughts and guidance between the organisations so a definitive way forward could be offered? There was an embarrassed silence, a slightly self-conscious giggle and an admission that no, there was no liaison between organisations. That I find surprising as the corollary to that is the healthy exchange of views and advice that was passed around between installers on the Business Pilot Webinar that attracted over 150 participants via Zoom. In fact, you only have to look at the social media platforms like LinkedIn to see that many barriers have been broken down during this period, with companies sharing views

May 2020 crossword solution:

In the same vein, we have all seen the press, and particularly the biased BBC, having a go at everything the government does. Have there been mistakes? Yes. Would anyone have done better? No. Would anyone wish to be in the position of a government trying to find their way through this crisis? Definitely not.

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and information: companies that are competitors but realise, quite rightly, that working together can be highly beneficial to all. We have seen companies like HL Plastics and Window Widgets making PPE with their 3D printers and companies helping distribute food and goods to the disadvantaged in our society. Sadly, we have also seen the worst side of social media with disinformation of various sorts and the best (or worst!) I have heard is Quickslide’s distribution of food from Morrison’s to those isolated at home with their Quickslide liveried vans, only to see on social media comments that it is disgusting to see Quickslide vans out and about, obviously fitting windows and profiting from the lockdown! However much Adrian Barraclough and his team may seek to correct this misinformation, the damage has already been done. Social media can be a dangerous, unfair and inaccurate tool. As ever, it depends on the driver!

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glassnews™ is a registered Trademark. The views contained herein are not necessarily those of glassnews™ and whilst every effort is made to ensure information throughout is correct, glassnews™ does not accept liability for errors. The views expressed by contributors and the content of letters, are not necessarily those of glassnews™ and therefore cannot take responsibility.

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I had a quip sent to my 'phone likening the crisis to World War 11 and speculating how people would have reacted to the rules from those days in today’s ‘snowflake’ society: Can I have more clarity on the “Your country needs you” slogan? It is too ambiguous.

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Why aren’t you doing enough to prevent these air raids? Does the air raid siren apply to everyone? There are only male and female toilets in the air raid shelter and I don’t identify as either. I must complain as the respirator haversack has a leather strap and I’m a vegan. Why can’t I have almond milk on my ration card?

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FRONT COVER STORY

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VETROSCREEN: NEW COVID-19 SCREEN SYSTEM FROM BOHLE

"WarmCore is of great interest to us and the profine group as it has significant export potential as well as having a growing following within the UK.” “Having a readymade production facility at Huthwaite is ideal for us, as is having a workforce who are keen to recommence manufacturing. In the addition to the employees that were retained by the administrators, we have had to recruit a further 70 employees initially. Perhaps it’s not surprising that we had around 800 applications for positions, given the state of employment following the Covid-19 pandemic. We shall be monitoring our staffing and expect to have a workforce of around 150 when we are up to speed. At the moment it is a time to take stock and prepare for full production as the country gets back to work. Since joining profine, the past 2 years have been busy: Brexit, Covid-19 and this acquisition, not to mention the progress we have made with the KÖMMERLING brand, has made life interesting!”

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Bohle has launched a highly flexible dedicated COVID-19 cough and sneezeguard desk mounted office screen system.

for screens of up to 1000mm high. There is no requirement to screw into the desk so preventing permanent damage.

Available either as a clamped or freestanding option, VetroScreen, has been developed by the glass consumables and hardware specialist as a solution to screen adjacent desks in open-plan offices.

Dave Broxton, Managing Director Bohle said: “The clamp system offers a particularly high degree of flexibility, able to form a safe screen between desks facing each other and to the sides, protecting workers while still allowing them to see and communicate with each other as they would in a ‘normal’ office environment. The length of the screen is typically 1000mm but can be easily extended simply by adding additional clamps.

Able to accommodate glass thicknesses of 4mm to 10mm and to a maximum height of 1000 mm, the easy-to-fit system, maximises glass pull-through. A weighted desktop version manufactured in high quality powder coated aluminium and steel provides a solid foundation for glass screens of up to 800mm high. An alternative clamped system, simply slides over the edges of a desk or table and can be tightened with a knurled screw, providing a secure, safe and unobtrusive fix

“Supplied at a highly accessible price point, they form a very simple yet highly innovative solution for creating a safer working environment at a time when protection of workers remains key.” In addition to VetroScreen, Bohle has also developed how to guides to show how its

profine Group supplies products to over 100 countries worldwide and employs over 3,500 people globally. This acquisition will further strengthen this position and importantly, will provide a strong platform for continued growth in the UK. The aim now is to bring the delivery of products up to on time and in full over the next few weeks, before projects to integrate the profine production into Huthwaite commences. With regard to customer support during this period, Gareth Jones said: “We are talking to our customers and keeping them appraised of developments as we move the operation to Huthwaite, although we will retain a presence in Lichfield particularly for staff who, for various reasons, are unable to re-locate. As Aperture’s problems progressed, we attracted a number of customers to the KÖMMERLING product so our own customer base has grown. Now, with extruding KÖMMERLING, Synerjy, Legend and Shield we have a range to suit all customers. Asked about investment in the new business, Jones commented: “During due diligence we were pleasantly surprised to find that, although some plant is ageing, it was well maintained and the factory well organised and we should pay tribute to those who worked at Aperture in difficult circumstances. We have the total support of profine Group and they will invest where it is required but, certainly initially, Huthwaite is up and running and we are producing product for our customers. We are now looking forward to promoting the brands and I have a feeling that FIT 2021 will be an important exhibition for profine as a whole.” Dr. Peter Mrosik, CEO and owner of profine Group added: ‘With this acquisition, we are strengthening our strong international market position and continuing our success story in the UK market. We are thus underlining our goal of being the leading company in our industry for each of our markets. I am genuinely pleased to have the new colleagues from the UK on board and warmly welcome them to the profine family.’

pre-existing hardware offer can be used to make a sneeze-guard. This includes its right-angled fixings, BO5218435 in chrome and BO5218435B black and accompanying fixings and cover plates. These can be designed to accommodate glass thickness of between 8-10mm and weights of up to 40kg and maximum widths and heights of 1200mm X 800mm. “Standard fixings can be applied to the delivery of a highly flexible and more permanent solution but not everyone is going to want to drill into their desks”, said Dave. “VetroScreen, provides a less disruptive and easier to fit solution, requiring fewer processes on site, while delivering the same level of protection as permanently fixed solutions.” For more about Bohle’s product and service offer visit www.bohle.com email info@bohle.ltd.uk or call the customer services team free on 0800 616151 for more information.

MACKENZIE SEES SUSTAINED UPLIFT IN DEMAND

Mackenzie Glass has said that it has seen a sustained uplift in demand as the industry starts the journey back to work. Reopening with a small team to meet demand from emergency contractors in April, the glass merchant said that it has since seen a steady increase in demand. This includes significant demand for laminates, as glass processors access demand from the healthcare sector to retail, for protective screening. Mark Herbert, joint-Managing Director, Mackenzie Glass, said: “We had some customers, working in emergency repair and essential healthcare, including the Nightingale Hospital scheme, who

continued to work throughout the crisis, generating sustained but low-level demand. “In the past couple of weeks, we’ve seen customers now coming back in greater volume, increasing demand for product, particularly laminate glass. We will continue to phase the return of our teams inline with that increasing demand.” Mackenzie Glass’ reported a 30% jump in demand for cut to size laminate, prior to ‘lockdown’ driven by new regulatory requirements under PAS24, as well as the increased specification of larger IGUs. This prompted investment in a new Bottero 515LAMe laminated glass cutting table, Mackenzie’s second laminate cutting platform, giving it the capacity to handle 4.5m X 3.2m laminated sheets. “The limited availability of toughened glass during lockdown has meant that demand

for laminate has continued to build”, Mark said. “It’s going into protective screens in healthcare, retail, for example supermarkets, and we expect this to continue to grow as more businesses come back to work and look to protect employees and customers.” Mackenzie Glass was formed at the end of 2017 as a stand-alone business and vehicle for the acquisition of Pilkington Bristol from NSG. It is Pilkington’s first Regional Partner, supplying more than 300 tonnes of glass each month products from it but also other float glass manufacturers. For more information email info@mackenzieglass.co.uk or log on at www.mackenzieglass.co.uk.

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DOORS P C HENDERSON DONATES HARDWARE TO ASSIST SCHOOL REBUILD IN NEPAL Sliding and folding door hardware manufacturer, P C Henderson, has recently donated materials to help with the rebuild of a primary school in Nepal after it was left devastated by an earthquake in 2015. Situated on a picturesque mountainside, the village of San Bhorle was left in ruins when the 7.8Mw earthquake hit, levelling every one of its 43 houses and primary school. All but one resident survived, but the community was left to rebuild their lives with no materials, tools or machinery. Learning Planet, a charity which helps remote communities design, finance and construct new schools, stepped in to help. As the only communal building in the village - and the only one which would have permanent power and internet access - the local community required a school building which could also be used for other events such as village meetings and celebrations. In order to achieve this level of flexibility, large bi-folding doors were needed in the centre of the building. This would allow the area to be used as a classroom when closed off or put to other uses when opened up. A folding partition wall was also to be installed in one of the classrooms, allowing teachers to create a private office space when necessary. Justin Wickham, Co-Founder and Executive Director at Learning Planet, commented “I was looking for a really solid system which would work faultlessly in a very remote location, for years, with minimal maintenance. After some research, I got in touch with the team at P C Henderson. I was really moved when they offered to donate all of the hardware free of charge. It was extremely heartening to get such a positive response”. P C Henderson’s Securefold system was identified as the best solution for the project. Carrying ten solid hardwood doors measuring 225cm high x 50cm wide - it was important that the system could comfortably cope with a heavy load - whilst still allowing for effortless and safe opening by adults and children.

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DOORCO IS HERE TO HELP One of the key priorities for leading composite door supplier DOORCO is stock and even throughout lockdown, the company continued to receive shipments from DOORCO Korea resulting in bumper levels of composite door slabs ready for distribution or manufacturing today. “As a privately owned company with a dedicated overseas partner, DOORCO is in control of stock levels and it has always been our key priority to make sure we are well stocked to meet our customer demands”, says Dan Sullivan DOORCO’s MD. “It was also fortunate that DOORCO Korea was largely unaffected by the Coronavirus pandemic. This meant that manufacturing of our door slabs continued, and in turn deliveries kept on schedule, even though we had shut down our manufacturing facilities in the UK. The Senior Management Team remained on hand (whilst adhering to strict Health & Safety of course) to receive delivery which has resulted in bolstered levels of stock. “DOORCO has been operating on a Just In Time service basis for some time, meaning we also hold good levels of accessories, glass and glazing cassettes too. We offer fast lead times on stock items, such as next day delivery on slabs, prepped slabs from three

days and painted slabs or prepped doors from five days. We’ve been back in business since 4th May and thanks to the hard work of our team, we are settled in to the “new normal” of social distancing and strict Health & Safety measures to ensure our employees remain safe and well and ready to deliver. We are closely monitoring staff levels against orders to ensure we can meet demand, and as demand grows our full team are on standby to return to work. “DOORCO offers one of the widest ranges of door designs and colours in the UK, from traditional woodgrain slabs such as our 6/4 panel Combi (that creates seven styles from one blank), to a modern Monza II with its contemporary linear etched detailing, to the perfect aluminium/flush casement partner LINKS. “We want to get the industry moving and are prepared to help everyone to get back to work. So, if you are experiencing any issues with supplies of slab or prepped doors, get in touch with DOORCO today to discuss your requirements: info@door-co.com or call 01625 428955.”

APEER INCREASES CUT-THROUGH SECURITY WITH STEEL REINFORCEMENT AND ALUMINIUM MESH CORE ON ALL DOORS Apeer has significantly improved the security across the entire range of its Apeerbranded residential composite doors, with the addition of steel reinforcement to the hinge stile together with strengthened aluminium mesh embedded in the core of every door that it manufactures at its Ballymena, County Antrim factory. Included as part of the standard specification across the board and at no increased cost, the reinforcements will be screwed and bonded into the high-density polyurethane core of each hand-made door. The result is a composite door that offers the highest levels of thermal insulation and security, with no risk of water absorption. The decision to make the upgrade has been taken as part of an overall product review, within which it was decided to make the fundamental change simply for the purpose of increasing the competitive appeal of all Apeer composite doors, through performance enhancements and other improvements. “The composite door market is highly competitive, and we want to continue making the gains in sales volumes and market share that we have enjoyed, especially in the last four years,” explained Asa McGillian, Apeer’s Managing Director. He continued: “Homeowners have never been better informed and are now able not only to research every purchase that they may be considering, but increasingly to understand the technical as well as aesthetic differences between products. When they compare Apeer doors with others, they will find our products compare very favourably with every other composite door on the market.” Every Apeer door manufactured comfortably exceeds PAS24:2016. www.apeer.co.uk

“The Securefold system works beautifully for our requirements. We opted to install the doors in five sets of two – meaning they can be moved around in pairs to create gaps for fresh air, light and easy access." Tel: +44 (0) 191 377 0701 www.pchenderson.com

June 2020 | www.glassnews.co.uk

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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: VBH

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THE HARDWARE INDUSTRY, POST COVID-19,

AND THE VIEW OF VBH (GB) LTD

Chris Champion, Glass News’ Editor, talks to Simon Monks, VBH (GB) Ltd’s Managing Director about how the Covid-19 epidemic has affected VBH’s business, and his hopes for the future.

VBH is a supplier of top brands of hardware to manufacturers and installers of windows and doors made from PVCu, timber, aluminium, composites and steel. Did you have to close, completely, or have you managed to provide a service of any kind during the lockdown? Simon Monks: Prior to initial lockdown, we had already taken steps to ensure the safety of our staff, customers and suppliers by having our external team and most office –based people across the country work from home, and by closing two VBH sites. The skeleton logistics staff still working in Kent have been supported by providing PPE equipment and clearly defined safe working practices. As a market leading hardware supplier, our customer base is quite varied. Some were actively engaged in providing products for essential builds, such as Nightingale hospitals and other NHS/MOD projects, while others were involved in emergency maintenance and repair work. We therefore took the decision that we would bring the 3-man skeleton warehouse team in on an ad-hoc basis over the lockdown period to supply these customers when they needed us. All other support services such as customer service, technical, accounts and marketing continued from our reduced home-based team, in line with our pre lockdown plan.

How many of your customers locked down completely? Of those that kept open, what level of service did they offer during that time? Simon Monks: Around 95% of our customers closed over this period. Those that stayed open were providing essential

So although things may have taken longer than usual we’ve had everything covered to a large degree.

Have you been able to put the quiet time to good use at work or is the Monks garden looking at its best? Simon Monks: I wish. We’ve all been very busy with work.

products and services and we were able to support them with specification work and the correct product, when required.

Has this presented any particular challenges?

Did you continue to receive deliveries from your own suppliers?

Simon Monks: Yes and no. We’ve always been a company where people from the top down roll up their sleeves and help out where required. We’ve kept in direct contact with our customers to update them on who to contact during lock down. Originally Louise Eagle, our Customer Service Team Leader, was processing all inbound enquiries and orders from the comfort of her dining room. The level of work means that we’ve now brought in more help for her.

Simon Monks: Some suppliers closed and some stayed open. I think some based their decision on their primary product ranges. For example our supplier of emergency exit hardware and finger protection stayed open as there was an obvious need for such products. In fact we supplied some for a Nightingale hospital project.

You mentioned that you have been running with a reduced staff level for the last few weeks.

Technical queries are being handled by our Technical Manager, myself and our Marketing Manager, who used to work in the tech team himself, and our Management Accountant has been dealing with the purchase and sales ledgers as well as his own work.

I’ve been in constant dialogue with customers, suppliers and head office in Germany making sure that the lines of communication have been kept open so we’re in the best position to really get going when the majority of the market is back working. I’ve also been in regular contact with all of the skeleton crew to make sure they’re ok. Isolation can hit hard, and we’ve been fortunate that everyone has remained very upbeat. We’re all experts in video conferencing now. Our product team has taken the opportunity to really push on with a large number of new developments with

AN S D U GU CO RFA AR RR C AN OS TE I E

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: VBH

The UK’s Leading Glass & Glazing Newspaper the crisis sour our dealings with people at either end of the supply chain.

Every case is different for every customer, particularly when you factor in the varying business models that I alluded to earlier. Everyone at VBH is 100% geared towards supporting our customers as best we can. I think that illustrates how highly we value our relationships with them.

Aspire to be best

Looking at timescales, how long do you anticipate it will be before you are fully operational? Simon Monks: We will gradually bring people back from furlough as the need arises, as we did with an additional Customer Service Co-ordinator last week. We’ll bring back enough people to service the amount of customers who resume buying. No more and no less.

a number of suppliers. Great progress has been made and we’ll have lots of new products for aluminium and PVCu coming soon to help kick start the recovery.

Aspire is the perfect handle We’ve also invested heavily in newfor software packages to allow us to give even better your contemporary sliding doors.

service and our marketing man has been busy (when answering technical calls) Designed for not lift/slide and bi-folding doors, working on a couple of new projects that ’s Aspire furniture range is smooth, will be of great benefit to VBH customers stylish and comfortable. Our nine finishes match from the summer. One of these will be of aluminium, timber or PVC-U installations. particular interest to installers. We’ve been so busy investing time and money into new products and projects that our gardens are only being tended at weekends, just like normal, I’m afraid.

What have been the key difficulties with returning to work? What exceptional arrangements have you made in terms of staff and customer protection? Simon Monks: We didn’t stop working and as I write this, none of the non-logistics staff have physically returned to the office and there are no plans to do so soon. When they do, we are fortunate to have sufficient space to enable distancing. And we don’t have hot desks! We don’t anticipate that the

www.glassnews.co.uk | June 2020

Have you started to receive deliveries from your suppliers and, if not, when do you expect those deliveries to commence?

market will be up to full strength for a while yet, so many of us can continue to work from home to thin out the population in the office further. Our warehouses have been marked out to ensure socialproducts distancing in by a minimum 10 year surface are backed Simon Monks: Some have been delivering and corrosion guarantee benefit from Q-secure – the most the packing and goods in areas and weand have comprehensive MULTI-BRAND guarantee on the market. but mostly when we’ve needed introduced a system whereby only one teamsecuritythroughout, something in particular. I’m writing this in youone looktime. at it, we member can be inWhichever an aisle atway any It have a stylish furniture solution for you. early May and some are still closed, whilst has slowed our warehouse processes down, Call 01634 263 300 for your copy of the latest brochure. others have re-opened to a degree. We will for sure, but these are exceptional times. work out a program with each of them When our sales team is back to work they individually to ensure that we have product info@vbhgb.com will be contactingwww.vbhgb.com customers remotely until in place for anyone who needs it. We had further notice. We started using Microsoft @vbhgreenteq buffer stocks in place prior to lockdown, so Teams prior to the initial lockdown and it has this will all help to smooth things out. been very successful for us. That, and similar platforms, will be the norm for the time being.

Relationships are bound to change following the pandemic, particularly if you have had customers who have been slow or reluctant to pay what they owe you. Has that been an issue for VBH and, if so, is there a way to repair the damaged relationship? Simon Monks: Good relationships are built up over time and we certainly won’t let

Do you think we are talking about months or, perhaps years, before VBH can say that you have returned to the same financial position as you were prior to December 2019? Simon Monks: We can only perform to the best of our ability. The environment that we are working in now is completely different to what it was 3 months ago. We hope to see an upturn in demand for lifestyle products such as bi-fold and lift/slide doors, as well as other large element products as people spend the money that had been earmarked for a foreign holiday on home

improvements instead. That will be a big help to us as we are particularly strong in that area. VBH’s performance and that of the window and door market in general will, of course, be driven by the economy and how fast that recovers.

Finally, what is your vision for the future? Will VBH have changed substantially? Can it be as successful as it once was? And do you think the market will return as it was and, if so, how long do think that will take? Simon Monks: Our vision has always been to be the number 1 hardware supplier in the UK. That hasn’t changed, despite the landscape that we’re working in having changed dramatically. I don’t think VBH will change substantially. We will still have what we consider to be the best product range and the best people. By continuing to listen to the market and develop innovative new products, selling tools and service initiatives for VBH customers we will continue to be at least as successful as we were at the turn of 2020. How long will it take? In all honesty a lot of that depends on things outside of our control but with the help of our customers and suppliers we will do all we can to get there as quickly possible.

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HAFFNER MURAT BEGINS A PHASED REOPENING Haffner Murat will begin a phased and controlled reopening of their business from Monday 18th May, 2020. Their full team of service engineers will be fully operational from that date as they commence the first phase of reopening. Dave Thomas, Managing Director at Haffner Murat, said: “Our initial priority is to support our customers who are waiting for their new machinery to be installed. The backlog of installations includes nine machining centres, welders, corner cleaners and several computerised saws.” The Haffner Murat sales team will start back on the 1st June and will work from home at this time. The Staffordshire headquarters will also open from 1st June, 2020 with limited personnel working at the site at any one time. Like all responsible businesses, Haffner Murat are observing all Government guidelines and protocol as the wellbeing of their staff, suppliers and customers remains an absolute priority. Dave said: “We have reviewed and implemented new procedures throughout all business areas to ensure we can operate safely within the correct social distancing parameters and compliance with all Health and Safety procedures. We also have PPE equipment available for use by the team, both internally and externally, to ensure maximum protection at all times.” As the window industry continues its return to work, the balance between protecting workforce with the need to maintaining productivity and profitability has never been higher. Dave concludes: “Throughout the shutdown we have received regular enquiries from fabricators turning to automation as something that offers a solution for more than just the next few months. We are actively following up these enquiries and look forward to working with our customers once more.” Tel: 01785 222421 - www.haffnermurat.com

MILA SIGNPOSTS MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT AS LOCKDOWN EASES At the start of Mental Health Awareness Week, Mila is highlighting the need to support individuals who are struggling with the intense stresses which the Coronavirus crisis has brought.

GLASS HEARTS AND RAINBOWS RAISE £3,045 IN JUST 2 WEEKS While their double glazing manufacturing business, based in Team Valley Trading Estate, Gateshead, is closed during lockdown, Glen and Sharon Bogie have been busy creating these wonderful hearts and rainbows to support the NHS. Both their daughters are keyworkers in the NHS – one as a Community Pharmacist and the other a Registered Mental Health Nurse. They wanted to do something meaningful while they are at home, so the kitchen table has become a temporary workbench for these stunning pieces of glass art. The rainbow design was downloaded from the Support the NHS website and Glen created the popular heart design himself. The final batch of Rainbow Hearts were made on Friday 1 May. Glen made a phenomenal effort to complete every order received. To date he has made 164 Rainbow Hearts & 7 Full NHS Rainbows in 11 days. As Glen and Sharon prepare to reopen their business they closed the Just Giving Page with final donations totalling £3,550 exceeding their £2,500 goal. Sharon says: “We would like to thank Regalead and Guy Hubble for his encouragement and donated material as without such kindness we would not have been able to raise such a huge amount of money for well deserving charities.” Guy Hubble, Joint Managing Director at RegaLead adds: “This was an incredible act of kindness from Glen and Sharon, and we were very happy to support them.”

The industry’s leading hardware supplier has already issued guidance on how to implement safe working protocols to protect employee’s physical health, but says that their mental health needs to be protected as well. Joe Montague Mila’s Health and Safety Manager says that mental health was a key element in the risk assessment completed at Mila before it began its phased reopening at the end of April. He says: “These are challenging times for everyone – whether they are furloughed, working from home, or returning to a work setting which looks very different from just a few weeks ago. “We clearly shouldn’t underestimate the impact that this can have on their mental wellbeing and have a duty as in industry to provide adequate support. As one of Mila’s two trained Mental Health First Aiders, I know how important it is to make sure that anyone who is struggling within any business feels unconditionally supported and knows how to access the professionals, groups or organisations who can provide the help that they need. “As well as offering a sympathetic, nonjudgemental and completely confidential ear, we are also signposting our staff to the NHS Every Mind Matters website and the government’s Coronavirus support website so that they know what support is available even if they are not physically at Mila and working from home.” He adds: “For most businesses, there has been an understandable focus throughout the lockdown on getting the practical measures in place to help businesses restart. However, mental health support shouldn’t be overlooked, and the NHS and government websites are a practical and positive place for people to start.” https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mindmatters/coronavirus-covid-19-staying-athome-tips/ https://www.gov.uk/find-coronavirus-support Tel: 01327 312400 - www.mila.co.uk

WORK SAFETY POSTERS

AVAILABLE FROM EPWIN WINDOW SYSTEMS With many businesses beginning a staged return to work across the industry, Epwin Window Systems has produced a series of work safety posters to help support their customers and the wider industry with both social distancing and health and safety reminders. The series of thirteen posters are available from Epwin Window Systems’ marketing team and are suitable for use throughout manufacturing and business premises. Gerald Allen, Marketing Manager at Epwin Window Systems said: “With more of the industry reopening their businesses and faced with working in the ‘new normal’, the work safety posters offer a constant reminder to all personnel on the procedures they need to follow to keep themselves and others safe at this time. These messages include social distancing reminders, washing your hands and additional health and safety protocols.” The posters are available by emailing Gerald Allen, Epwin Window Systems’ Marketing Manager, at gallen@epwin. co.uk Gerald concludes: “We launched the posters initially to support our customers but take up has been very strong across the wider industry and we are happy to support anyone who needs them at this time.” Tel: 0845 340 3968 www.epwinwindowsystems.co.uk

June 2020 | www.glassnews.co.uk

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Cut out the middle man. And cut your reinforcement costs by up to 40% THE FABRICATORS’ FRIEND Manchester, UK | 0161 231 2354 | enquiries@angloeuropean.net | www.angloeuropean.net www.glassnews.co.uk | June 2020

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CRITTALL GROUP OPEN FOR BUSINESS DESPITE COVID CHALLENGE The Crittall Group , which includes Crittall Windows the world’s oldest manufacturer of steel-framed windows and security and specialist glazing company Crittall Fendor, has developed a Covid-19 resilience plan that is keeping both businesses running while providing strict protective measures to safeguard the health & wellbeing of their workforces.

“All departments in both companies are operational employing a mix of working from home and social distancing in the workplace. We are ‘ready to respond to demand’,” he says, adding; “We have a strong order bank across the Group and while the crisis has caused a short term fall in enquiries and orders, we expect recovery across all sales channels later in the year.”

Since the Covid-19 nationwide lockdown came into force Crittall Group’s management team has instigated a highly detailed working regime to protect the workforce and help reduce the chances of transmission of the virus.

The measures taken include revised factory and office layouts and procedures to ensure social distancing alongside the use of appropriate PPE including face shields, masks and disposable gloves. A strict sanitising regime is in place and all attending staff are required to declare that they are not suffering any Covid-19 symptoms, have not been in contact with any such person within 14 days and are

By enforcing these safety measures Crittall Windows and Crittall Fendor are still very much open for business, that’s the message from Group Chairman John Pyatt.

not in a vulnerable group. Temperatures are taken daily, and all personnel must sign a confirmation that they have received training on the safety protocols. Advice on travel to and from work, an emphasis on video conferencing and strict visitor protocols also feature.

The Group Crittall has also implemented the Construction Leadership Council Standard Operating Procedures for working on construction sites and has adapted its methods of working to manage risks associated with CV-19 in those situations. “The wellbeing of everyone across The Crittall Group is our major consideration, whether they are working on the shop floor, in our offices or remotely “concludes John Pyatt. “If colleagues are working from home our HR team are keeping in contact with them to ask how they are coping during the crisis and offering help where necessary. We are also issuing regular bulletins to all employees updating them on the current situation and keeping them involved “. www.crittall-windows.co.uk

EMPLAS RESUMES UK DELIVERIES Emplas has said that it has reinstated its UK delivery service with effect from 11th May, as part of its strategy for a safe and phased return to work post-COVID19 lockdown. This includes the introduction of a specially developed COVID-19 driver training and awareness programme and issue of dedicated PPE, to minimise and manage risk to its logistics team and customers, plus the launch of a new ‘safe digital signature’. Ryan Johnson, Managing Director, Emplas, said that having built capacity and established new process within its operations in the last few weeks, including within its IGU business, Padiham Glass, the fabricator was ready to restart deliveries nationwide this week [w/c 11/5/20]. “Our strategy has been about putting the right processes in place and giving our team the time to adjust to those new controls, so that we are confident in our ability to work safely – and to deliver to our customers”, he said.

“We now have that confidence and are ready to restart our UK delivery programme, as part of our phased and safe return to work. It’s key that we now move forward together to get the economy back on track – the sooner we start that journey, the sooner we get there.” The trade specialist has been amongst a vanguard of window industry companies to restart its operations following temporary closure in response to COVID-19, at the end of March. This included the restart of limited production on April 20th, driven by demand from the commercial sector here in the UK and its Australian retail business, Ecostar, which has remained open throughout the global pandemic. New processes for drivers include the creation of a specific fleet Safe Systems of Work, designed to minimise risk to employees and customers. This includes the issue of PPE, face shields, gloves, sanitiser and disinfectant spray.

Drivers will also go through daily health checks, including body temperature monitoring, developed in-line with the latest government guidelines for the return to work. Having launched it barcoded dispatch and unloading system last year, orders are recorded digitally and in full as they’re unloaded. This forms the basis of a ‘safe digital signature’ and will be stored against customer accounts, eliminating any physical requirement to sign against orders. These are also available to review or retrieve at a later date.

in place to manage it, and in our ability to deliver safely - and reliably – to our customers, supporting the industry’s safe and phased return to work.” For more information on Emplas visit www.emplas.co.uk, email info@emplas.co.uk or call 01933 674880.

Ryan continued: “Everything we’re doing is being kept under continuous review. Starting the return to work process when we did, before demand and volume kicked-in, has given us a time to adjust our systems and get them right. “And while we can’t eliminate risk completely, I have a very high degree of confidence in the measures that we have

HAFFNER MURAT COMMENCES MANUFACTURING OF SURGICAL FACE MASKS The manufacturing team at Haffner Murat have begun manufacturing surgical face masks in response to the ongoing global battle against the Covid-19 pandemic. The surgical masks will be made and distributed worldwide from Haffner Murat’s state of the art manufacturing facility. Dave Thomas, Managing Director of Haffner Murat, said: “The Covid-19 pandemic has

created a critical shortage of face masks throughout the world. We purchased the manufacturing equipment needed and thanks to the expertise of our talented production engineers, we achieved the relevant accreditations to be able to manufacture and supply surgical masks globally. Production commenced in April and we will increase volumes over the coming weeks and months as needed.”

In order to comply with the relevant conformity needed

to manufacture and supply medical devices, Haffner Murat

underwent stringent assessment and achieved the necessary quality management standards of ISO 9001:2015 (QMS) and ISO 13485:2016. Dave concludes: “We all need to play our part in fighting this pandemic and I am proud that our manufacturing team have been able to provide some support to this ongoing challenge.” Tel: 01785 222421 www.haffnermurat.com

June 2020 | www.glassnews.co.uk

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PROFINE ACQUIRES ASSETS FROM APERTURE profine Group, has acquired essential assets from Aperture Group, formerly Synseal, one of the leading manufacturers of window and door systems in the UK. The Aperture Group, based in Huthwaite, Nottinghamshire, was known for its brands such as Legend, Synerjy, Evolve, Calibre Doors, Norvik New Build and WarmCore. The deal was for the purchase of both the extrusion and finished products assets from the administrators of Aperture Trading Ltd, for an undisclosed sum. The KÖMMERLING brand in the UK has been increasing market share, most notably in the last 18 months and profine Group has been continually looking at various options in terms of opening a dedicated manufacturing facility. This has now been realised through

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MILA STEPPING UP SUPPORT FOR CUSTOMERS RETURNING TO WORK

The new profine site in Huthwaite, Nottinghamshire

a dedicated business as profine UK Extrusions Ltd (www.profine-uk.com), boasting more than 20 extrusion lines, a mixing plant and several foiling and injection moulding systems. The expansion of the workforce is planned to include over 100 people.

something we’ve been looking at for several years and now we can continue to build market share for the KÖMMERLING brand and support it with others such as WarmCore and Evolve, which will also benefit from investment.’

The newly acquired brands and products from the Aperture business will also be considered for other export markets, given the fact that the profine Group supplies products to more than 100 countries, with over 3,500 employees operating from offices across the globe. This acquisition will further strengthen this position and importantly, will provide a strong platform for continued growth in the UK.

Dr. Peter Mrosik, CEO and owner of profine Group added: ‘With this acquisition, we are strengthening our strong international market position and continuing our success story in the UK market. We are thus underlining our goal of being the leading company in our industry for each of our markets. I am genuinely pleased to have the new colleagues from the UK on board and warmly welcome them to the profine family.’

Gareth Jones, managing director of profine UK commented: ‘This is wonderful news for all parties concerned and provides us with an integrated mixing, extrusion and lamination facility in the UK. It’s been

For further information please visit www.profineuk.com, e-mail enquiries@ profine-uk.com or phone 01623 443200. You can also follow them on social media platforms including Twitter @profineuk and @ kommerling_uk.

With the government announcing that it is encouraging the manufacturing and construction sector back to work in line with safe social distancing guidelines, Mila has stepped up its response to support customers who are reopening their factories from this week. The Mila telephone ordering line has reopened on 01327 312400 so that customers can phone through orders, as well as getting help and advice from the internal sales team, and orders can still be placed any time via the sales@mila.co.uk address. The company has also added a new Covid-19 FAQs section to its website which answers all the questions customers might have about how the Mila service is now operating and check everything from order cut off times to how to access technical support.

have available to support them as they return to work and so that customers know exactly who to contact here to get any advice or information they need. “As well as the FAQs, we’ve also got a regular blog from MD Richard Gyde which sets out Mila’s strategy to cope with the virus, all of our recent news releases, and even thoughts from our Finance Team on how customers can cope with the financial implications for their businesses. “There’s a particularly useful section with advice from our operations team on implementing safe social distancing in the workplace

based on proven ERIC (Eliminate, Reduce, Isolate, Control) protocols. Even before the government announcements on 10 May, we’d had feedback from customers that they had found this valuable as they take their own cautious steps towards reopening, so I’m sure we’ll see plenty more people accessing that over the coming days. “We’re obviously active across our social platforms as well, and customers can stay up to date with us on @milahardware_uk on Twitter and Instagram and via Mila Hardware on LinkedIn and give us feedback on anything further we can do to help.”

Sarah Gyde, Mila’s Marketing Director, said: “Most of us are still working from home but Team Mila is very much coming together to help our customers. That’s why our team are centre stage on the website now to show all the expertise and resources we

GGF WARNS OF COVID-19 MISINFORMATION In the last few weeks, the GGF has observed further examples of misinformation around the COVID-19 situation and its impact on the home improvement sector. Given the serious nature of this misinformation, the GGF has now raised this matter with Government who have confirmed that the examples of misinformation provided were inaccurate, incorrect and were opinion-based and not factual. John Agnew, GGF Managing Director, commented on the issue, “It is unacceptable for anyone to be acting in this way at a time when our industry needs accurate, correct and verified information. By contrast, in the last week the GGF has launched a “first to market” Safe Guide for Homeowners, followed by the

launch of the GGF’s new Safe Guide for Home Improvement Companies, which offers comprehensive, accurate and up to date information for installers to work safely in people’s homes. The new Guides have integrated the most recent and relevant Government Guidance on working safely in people’s homes during the COVID-19 crisis. James Lee, GGF Director of External Affairs commented, “The GGF policy has always been to deliver high quality information that can be trusted by both trade and consumers and both guides are to the expected GGF standard.” Both new publications have been produced in collaboration with a diverse cross section of Industry experts, GGF Members, GGF Staff and Government officials. John Agnew summarised, “In these difficult times, I would also advise all companies to follow the GGF

and Government Guidance available, and to avoid the misinformation that is out there. This misinformation and misleading opinion appear to be designed to divide our industry at a time when, more than ever, we need to be united and rebuild following the devastating impact of COVID-19. As always, the GGF will continue to liaise with Government and work with Members and industry experts, to ensure the best possible information and guidance is made available to help companies and consumers cope through this extraordinary period.” Both GGF Safe Guides are for all companies in the industry to use and are available for free download and viewing on the GGF website www.ggf.org.uk.

June 2020 | www.glassnews.co.uk

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CASHFLOW PLANNING IN THE POST-LOCKDOWN ERA Steel reinforcement specialist, Anglo European has hosted a dedicated COVID19 webinar offering guidance and support to its customers on how to manage cashflow and plan for their businesses as industry moves out of lockdown. Jointly hosted with its investor partner, Octopus Investments and chartered accountancy practice, Wilson Partners, the webinar, held on 14th May was led by Wilson Partner’s Ross Wilson. He said studies revealed that the vast majority of companies across sectors (70%), had taken advantage of the schemes offered by Government, and that as the industry came back to work, it was vital that companies were tuned into the support available. Ross also argued that businesses needed to embrace fundamental market change. He said: “We have seen some amazing examples of businesses which have and are embracing change. “We are moving to a ‘new normal’ and understanding how the market might shift going forward, you maximise the opportunities for your business, and with that not only your chances of survival but future growth. “You need to be ahead of the curve.” He outlined a series of actions that window and door companies should be taking now, as well as the importance of medium and longer term planning, especially those actions which supported cashflow.

Ross’ tips for steering your business finances through COVID-19:

INFORMATION IS POWER! Ensure that your management information including your profit and loss accounts and balance sheets are up to date. This will give you a clear understanding of the reserves that you may have to rely on for the foreseeable future. Which of your customers are the most profitable and should be your priority going forward? “Now is a good time to have those further drill downs and to think about not merely overall profitability but the profitability within various cost and profit centres in your business.” Ross added.

ACCESS FINANCIAL SUPPORT • Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme If you haven’t done so and need to, access the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. It can be applied for any employee in post on 19th March 2020 and who hasn’t been working because of lockdown. Employers can claim an online grant of 80% of their furloughed employees’ salaries up to a maximum of £2,500/ month. The HMRC application portal is here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-forwage-costs-through-the-coronavirusjob-retention-scheme • Apply for grant funding schemes The government has announced support through local authorities for Small Businesses through the Small Business Grant Fund. If you think you qualify and haven’t received a letter already, contact your local council. • VAT deferral UK VAT registered businesses with a VAT payment date due between 20 March 2020 and 30 June 2020 have the option to defer the payment until a later date. HMRC will not charge interest or penalties on any amount deferred. Many

businesses have taken advantage of the deferral and cancelled their direct debit with HMRC. “Our view would be that if you have the opportunity to defer the liability until 31 March 2021, then you should take it. Being in control of cash is important and if you need to put it into a separate account and ring fence it, then that’s something which you might want to consider”, Ross said. See: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/ deferral-of-vat-payments-due-tocoronavirus-covid-19 • Self-assessment tax deferral The next deadline for self-assessment tax is 1 July for your second payment on account. You can delay making payment and you will have until 31 January 2021 to pay it. • Coronavirus Business Interruption Loans UK based small and medium sized businesses can apply for a loan of up to £5 million. This is interest free for the first 12-months. The process requires past, current and future financial information including projections. Ross added: “Some businesses are accessing the funds and using it to pay off other funding in their business which has personal guarantees attached to it and even for opportunistic activity such as acquisitions.” See: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/ apply-for-the-coronavirus-businessinterruption-loan-scheme • Small Business Bounce Back Loans Available to small businesses, bounce back loans are fully backed by government, with up to £50,000 available to qualifying small businesses as part of a fast track finance scheme. Apply online at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/applyfor-a-coronavirus-bounce-back-loan

• Innovation funding The Government is making a £500million loan scheme available to high growth companies through the Future Fund. A further 750million of targeted support is being made available to SME’s to support research and development. See: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/ future-fund

BUSINESS PLAN This is not time for a 75-page business plan but something which is very short, concise and to the point. Although you should be focussed on the short-term – you should not lose sight of the medium to longer term. “Think about how your market might be changing how relationships with your customers and supply chain may need to change with it as you move forward”, Ross said. With cost control a key priority for those businesses now coming back to work, buying reinforcement direct from Anglo can support fabricators in cutting the price they paid for steel reinforcement by 30-40%. The figures, which are based on buying-in cut-to-size reinforcement, represent the culmination of labour and employment costs, reduced wastage and the lower unit price achieved through direct supply. “Those that survive the crisis will be nimble, innovative and dynamic small and medium sized businesses. “What is encouraging is that companies including Anglo, are already shifting direction moving from the short-term to thinking medium to longer term about the future direction of their businesses”, concluded Ross. For more information about Anglo European visit www.angloeuropeangroup. co.uk email enquiries@angloeuropean.net or call 0161 231 2354.

CASH FLOW FORECASTING “If a cash crisis is likely to happen, it becomes that much easier to work backwards and establish how pressure might be taken off your cash flow by planning and acting to mitigate its impact”, said Ross.

STAY CLOSE TO YOUR CUSTOMERS One of the things that you should be thinking about is gaining as much information and knowledge from your customers about how they are finding things as this might in turn allow you to plan your business’s future.

June 2020 | www.glassnews.co.uk

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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: PEARL WINDOW SYSTEMS

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FABRICATOR, POST COVID-19, AND THE VIEW OF

PEARL WINDOW SYSTEMS

Chris Champion, Glass News’ Editor, talks to Jeff Walsh, Pearl Window Systems’ Managing Director, about how the Covid-19 epidemic will affect Pearl’s business, specifically, and fabricators as a whole.

Pearl Window Systems fabricates frames for the window and door industry and has a capacity of circa 5,000 frames per week. Did you have to close, completely, or have you managed to provide a service of any kind during the lockdown? Jeff Walsh: Following the announcement from Boris Johnson on the 23rd March our retail customers closed immediately. It was thought at first the new build sales would continue for some weeks, however on 24th March one national house builder after another announced their site closures, therefore we had no choice but to close our manufacturing facilities. We have remained open for sales, operational management, accounts and IT to deal with any enquiries throughout and to help any of our customers to navigate their way through what lay ahead. I do feel we have cemented more long term relationships in doing so and have bonded more closely to customers whilst we have all tried to understand the situation. Hopefully we’ve made the right decisions along the way and made friends for life, this is how I think would be a good way to term this.

You offer a wide range of product and distribute it to installers nationwide. Do you anticipate that some customers may have gone during lockdown and you may have to ramp up sales?

The best decision I made was to continue with our Social Media campaign, we have some incredible offerings at the moment which I will come to later. Our campaign has led to a record number of enquiries whilst in lockdown, people have had time to view and search for things and review their supplier chain.

How many of your customers locked down completely? Of those that kept open, what level of service did they offer during that time? Jeff Walsh: I would say all our customers closed for incoming goods (manufactured windows and doors), most stayed in communication with their customers which I think was imperative in order to keep relationships open and offer help where needed. By week 4 we began to see some activity, people placing orders and we’ve heard of some real success stories in there too.

Did you continue to receive supplies from your various suppliers during lockdown? Was hardware affected and was there a difference in supply according to the geographical origin? Jeff Walsh: No, with closing the 3 sites down there was no need to receive any incoming goods from our supply chain. In January we realised there would be issues with goods from overseas, we therefore ensured we had sufficient stocks should shipments be delayed following the lockdown in China for one. Little did we know we would be in full lockdown ourselves towards the end of March.

Jeff Walsh: That’s the question on everyone’s mind, certainly an unknown arena as we enter post lockdown. Its undoubtedly going to be tough as some businesses won’t have made it through this. We engaged in ramping up sales the day we went in lockdown by increasing our spend on our brand and awareness to retail consumers, retail installers and trade counters. This has paid off as we have received 57 enquires alone up to the start of May. Our marketing efforts will continue, going forward.

Do you think ‘the blame game’ over responsibility for starting this pandemic will influence either your thinking over suppliers or prove to cause problems from a political aspect? Jeff Walsh: I have my opinions of course, I don’t do politics as it can drive you insane, we can’t detract from what’s important and that’s getting back to business, so instead of getting into the reasons why or whose to blame we need to look forward not backwards. If myself and my team can rebuild our business and in turn employ extra people, we can be proud in the fact that we’ve helped someone at the end of all this. People that have suffered will be looking to businesses that have managed to survive this for help and employment, looking after our own is what’s important to me.

Jeff Walsh: People will hopefully be led by what’s economic and not what they read via daily news feeds. Before all this the US and China agreed to a huge trade deal, how will that play out, what impact is that going to have on exchange rates and commodities? Price unfoundedly has a huge impact on us, we don’t have the luxury to buy from anyone we wish to, sometimes its products and relationships, ultimately its cost driven efficiencies to enable us to be competitive in what’s now going to be a stranger time than we once knew. In short, we will be led by the giants of this world on how things play out as to which direction we have to feed into.

What have been the key difficulties with returning to work? What exceptional arrangements have you made in terms of staff and customer protection? Jeff Walsh: There’s no short answer to this Chris as we’ve done so much. I’ll try to keep it brief! We decided to go the extra yard with factory employees, wearing face shields is mandatory, optional neoprene gloves and masks (this includes drivers), office staff where possible remain working remotely so we can allocate office space to individuals, face masks, gloves, hand sanitiser stations throughout the entire sites. We have rearranged production lines to include safe working distances, canteen facilities, one-way routes around the factories including entrance and exits

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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: PEARL WINDOW SYSTEMS Jeff Walsh: We’ve been able to facilitate deliveries from week commencing the 18th May.

Do you think we are talking about months or, perhaps years, before Pearl can say that you have returned to the same financial position as you were prior to December 2019?

to factories, the list goes on! This is all a moving target which we will be reviewing daily and weekly as things hopefully change for the better. One thing I am proud to say, working closely with CORGI Fenestration we have a safe “Code of Practice for Installers” which is being distributed to our customers to help them return to work safely. This also includes a “Consumer Code of Practice” that will give consumers the confidence to know they have chosen the right partner to replace their windows and doors safely and professionally.

Relationships are bound to change following the pandemic, particularly if you have had customers who have been slow or reluctant to pay what they owe you. Has that been an issue for Pearl and, if so, is there a way to repair the damaged relationship? Jeff Walsh: We are so proud with the way the majority of our customers have conducted themselves. It’s clear we have solid relationships with a lot of people. Realising how old I am getting I don’t take risks. Since the last recession we credit check and insure any customers who require credit from us, no insurance, no credit. That’s not arrogance by any means,

www.glassnews.co.uk | June 2020

it’s just good business. I am pleased to say the vast majority have been perfect in their conduct throughout this. For sure we have a select number of clients whose terms will change once we return, we should never have to apologise for asking for payment for goods supplied and that’s never going to change for me. Anyone in business works hard and works to a budget, to then have to chase your money isn’t a good business model. Can you repair damage once this is over? Let’s see how people react once they want more goods and haven’t paid their bills shall we?

Looking at timescales, have you reopened for business or, if not, how long do you anticipate it will be before you are fully operational? Jeff Walsh: Having kept a senior team off Furlough we commenced an overhaul of the 3 factories (thanks to TMS for their help). This was completed on 7th May and ensured we had a safe return together, with everything fully operational week commencing 11th May. As things started to move we had a phased return to work and have been fully operational from 18th May.

Have you started to receive deliveries from your suppliers and, if not, when do you expect those deliveries to commence?

Jeff Walsh: We had a great start to 2020 including up to March the 23rd, if we hadn’t of closed so quickly we would have been up on 2019 month by month which was encouraging. All of us will have a black hole to plug once the wheels start turning. Post the last recession we had to re build and unfortunately take our market share from our competition, for me we have to prioritise and look after our staff and their families first and foremost. Our approach will be strategic and aggressive. If we can get to the end of 2020 having not lost a pound but not made a penny, I will be proud to be able to say that. Anything better will be a bonus anything, anything less will be a disappointment, we will be focussed on a reboot to platform us into 2021 and beyond.

Finally, what is your vision for the future? Will Pearl have changed substantially? Can it be as successful as it once was? And do you think the market will return as it was and, if so, how long do think that will take?

software to enable electronic quotes with the exact products in profile detail, electronic payments, Apple-Pay, PayPal etc. With our QR Coded products we have brochures, CE docs, energy rating, extendable warranties, compliance certification, video links and much much more in the cloud. The fact we literally have a “VIN Number” for each product now is truly amazing. I started all this in 2016, the push now to a virtual way of presenting our package complements our existing offering. We are weirdly (sadly) being pushed to change the way we work (is this the end of printed brochures)? Now being able to offer Retail and Trade Super User’s the Signature CORGI Fenestration approval scheme only makes us stronger. We have an offering second to none which gives the consumer the confidence they need that their installations and whole order process will be conducted professionally, safely and have the longevity of the traceability of their products, once the installation has been completed. It’s no longer about supplying a window to our customers and the consumer, we have an extensive package that needs to be presented in the right way. With all customers, training is needed for sales personnel, surveyors and installers, this enables our clients to present their Signature package to the consumer. Presented correctly I see no reason why the extended values and benefits we have brought to market would not be the choice for the consumer. This would also allow our customers to add value to their products as it’s not always about the price, it’s the detail that makes the difference. It’s been 4 years since we started on extendable warranties alone and we embrace the challenge of change Chris and welcome anyone who wants to share this with us.

Jeff Walsh: We have many ideas to compliment our existing “Signature” range. We have completed a Virtual Sample which showcases our actual products live, we are really pleased with the final version. We’ve just finished shooting a “Virtual Showroom”, this will be edited in the next week and hopefully available by the last week of May. This showcases our entire range of products. Our intention is to create a digital / virtual platform for all our Signature Retail and Trade buyers, to help them sell remotely to the consumer. There will be complimentary

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GGF TO DELIVER EVEN MORE COVID-19 SUPPORT

Following the release of the GGF’s two free Safe Guides for 1 2 7 Homeowners and Companies 3 9 6 Entry deadline: respectively, and having 20/06/20. 5 1 3 9 published over 55 related articles, the GGF is now Name: Tel: aiming to provide even more support to continue helping Address: the industry get through the Postcode: COVID-19 crisis. 4

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John Agnew, Managing Director states, “Our first priority will always be to help our Members, but in this current situation, it is in everyone’s interests for the GGF to also help the entire industry recover. We’ll continue to provide free guidance and information to all companies in the industry, but for Members, we will be putting together some additional activities to provide even more support. It is important the industry’s supply chain starts functioning and for companies to work together. However, they must ensure they can work safely within the Government Guidance which is the foundation of our all of our articles, Safe Guides and advice.” The GGF is now in the process of completing its latest plans for the second

half of 2020, which will introduce more new services designed to help the industry through the COVID-19 crisis. The full details will be revealed in the next few weeks, but Members can expect to benefit from promotional tools, greater engagement with GGF staff and other Members, as well as more high quality trusted guidance. The GGF will also continue to work closely with key Government departments and related construction bodies, to ensure ongoing political influence in new Government initiatives, legislation, standards and working practices. John Agnew summarises, “The GGF, as the industry’s leading trade body, has always been well placed to deliver the services to benefit our Members and the industry. Over the next few weeks and months, we will be introducing new services and activities to help Members operate safely and responsibly. There’s a lot to be done in this very challenging environment but we will to ensure our Members and the industry recovers and look forward to better times ahead.” Both GGF Safe Guides for Homeowners and Installers respectively, are available for free download for all companies in the industry. For further information go to: http://www.ggf.org.uk or for consumer information generated by the GGF please visit www.MyGlazing.com

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EPWIN WINDOWS SYSTEMS DRIVES PRODUCTIVITY AND EFFICIENCY Staying at the forefront of the industry is in the DNA of Epwin Window Systems and their recent business investments are driving both innovations and supporting Covid-19 working practices too. Clare O’Hara, Managing Director of Epwin Window Systems explains: “We are committed to continuous investment which can be seen in our new warehouse and distribution centre. The building, which is 300,000 sqft, will consolidate all our existing warehousing facilities into a single operation and has the capacity to hold over 5,000 stock lines.” From start to finish, the new Telford-based warehouse and distribution centre has been meticulously designed to optimise efficiency at every level. Clare continues: “We have recently invested in seven bespoke MSU 60 sideloaders from HUBTEX, one

of the world’s leading manufacturers of bespoke manual handling equipment. The new HUBTEX technology transforms productivity and efficiency and is operated by a single operator working on a platform at a safe distance from other colleagues. It’s a factor that is helping us maintain social distancing on the warehouse floor too.” The new warehouse and distribution centre forms part of a wider programme of investment that has seen Epwin Window Systems expand its PVC-U extrusion capacity by more than 40%, increased their foiling capacity by 30% and invested in the world’s first Luna R automatic profile wrapping machine. Clare said: “When we started our work on the warehouse and distribution centre, we could not have foreseen the Covid-19 pandemic. But what’s interesting is that we

are now seeing that our investment in the future of our business will not only help us in the long term but also help us in the shorter term as we adjust to operating in the new normal.” Epwin Windows Systems have also completed rigorous risk assessments and introduced numerous protocols throughout the business to protect the health and safety of their employee. Every member of staff returning to the workplace is taken through a thorough sign-off process so they understand the new working practices that are in place. Clare concludes: “The actions that we have taken to protect our employees are a reminder that although technology and innovation has a vital role to play in the future of our industry, it’s the people who are at the heart of everything we do.”

There can be little doubt that our industry faces challenging times. Businesses with a powerful track record in investing in their infrastructure and their people will have the strength, stability and resilience to regenerate a solid platform within the fenestration industry. In Epwin Window Systems, you have such a business. Tel: 0845 340 3968 www.epwinwindowsystems.co.uk

PROFINE MAKES STRATEGIC ONWARD SALE Following on from the acquisition of essential assets from the administrators of Aperture Trading Ltd, which includes the Evolve, Legend and WarmCore brands, profine Group have sold the finished window and door manufacturing facilities to Solar Norvik Ltd & Solar Calibre Doors Ltd for an undisclosed sum. Solar Norvik Ltd and Solar Calibre Ltd are newly formed companies by the same owner / management team behind the well-established Solar Windows Ltd and Interframe (SW) Ltd businesses, which are highly regarded and successful in the commercial and trade sectors respectively. Given the fact that profine Group are a large, global systems house, the

manufacturing facilities that were bought as part of the deal have been deemed non-core and so the challenge during the lockdown period was to find a suitable partner to take on these important manufacturing units. There’s now a partnership deal for growth in place between profine and the new Solar businesses, and importantly, Solar Norvik Ltd and Solar Calibre Doors Ltd will continue to operate at the Huthwaite site. Gareth Jones, managing director of profine UK commented: ‘It made commercial sense to buy all of the remaining assets from KPMG, the administrators of Aperture Trading, but given our group mantra of excelling in our core competences, we’ve found a reputable partner for the

manufacturing facilities. I have known Carl Lewis for nearly 20 years, and I do believe that we have the perfect partner in place to take these businesses and brands forward.’ Carl Lewis, managing director of Solar Norvik Ltd and Solar Calibre Doors Ltd concluded: ‘Both the Norvik and Calibre Doors assets will fit perfectly into our current business model and we’re genuinely thrilled with the deal and partnership programme that we have in place with profine. It’s also good news for both businesses, the local labour market, for the supply chain and ultimately the customers of both brands.’ For further information please visit www.profine-uk.com, e-mail enquiries@profine-uk.com or phone 01623

From left to right: Gareth Jones with Carl Lewis

443200. You can also follow them on social media platforms including Twitter @profineuk and @kommerling_uk.

GGF CALLS FOR GREATER FLEXIBILITY OF JOB RETENTION SCHEME The Glass and Glazing Federation (GGF) has written to the Chancellor of the Exchequer asking that the Job Retention Scheme be made more flexible to help companies who may only require furloughed workers to return on a part-time basis. John Agnew, GGF Managing Director commented, “Following discussions with GGF Members, we have contacted the Chancellor to ask if the Job Retention Scheme can be more flexible and allow companies to re-employ furloughed

employees on a part-time basis until work picks up and there is enough for full time employment. It is important for this flexibility to happen as soon as possible to ensure companies don’t lose skilled and experienced employees.” Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced last week that the Job Retention Scheme would be extended to October and that there would be flexibility from August for companies to re-employ part-time whilst employees were still furloughed. The GGF has called on this to be brought forward to 1st June to allow companies more flexibility as they start to build up orders and schedule their work.

John Agnew GGF Managing Director

Chancellor Rishi Sunak

For further information go to: http://www.ggf.org.uk or for consumer information generated by the GGF please visit www.MyGlazing.com

June 2020 | www.glassnews.co.uk

The UKâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Leading Glass & Glazing Newspaper

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LOCKDOWN ACCELERATES LAUNCH OF PROFESSIONAL DESIGN SERVICE High-end retail fabricator Conservatory Outlet Ltd has continued its commitment to customer excellence by revealing an innovative new digital design package to support its customers’ lockdown sales efforts. The state-of-the-art software, dubbed the Professional Design Service, was due to be officially unveiled to the Conservatory Outlet Network of retail installers in late Spring 2020, but the extraordinary circumstances presented by the COVID-19 pandemic prompted priority final programming and testing to allow for an accelerated launch. The system allows customers the freedom to select and design windows & doors in realtime which are truly in keeping with their own style. Supported by the guidance of an industry sales professional, homeowners can choose from literally hundreds of colours, styles, designs and performance features and instantly see their vision come to life in front of their eyes. The tool also offers customers clear and on-the-spot pricing based on the designs they choose, which means an honest, transparent price every time. Originally conceived to be used face-to-face with customers, the Network’s sales teams have been coached in the benefits of sharing their screens via apps like Zoom and Microsoft Teams to adapt their approach - helping home-owners plan their new windows & doors ‘virtually’ in the comfort of their own homes. Greg Kane, CEO at Conservatory Outlet, explains: “The launch of our Professional Design Service (PDS) has always been a top priority for us, but there was never a more crucial time for us to accelerate our efforts

to deliver an essential sales tool for our teams. “Home improvements are all about visualisation. Making a significant investment like windows & doors, you need to really connect emotionally with the product and explore the huge range of options before you commit, which is exactly what PDS is designed to do. Now we’ve proved it can be used successfully online, this only heightens its huge sales potential for the future.” The design package has already proved a fantastic success for the Network, having been met with overwhelming praise from homeowners and ultimately supporting lockdown sales efforts of more than £4m since its launch on 30th March. Edward Westbury, Sales Director at Network member 5 Star Home Improvements, concludes: “We’re very grateful to Conservatory Outlet for prioritising the launch of PDS in the midst of the most challenging business conditions most of us have ever experienced. Their unwavering positivity has been a huge support to us over the past few weeks, and we have nothing but praise for the new PDS system which has helped us to secure a large number of contracts during lockdown.”

GETTING BRITAIN BACK TO WORK - APSCO RESPONDS TO FURLOUGH SCHEME ANNOUNCEMENT Following today’s announcement from Rishi Sunak that the furlough scheme will be closed to new entrants from the 10 June and that employers will only be asked to pay a modest amount for the remainder of the scheme. Samantha Hurley, Operations Director at the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo) said: “When we wrote to the Chancellor earlier this month, we asked for a managed withdrawal from the furlough scheme in order to get the UK economy back to work. The fact that the scheme has been tapered down to allow workers back part time while still retaining their full time pay is a welcome move and is in line with our recommendations. This gives firms the flexibility they require to

gradually bring furloughed employees back to work on a part time basis, with the percentage of salary funded by Government tapered down to address any increase in working hours. The fact that this is optional and employers will be able to leave employees on furlough if they choose until the end of October contributing 10% and 20% of furlough pay respectively is also welcome.”

PLANNING FOR THE RECOVERY “Initiatives like the Job Retention Scheme have helped to protect employees throughout Covid-19 crisis. However, many employees face unemployment due to the impact of the lockdown and the longer lasting effects of Covid-19 on many sectors of the economy. “A highly trained workforce will help support the economic recovery and so what we now need is for the Government to invest in reskilling opportunities both at a national and regional level to help businesses fill vacancies and reduce unemployment. This should include broadening how Apprenticeship Levy funds can be used. We would also urge Government to support the economic recovery by, where possible, continuing those spending initiatives outlined in the 2020 Budget. This will support jobs and economic growth and get Britain back to work.”

REHAU UK TO RESUME MANUFACTURING AT ITS BLAENAU SITE REHAU UK has confirmed that it has begun a phased return to work at its Blaenau Ffestiniog windows profile manufacturing site. The facility ceased production on 26th March as a result of the UK Government’s lockdown, with only essential employees, such as security, on the site. In the initial stages, the return-to-work will involve a reduced number of employees on site to meet the current customer demand. At the

same time as ensuring, the continuation of social distancing measures and maximum employee safety. Martin Hitchin, Chief Executive of REHAU UK Ltd, commented: “The first tranche of employees returned to work on Monday 1st June.

Specifically, REHAU UK is providing a return-to-work policy for every employee along with a Safe Site working booklet. In addition, employees are being advised not to car share to work.

• One-way system into and around the building • Limits on the numbers of people in any specific area at any one time

Once on site, REHAU UK has implemented the following safety measures for all employees:

• Two-metre physical distancing within the plant and face masks to be worn at all times.

"This decision was taken after extensive consultation between the UK management team, health and safety experts and our employees - and only after a full risk assessment and ‘return-to-work’ plan was devised and implemented.”

• A full risk assessment has been conducted throughout the site

• Handwashing and sanitising to be encouraged throughout the day

• Safe Site working guidance and procedures have been issued to all colleagues

• Cleaning operatives on duty all day for the continual cleaning of surfaces and facilities

He continued: “Our over-riding priority is the safety of everyone on the site. We believe, with our Safe Site plan in place, it will be safe to begin a phased return-towork, but we intend to closely monitor the health and well-being of our employees during this process.”

• Visible signage at all entrances to remind employees of restrictions on the site

• All machinery and equipment cleaned and sanitised after use

• Temperature recording of each employee upon arrival each day

Mr Hitchin concluded: “We’ve had a very good response to our plans from customers, suppliers and, most importantly, employees who are, in the main, keen to get back to work and resume their normal working lives.”

• A Safe Site induction on the first day for each returning employee

June 2020 | www.glassnews.co.uk

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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: WINDOW WIDGETS

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ANCILLARIES FOR THE FENESTRATION INDUSTRY, POST COVID-19, AND THE VIEW OF WINDOW WIDGETS Chris Champion, Glass News’ Editor, talks to Sarah Hitchings, Window Widgets’ Sales and Marketing Director, about how the Covid-19 epidemic will affect Window Widgets’ business, specifically, and the universal ancillaries sector in general.

Window Widgets is a supplier and manufacturer of ancillaries of every kind, from Bay Poles to Couplers and from Corner-Posts to Bridge Packers, made from a variety of materials. Did you have to close, completely, or have you managed to provide a service of any kind during the lockdown? Sarah Hitchings: We’ve closed completely for several weeks in terms of operations, based on government guidance and the responsibility we have for the workforce. However, we’ve been able to maintain a skeleton team for sales, marketing, supply chain, technical and finance. In addition, we’ve provided a different service in terms of 3D printing of surgical mask straps and visor bands for hospitals and care homes.

How many of your customers locked down completely? Of those 26

that kept open, what level of service did they offer during that time? Sarah Hitchings: The majority closed and as an industry we responded responsibly and most business kept a brand/marketing presence, as did we. Now we, along with our large network of customers are now reopening in a safe and responsible manner.

Did you continue to receive supplies from your various suppliers and did you see a marked difference according to their geographical origin? Sarah Hitchings: We didn’t receive any good from suppliers as most of our products are produced in-house and we’ll be resuming production from 18th May, with existing raw material supplies in the short-term.

You offer a wide range of products, if you have to source materials or products from abroad, do you anticipate that you may have to change suppliers in the future or look for new ones? Sarah Hitchings: All our products are either produced in-house at our factory in Gloucester or sourced from the UK. Some of our UK suppliers also have facilities abroad for manufacturing and distribution and so we operate a very robust and

effective supply chain, as this pandemic has shown.

Do you think ‘the blame game’ over responsibility for starting this pandemic will influence either your thinking over suppliers or prove to cause problems from a political aspect? Sarah Hitchings: As I said our suppliers will not be affected, but I think a lot of consumers will look to back the “Buy British” campaign, as they did with Brexit to some extent, but how long that lasts will be interesting. Are people prepared and ready to pay more for a quality made British product..?!

Sarah Hitchings Sales and Marketing Director, Window Widgets

Sarah Hitchings: Similar answer to above question and I think most will return to pre COVID-19 in the way that they operate.

What have been the key difficulties with returning to work? What exceptional arrangements have June 2020 | www.glassnews.co.uk

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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: WINDOW WIDGETS

you made in terms of staff and customer protection? Sarah Hitchings: Re-writing safe operating procedures to include social distancing and taking temperatures of all staff before allowing to start shift, along with putting 2-metre markers out has been the first part of our back to work programme. This is also supplemented with additional breaks for handwashing and a paper-free process of delivery notes, so that there is no contact between delivery drivers and customers. As a business, judging demand and how many people to bring back has been a challenging process.

Relationships are bound to change following the pandemic, particularly if you have had customers who have been slow or reluctant to pay what they owe you. Has that been an issue for Window Widgets and, if so, is there a way to repair the damaged relationship? Sarah Hitchings: We’ve been fair in allowing customers to put forward payment plans with us, we’ve only put customers on full stop if January 2020 was outstanding (that’s pre lockdown so no excuse!). For February balances, we have allowed customers to pay for orders up front and we’ll allocate payment to oldest invoices first. For outstanding balances at the end of March we are providing customers to clear the balance by the end of June. I think as a key supplier we have to be flexible and work with customers to allow them to continue to trade, we don’t want to cause unnecessary supply problems, as we’re all in a difficult position. It’s a case of working together for our collective benefit.

Looking at timescales, have you reopened for business or, if not, how long do you anticipate it will be before you are fully operational? Sarah Hitchings: We partially re-opened operationally on Monday 11th May and we’ve had a key worker team (all at home) during the whole of lockdown. We will phase re-opening in line with sales demand and continue to ensure operational employees feel physically and mentally safe to come back to the factory and warehouse, as demand increases. Those who can work from home are continuing to do so for the foreseeable future.

Have you started to receive deliveries from your suppliers and, www.glassnews.co.uk | June 2020

if not, when do you expect those deliveries to commence? Sarah Hitchings: We expect deliveries to commence in a couple of weeks, but our own factory will return before the external suppliers do and as mentioned above, we have sufficient stocks of raw materials to commence production.

Do you think we are talking about months or, perhaps years, before Window Widgets can say that you have returned to the same financial position as you were prior to December 2019? Sarah Hitchings: The banks have said it will take 2 years to recover, a lot for us will depend upon the fabricators and installers being able to ramp back up to full capacities. Prior to December 2019 we were owned by Masonite, so our financial position was very different! Having done the MBO in December this has certainly been a challenge we were not expecting, but what a learning curve hey! Our financial partners have been very supportive and

we’re confident we’ll return better and stronger than ever.

Finally, what is your vision for the future? Will Window Widgets have changed substantially? Can it be as successful as it once was? And do you think the market will return as it was and, if so, how long do think that will take?

Counter Network which is launching soon. It’s a postcode search for builders, installers etc to be able to find their nearest trade counter selling Window Widgets parts, so we’re extending our reach. We’ve also thought about the way we produce materials, learning a lot from the 3D printing we did for the NHS and care homes, as to what else we can print… Tel: 01452 300912

Sarah Hitchings: I’m confident that the market will return and I’ve been monitoring all the activities on our consumer facing brand The Residence Collection. The traffic and leads through there have been phenomenal, as home improvement has certainly been the talk of lockdown with painting, decorating and gardening projects happening across the country. So, I firmly believe that we will continue with larger projects such as windows, doors and conservatories and we’ll see a strong return. We had lots of projects scheduled for later in the year that we’ve managed to bring forward during lockdown and a case in point is the Window Widgets Trade

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ONLINE IRONMONGERY COURSE BOOSTS SAFETY SPECIALISTS JACKLOC TAKE ADVANTAGE OF SALESTRACKER FREE TRIAL SKILLS FOR FURLOUGHED WORKERS Builders merchants’ staff, customer service and trade counter colleagues affected by the coronavirus crisis are being encouraged to utilise online training resources to upskill in preparation for the industry’s recovery phase. Nearly two thirds (64%) of companies in the construction industry that are still trading have furloughed staff, according to the latest statistics from the ONS. But learning new skills and gaining additional qualifications while on furlough leave is considered a good move by many to secure their jobs and boost careers. The Foundation in Hardware online course from the Guild of Architectural Ironmongers (GAI) is an ideal option for many in the sector. The Foundation is designed for those who are not involved in architectural ironmongery as their day-today job but do need a basic knowledge of door hardware. Consisting of 12 modules with test yourself questions at the end of each section followed by a final exam, the course gives a basic overview of architectural

ironmongery. It covers a range of door hardware products including hinges, closing devices, fire and escape doors and also looks at standards and the basics of access control. Designed with flexible learning in mind, the Foundation in Hardware online course and examination allows students to study at their own pace. Once signed up, students will have up to six months to complete the course. The final online examination can be taken as many times as needed until the 80% pass rate is achieved and a Certificate of Competence will be awarded upon completion. Rachel Tipton, education manager at the GAI, said: “Under the current circumstances, we’re encouraging employers to use this time to boost the skills of their staff in preparation for the influx of construction projects that is expected once the lockdown is lifted. We are recommending that builders merchants’ staff, customer service and trade counter colleagues use this time to strengthen their knowledge of door hardware so that they are ready to confidently deliver product support to customers.” A free course taster is available to outline the style and content of the course. For more information on the GAI Foundation in Hardware course, visit the GAI website. www.gai.org.uk

Jackloc, providers of the market’s leading and multi award winning window restrictor range, have become the latest business to take advantage of an unprecedented free trial to Insight Data’s Salestracker. Like businesses throughout our sector, Jackloc found their usual ways of working severely disrupted by the coronavirus lockdown – which made Salestracker a very attractive proposition, as Managing Director Eric Collins explains: “With the country in almost total lockdown, sales visits have suddenly become a thing of the past – and we were intrigued to see how Salestracker could help us overcome that challenge, particularly with its in-built email marketing platform. “I think it’s great that Insight are supporting the industry through one of the most difficult periods its faced, and I know that we and many other businesses appreciate their generosity.”

“In all the years Insight has been trading, we’ve never given access to Salestracker for free,” comments Customer Support Manager Kirsty Winter. “We’re incredibly proud of the platform we’ve built, and the hugely powerful sales and marketing tools it offers. “However, since the lockdown began, it’s become clear that thousands of great fenestration businesses are really struggling through no fault of their own. We think Salestracker can help them overcome this challenging situation, and that’s why we’ve launched our very first free trial. “We’re delighted that Eric and Jackloc have decided to take us up on our offer – and we hope Salestracker helps them and many other businesses in the months ahead.” For more information contact Insight Data on 01934 808293 or via email at hello@ insightdata.co.uk.

Since the start of the coronavirus crisis, Insight Data has seen a surge in interest in Salestracker – it’s state-of-the-art online portal, that combines a prospect database, a CRM system, and a powerful email marketing platform called STEM. Accessible 24/7 on PC, laptop, tablet or mobile, Salestracker is an ideal tool for home working, putting records for over 60,000 potential customers at your fingertips.

FIT SHOW ’21: A FILTER FOR “THE LEANER, FITTER AND BETTER FUNDED COMPANIES IN OUR INDUSTRY” SAYS TOP INSTALLER In an extraordinary, timely interview, one of the UK’s leading window and door installers, David Thornton of The Window Company (Contracts) Ltd, says that he will be visiting next year’s FIT Show with a view to identifying additional new supply partners, because the event will “highlight the leaner, fitter and better funded companies in our industry.” David, who has previously shown his support for the event, which will take place once again at the NEC in May, was asked

for his views on the relevance of the FIT Show at a time when the industry is facing enormous challenges due to Covid-19. He said: “Although we all have an extremely difficult road ahead, assuming that we are able to return to some sort of normality in the coming months, the next FIT Show will be immensely important for the industry.” Having previously visited the FIT Show with a specially prepared prospectus on his firm, to allow exhibitors to understand his company’s requirements more thoroughly, David says that the 2021 event will be even more important in his choice of future additional trading partners to work alongside existing suppliers: “With the total cancellation of Fensterbau until 2022, FIT Show 2021 will be even more important. Certainly, I will regard any exhibitors at next year’s FIT Show as companies that I am more likely to do business with, simply as they have not only survived but they can afford to be there both financially and logistically. By then they are likely to have rationalised their products and services and,

like all of us, will have taken a lot of hard decisions during the lockdown that will make them leaner, fitter and simply better to do business with.” Now one of the South East’s leading commercial window, door and curtain walling installers, working for some of the region’s biggest contractors and social housing providers, David has steered The Window Company (Contracts) Ltd to three ‘Installer of the Year’ titles. A committed industry man, David has also served as a director of the Glass & Glazing Federation. He added: “You meet people face-to-face at an exhibition like the FIT Show and, as sophisticated as digital communications are, there is no substitute for looking people in the eye to discuss your needs and their ability to supply you. We do a lot of business at FIT.” Next year’s event will be even more important in this process, he says: “It’s a fact that many of the more fragile companies will have gone. I want to see who is left, to see the shape of their businesses and how

they intend to develop going forward; the May ’21 FIT Show will be a filter, in effect. “But just as importantly,” adds David, “many of the challenges posed by the lockdown came from the basic human need to interact….the FIT Show will be so very important, as we come out of this period.” FIT Show 2021 will take place at the NEC 25th to 27th May. For further information go to: https://www.fitshow.co.uk For further information on The Window Company (Contracts) Ltd go to https://thewinco.co.uk

June 2020 | www.glassnews.co.uk

The UKâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Leading Glass & Glazing Newspaper

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ROOFING

The UK’s Leading Glass & Glazing Newspaper

FREEFOAM: BY HELPING CUSTOMERS GROW, WE GROW Colin St John, Freefoam Commercial Director says the strategy of ‘helping customers grow’ has been a cornerstone of its 30-year business. Freefoam has now formalised it into an integrated marketing campaign. This year Freefoam celebrates 30 years of successful business. Our founding Managing Director, Tony Walsh, set up Freefoam in Cork with a single co-extrusion line and a vision to supply the growing home improvement market with high quality, low maintenance PVC fascia and soffit. The business has grown significantly since those humble beginnings and we’re now a specialist manufacturer of PVC-UE roofline and external cladding, PVC-U rainwater systems, and interior decorative panelling. Today, Freefoam has a thriving pan-European business with manufacturing operations in the UK and Ireland together with a strong presence across continental Europe.

CUSTOMER-FIRST APPROACH The world has changed beyond measure since our early days - from the political landscape and climate change to changing demographics and consumer preferences – and we’ve built our brand around quality, choice, products guarantees and customer support. Supporting customers and helping them grow has been the key to our success over the past thirty years. When we set up in the UK over 20 years ago, we decided not to compete with customers with our own network of distribution channels, but only to sell through stockists and merchants in the UK. We then extended our support to the whole supply chain from stockists and merchants, through to installers and newbuild partners.

THE RIGHT PRODUCTS FOR THE RIGHT MARKETS We work closely with customers to give them the products they say they need to sell more. For example, colour has become an important and fast-growing trend in roofline, reflecting its popularity in windows and doors. Colour is about 30% of the overall window market, but many window companies selling premium products report over 50% sales in colour. If a homeowner has invested in a highend suite of foiled window and doors they want the roofline colour to match. As the innovator in roofline colour, Freefoam led the way with a wide range of colours in fascias and soffits, and rainwater guttering. Our patented Colormax® technology helps stockists and installers capitalise on this growth area. It’s one of the most technically

advanced colour processes for roofline and rainwater, incorporating a unique selection of stabilisers and pigments, specially chosen for their high colourfastness and longlasting performance.

INDUSTRY-LEADING GUARANTEES We’re in a competitive market and based on long lasting product performance, we offer meaningful guarantees to help customers stand out and give homeowners extra peace of mind. Freefoam’s innovative production techniques are the foundations of our 20-year Lifetime Guarantee on white roofline, with 10-years on colour roofline and cladding. Freefoam Registered Installers get an extra boost with our market-leading 50-year Lifetime Extended Guarantee to give homeowners even further reassurance. Our Registered Installers like Jason Large, Director of Simply Roofline say the Extended Lifetime Guarantee is a great selling tool: “We use Freefoam’s full range because they supply excellent quality products and they offer extended guarantees to customers. The lifetime guarantee gives us an edge over our competitors as not all companies offer this.”

COMPREHENSIVE SUPPORT, TAILORED TO THE CUSTOMER Support goes beyond great products and guarantees to reliable service, on-time in-full deliveries and dedicated customer service managers. We know we only grow if our customers grow and we provide a range of marketing packages, POS, brochures and samples to help stockists and installers sell more and build their own brands. Each customer has different priorities and requirements so we tailor support and offer everything from social media toolkits and videos to brochures and flyers. Freefoam stockists and registered installers also benefit from consumer-facing websites: www.myrooflinematters.co.uk and www.mycladding.co.uk which generate quality leads for customers by directing homeowners to their nearest stockist and our network of registered installers. Darren Beaumont, General Manager at Freefoam stockist, C&A Building Plastics says: “Freefoam has helped us build sales with a great selection of marketing materials and POS. We’re very happy with the service and look forward to continuing successful growth with them in the future.”

Colin St John, Commercial Director, Freefoam

Jason Large of Simply Roofline adds: “We buy through an independent stockist but our relationship with Freefoam is terrific. They provide marketing support and we get leads from the customer-facing websites, as well as recommendations via wordof-mouth and through platforms such as Check-a-trade, Twitter and Facebook.”

#HELPINGCUSTOMERSGROW Supporting customers is a way of life at Freefoam and we’ve formalised it in an ongoing marketing campaign to celebrate our customers’ achievements and their strong partnerships. #HelpingCustomersGrow is a fully integrated campaign which covers PR, social media posts, videos and customer testimonial adverts in print and online. It gives our customers a platform and lets them explain in their own words how Freefoam helps their business. Look out for our series of videos, eye-catching adverts and case-study press releases which feature Freefoam stockists, merchants, installers, and housebuilders. Within the first year of the campaign, the number of registered installers grew by 55% and stockists grew by 11%. #HelpingCustomersGrow has been extremely successful because customers explain in their own words why they choose Freefoam. Alan Sutherland, Managing Director of General Building Plastics says: “We deal with 50 different suppliers in total and Freefoam is by far the best. We’ve received great marketing support, such as literature and sample boards. Freefoam is an independent company with a more personal service, and you can have an open honest conversation with them. As a fellow independent, we like and support each other.” Ashley Marvin Managing Director NG Roofline Windows & Doors also confirms the value of Freefoam’s support: “We’re a Freefoam registered installer because they offer great choice, service, marketing support, and unbeatable product guarantees.” Learn more by visiting www.freefoam.com, following Freefoam on our social media channels and watching our latest customer videos at https://bit.ly/3dwLv0P.

June 2020 | www.glassnews.co.uk

TRADE NEWS

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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: EMPLAS

The UK’s Leading Glass & Glazing Newspaper

IT’S QUITE EASY TO SHUT DOWN:

NOT SO EASY TO GET THINGS ROLLING AGAIN Chris Champion, Glass News’ Editor, talks to Ryan Johnson, Managing Director of Emplas, about how the Covid-19 epidemic has affected Emplas’s business, how they have returned to work and the issues they have faced, and his thoughts on the future for his company and the industry as a whole.

Did you have to close, completely, or have you managed to provide a service of any kind during the lockdown? Ryan Johnson: Going back 8 weeks, give or take, I think it was the 23 March, I had a succession of phone calls, one after another, and around 20 in all from customers, competitors, board members, employees and so on, all asking if I’d heard the news. By 17.00 the next day most companies had closed. It’s quite easy to shut down and not so easy to get things rolling again and we’ve been preparing for that over the past 6 or 7 weeks.

come closer together and we’ve spent an inordinate amount of time repositioning the shopfloor and marking the shopfloor for safe flow. We’ve got hand sanitisers in every area, we’ve taken doors off hinges, if they are not fire doors, so people don’t have to touch anything. It’s all about changing old habits. Things like leaving your doors open and, in the morning, we have a cleaner who disinfects all the door handles and then props the doors open. At the end of the day, when it is cleaned down again, the doors are all closed for the night.

As a business we are well integrated having our own glass supply with Padiham Glass and our aluminium business, Acorn, with Acorn remaining open as they had 8 or 9 clients still working. Additionally, our retail operation in Australia was not locked down and we had deliveries to make to them so they could maintain their business.

What about your UK customers? Did they all lockdown completely? Ryan Johnson:Most did but the retail side, certainly as far as sales go, never really stopped.

What have been the key difficulties with returning to work? What exceptional arrangements have you made in terms of staff and customer protection? Ryan Johnson: We’re fortunate in the case of Emplas. We’ve got a big factory, it’s relatively new, it’s as automated as it can be and, apart from a few pockets, it’s socially distanced naturally. Some of our machining centres are 10 to 12 metres long with one bloke on one end and another at the other end. There are other areas where people

It is lots of little things and we have had to change how we operate, for instance working in fixed teams so they only come in contact with one person and, if they do have to come within two metres of anyone else that they have to have contact with, they are wearing the correct PPE. So we’ve introduced safe working in every area and it has actually been a good process in that it has sharpened up our practices across all areas, including despatch and loading and the drivers: the place has never looked so clean.

How close are you to being back to full strength? Ryan Johnson:Since the 20th when we reopened, so we’re 7 weeks in to re-fabricating and we started re-delivering into the UK on the 11th May but I can say that last

June 2020 | www.glassnews.co.uk

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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: EMPLAS

week, this week and next week, we will be delivering about 50% of our normal volume.

We were quite vocal early on saying, look, this isn’t going to go away. There are guidelines and we have to learn and adapt to operate differently or we will all go out of business.

The difficulty is that some of that volume is stuff that was in the system, some that our customers have sold but not yet ordered, and some of it is new business. We’re trying to separate that out so we can understand what new business will look like going forward. That is the key. Working that out will tell us what the short-term future will look like and all the time we are feeding in this bank of work that is in the system. We have our retail business, T & K, and we didn’t stop that process at all. We’ve actually reported really good sales throughout May and we’re getting a really good level of enquiries. People are sat at home, they are looking at their windows and their living space and considering what to do, however, the worry is that when reality hits, furlough ends, there are potential redundancies, potential mass unemployment, potential recession – which more than likely we’re already in, consumer confidence will be hit. So we have to pick the bones out of all that and manage our resource. I don’t want to bring everyone back for a miniboom only to have to re-furlough or make redundancies. We’re looking at these issues and talking to our customers every day. We’re hoping that by the end of June we will be back to our normal lead times and fixed delivery days across our full range and that will give our customers an even better chance to go out and win business and give their customers confidence in what they’re doing. As of 1 June we were fabricating 2,000 frames per week. It’s all small steps. If people think they can open the doors tomorrow and everything will be the same, then they are deluded. As I said, it’s very easy to shutdown and close the door but it is very difficult to try and restart it. We’ve been going through the pain over the last 7 weeks and as a result we are now in a good position.

You must have wondered, from a financial point of view, when www.glassnews.co.uk | June 2020

The government has stood on the back foot and said to industry you’ve got to make the decisions, got to take the steps and get on with it. But no one in our industry has grabbed the baton and said: “This is what we think we should do.” Sometimes it is better to at least make a decision rather than make no decision.

Emplas will see itself back in the same position as you were prior to December 2019? How long do you think that is going take?

Ryan Johnson: I’d like to think so and I would agree with you that throughout this period not one of our bodies, that claim to represent us, has stood up and said: “Right, this is what we think should happen.”

We‘ve seen not a lot of decisions and not a lot of people standing up to be counted! It’s a tricky one…perhaps you can do it, Chris?

And on that happy note, let’s bring this to a close!

Ryan Johnson:The challenge for our sales and operational teams is to make sure we can win the new business so that by Autumn we are in a similar position to where we were. What I will say is that we will be leaner and fitter because of it. It has made us look at things we have never looked at before. If we stick to providing a good service and good products we will win new business and by the Autumn we may not be in a bad position. I’m a lot more positive now that I was 7 weeks ago.

One thing I feel is that there isn’t a trade association to represent the whole industry. My background is from industries that had one trade association representing everyone. Can we end up with a proper trade association out of all this? 33

TRADE NEWS

The UK’s Leading Glass & Glazing Newspaper

VERSATILITY OF STEEL

HERITAGE TRADE FRAMES BECOMES STELLAR FABRICATOR Longstanding Profile 22 customer Heritage Trade Frames has become the latest fabricator to manufacture Stellar, the award-winning aluminium window and door system from Epwin Window Systems. Phil Cresswell, Sales and Marketing Manager at Heritage Trade Frames, said: “The superb aesthetics of Stellar completely raise the bar in aluminium system design. First impressions are that it will be quicker and easier to fabricate than other traditional aluminium systems. But more importantly for our customers, it’s an installer’s dream, which is a huge selling point for us.” Stellar is a double G Award-winning British system designed by a specialist in-house team of designers. And as Phil says, it’s been designed to make life easy for fabricators and installers alike. Installers see quicker installation thanks to the patent-pending knock in beads that make the process of glazing a window very straightforward and has the additional advantage of being pre-gasketed thus reducing installation time even further. When it comes to the aesthetics, Stellar has clean lines and is a genuine fully-flush system, something that’s unique to the market. Its frames are slimmer than those of its closest competitors, so based on a GGF

The industrial style of steel windows is fashionable while the strong, versatile material is ideal for external windows, double doors, internal partitions, and shower screens. From left to right: Paul Culshaw – Heritage Trade Frames, Mark Austin – Epwin Window Systems

standard window, it means Stellar delivers extra glass area which is perfect for the light-filled spaces today’s homeowners love. As well as the benefits of the system, Phil said the reassurance of the Epwin Window Systems name made a difference. “We’ve been a Profile 22 fabricator for 25 years so we know first-hand that Epwin Window Systems is able to offer a level of innovation and quality that helps us build long-term, proactive relationships with our customers.” Heritage Trade Frames is one of the North West’s leading trade fabricators. Founded in the late 1980s the business set out a clear objective to manufacture and supply quality PVC-U windows, doors and conservatories. Thirty years later, with over a million products successfully supplied and installed in homes and offices around the North West, the company is now expanding to take advantage of the opportunities in the retail aluminium market. And with Stellar, it’s got the right system to do exactly that! Tel: 0845 300 9356 www.stellaraluminium.co.uk

External steel windows can boast interlocked steel glazing bars if specified which make them incredibly strong and secure. They also require less maintenance than timber framed windows and are manufactured from a slimmer frame, giving more opportunities for light to enter the home. Similarly, the increasingly popular Belgium doors have interlocked steel glazing and open up the space to maximise light entering the home through a pair of sidehung hinged opening doors flanked by fixed lights. Steel is also great for internal partitions. They can act as room dividers to create a broken plan living space which gives homeowners the privacy of separate rooms without compromising on space. The elegance of stylish steel doesn’t stop there; it can also be used in the bathroom. A steel shower screen is the ideal way to combine industrial style with contemporary design. The material is easy to clean and maintain, and increases the light entering the shower area. Weather seals can also be fitted to ensure the steel screen is fully watertight. Double glazed steel windows with 16mm Krypton filled units are ideal for historical

and/or contemporary homes. They are able to reflect heat back in to the room which helps with thermal efficiency. Single glazed steel windows can still be manufactured for listed, historic and conservation buildings. Members of the Steel Window Association offer a UK-wide service for the repair and replacement of various types of old metal windows, doors and screens, as well as being able to manufacture new fenestration which fully meets the requirements of the building regulations. Choosing an SWA member to manufacture and install your steel windows and doors ensures that you are receiving the highest standard of fabrication, installation and customer service. For further information on the Steel Window Association, please visit www.steel-window-association.co.uk or call 020 8543 2841.

GET CASH BACK IN YOUR BUSINESS

Deceuninck Aluminium has said that its new aluminium system offers fabricators an opportunity to rebuild reserves and get cash back into their business through reduced manufacturing costs and inhouse manufacture. A complete aluminium window and door offer, Decalu has been designed to combine u-values of as low as 0.68W/m2K, with significantly reduced manufacturing times and increased installation efficiencies.

It’s also being underpinned by a commitment to bring new levels of service and flexibility to aluminium systems supply. This includes dual-colour and marine grade as standard. Nigel Headford, Deceuninck Aluminium’s Business Development Director, combined with manufacturing efficiencies of up to 40%, Decalu gave fabricators an opportunity to build more margin into supply and to rebuild their cash reserves. “Cash is always critical in business - but perhaps more critical now than it has ever been. Companies reserves are depleted, so rebuilding them is a priority”, he said.

“If you can cut your manufacturing cost by fabricating aluminium windows and doors between 30 and 40% faster, and at lower cost – then you can rebuild the cash in your business more quickly.”

Decalu includes a series of casement options including Decalu 88 Steel and New Steel, designed to replicate steel commercial windows; plus a hidden sash and retro option. There’s also a turn-and-tilt option and the ultra-energy efficient, Decalu101

Scand and a complete range of panel doors with dedicated frame. Deceuninck Aluminium has, however, chosen to focus its attention during its launch phase on Decalu88 its new bi-fold and accompanying lift-and-slide option, Decalu163.

Watch the interview with Nigel at: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=Hfj06YD-XGg&feature=youtu.be

Nigel continued: “Decalu163 is a very smart lift-and-slide product. Sashes will go to 400kg in weight and still open effortlessly. “Decalu88 offers incredible manufacturing efficiencies and through life performance but also the opportunities to add margin instantly.” He added that the opportunity to add margin and get cash back into their businesses extended to those fabricator buying-in.

“If you can make a premium bi-folding door so efficiently, why would you continue to buy-in product from a third-party. Why not source it from a single supplier along with your other systems and make it yourself. “You’re instantly putting 35% margin back on each and every door you sell. You don’t need to invest a lot in machinery to start manufacture. It’s a ready-made opportunity to bring margin back into your business and to rebuild cash.” For more information call 01249 816 969, email deceuninck.ltd@deceuninck.com or visit www.deceuninck.co.uk.

June 2020 | www.glassnews.co.uk

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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: CUTPRO®

The UK’s Leading Glass & Glazing Newspaper

CUT RESISTANT CLOTHING FOR THE GLASS AND GLAZING INDUSTRY, POST COVID-19, AND THE VIEW OF CUTPRO® CLOTHING Chris Champion, Glass News’ Editor, talks to Robert Kaiser, CutPRO®’s CEO about how the Covid-19 epidemic will affect CutPRO®’s business, specifically, and the cut resistant clothing sector in general.

CutPRO® is a supplier and manufacturer of cut resistant clothing of every kind made from a variety of materials. Did you have to close, completely, or have you managed to provide a service of any kind during the lockdown?

We also hold large levels of stock, which allowed us to continue to supply and, in many cases, continued to deliver next day.

Robert Kaiser, CutPRO®’s CEO

Robert Kaiser: Our Headquarter here in the UK remained fully operational. Almost all our employees from our sales, marketing, admin and accounts department are now working from home. It took us around two weeks to put the infrastructure in place e.g. laptops, mobile phones, two daily welfare calls a day, daily reporting procedures etc.

health and safety departments, did continue to work like the most of us, from home.

Our cut resistant clothing production facility in Poland also continued to remain fully operational, following their legal guidance and regulations.

We have experienced a two to four weeks difficulty to communicate, because they had to make the same infrastructure changes as we had to, enabling their workforce to work safely from home.

How many of your customers locked down completely? Of those that kept open, what level of service did they offer during that time?

Did you continue to receive supplies from your various suppliers and did you see a marked difference according to their geographical origin?

Robert Kaiser: I don’t believe many locked down completely. We are supplying some of the world’s leading glass producers and processing plants. I believe the majority continued to operate somehow on a minimal staff level. Some of them may have closed a large selection of their plants. However, our key contacts within senior management and the purchasing, as well as

Robert Kaiser: We continued to receive supplies. Having said that, we have certainly experienced our fair share of delays, simply due to lack of directions within all European Governments. Importing, exporting, shipping, dealing with customs, it all became a little more complex. A market difference was soon easily to identify. As soon as a country noticed an

The UK’s Leading Glass & Glazing Newspaper

increase in COVID-19 infections their action and guidance of social distancing and ‘lockdown’ immediately started to impact the speed of communication and movement of goods.

You offer a wide range of product, if you have to source materials or products from abroad, do you anticipate that you may have to change suppliers in the future or look for new ones? Robert Kaiser: We certainly have learned many lessons from what has happened around the world and to our business. However, I do not believe we will be looking at any new supplier. We have a key supplier and a supplier within our contingency plans and this system has worked and would work again.

Do you think ‘the blame game’ over responsibility for starting this pandemic will influence either your thinking over suppliers or prove to cause problems from a political aspect? Robert Kaiser: Our professional opinion is that something in China was not handled ‘appropriately’, but therefore we have never and will not in the future utilise suppliers from that region. We believe in the fantastic capabilities within the UK and Europe.

In your opinion, will there be an increase in the amount of product purchased from Europe and less dependence on overseas suppliers or will logistics and world trade return to how it was before coronavirus? Robert Kaiser: As per my previous comment. We have in the past and will always in the future continue to utilise quality and certified European raw materials. I believe others will come to realise that this is by far the safest way to operate.

What have been the key difficulties with returning to work? What exceptional arrangements have you made in terms of staff and customer protection? Robert Kaiser: At this stage we have not returned to ‘office work’. Our employees

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: CUTPRO®

continue to work from home till 30 May. We will then review our position. The arrangements and infrastructure change we have made have proven that our systems and SOPs work. If there is a second wave of infection following the relaxing of social distancing rules etc we will immediately revert back to this system.

Relationships are bound to change following the pandemic, particularly if you have had customers who have been slow or reluctant to pay what they owe you. Has that been an issue for CutPRO® and, if so, is there a way to repair the damaged relationship? Robert Kaiser: I believe we have been very fortunate. We have not experienced any major delays in payment from our customers. If anything, we will have been forced to deliver a little later to our customers than promised, but the response was good and most have been very understanding.

Looking at timescales, have you reopened for business or, if not, how long do you anticipate it will be before you are fully operational? Robert Kaiser: We remained fully operational but with less staff. I would like to return back to ‘normal’ by 01 July 2020.

Have you started to receive deliveries from your suppliers and,

if not, when do you expect those deliveries to commence? Robert Kaiser: We continued to receive deliveries and have not experienced any major, or unacceptable delays.

Do you think we are talking about months or, perhaps years, before CutPRO® can say that you have returned to the same financial position as you were prior to December 2019? Robert Kaiser: I believe we are talking about a very few months. In fact, we continued our social media campaigns, based on our believe that our customers and clients will use these forums whilst in ‘lockdown’, and I expect that we have increased our brand awareness by doing so. Our hope is that we will benefit from it and receive additional enquiries by the time glass producers become fully operational again.

Finally, what is your vision for the future? Will CutPRO® have changed substantially? Can it be as successful as it once was? And do you think the market will return as it was and, if so, how long do think that will take? Robert Kaiser: CutPRO® has not and will not change. We are very humble, but equally do we believe we are the best in what we do. Quality, durability, and reliability is fundamental in our line of work. As far as this is concerned nothing has changed and nothing will change. Our hope is that our business returns close to ‘normal’ after the summer holidays, meaning September. If that is not the case we shall improvise, adapt and overcome.

TRADE NEWS

The UK’s Leading Glass & Glazing Newspaper

‘STAY AT HOME SALE’ CAMPAIGN SMASHES RECORD ENQUIRY LEVELS FOR CO NETWORK A group of independent retail installers has enjoyed record online enquiries since the government announced the UK-wide lockdown on 23rd March, achieving lead volumes in excess of 75% higher than the previous year.

creative marketing tactics to appeal to an active market in challenging conditions.

The companies, who are part of the prestigious Conservatory Outlet Network, each recognised the importance of continuing to invest in proactive marketing tactics during the COVID-19 lockdown. This has proved to be a lucrative decision for the Network - at a time when most companies have chosen to “shut up shop” the installers now have a ready-made sales pipeline for challenging months ahead, putting them in an excellent position for a full and speedy recovery.

DOORCO – RETURN TO BUSINESS ARRANGEMENTS

Fabricator Conservatory Outlet Ltd, which heads up the Network, engaged proactively with its industry-leading marketing agency DigitalKOG to plan and execute its ‘Stay at Home Sale’ campaign to adapt to the extraordinary market conditions. It’s aim - to continue to generate a consistently strong level of retail enquiries in a socially responsible way to path the way for a positive return to work. Greg Kane, CEO at Conservatory Outlet, explains: “When lockdown was announced, we quickly realised we would need to adapt our marketing approach to appeal to people at a very emotional, frustrating and confusing time. “Finding the right balance of empathy whilst meeting the obvious consumer need was key for us when planning our ‘Stay at Home Sale’ campaign with DigitalKOG. What we found in reality was that being stuck inside was the perfect time for many to explore and plan their next home improvements. We’ve also been able to offer exclusive offers to entice customers ‘out of the market’ before the end of lockdown, which has proved highly successful.” Steven Ormand, Managing Director at DigitalKOG, continues: “The worst decision a business can make in challenging times is to baton down the hatches and stop investing in marketing. When the chips are down, staying visible is more important than ever - it’s as simple as that. The outstanding results seen by our proactive CO Network members are a direct result of their foresight – allowing us to help them use consistent, relevant messaging and

“Utilising targeted ‘paid social’ channels has been a particularly important strategy for the Conservatory Outlet Network. “With everyone stuck at home, scrolling through social media apps like Facebook and Instagram have become commonplace for us all, and we’ve made sure our customers are right there when people need to find them.”

Having recently informed customers and suppliers, I’m writing to you to update you on DOORCO’s return to work strategy. My hope is that you will share this with the wider market in the spirit of industrywide collaboration. Providing a safe working environment for the DOORCO team is our main focus at this time and we’ve been implementing changes that will be in place for the foreseeable future. From this Monday (4th May), DOORCO opened for business, running with a skeleton team that provides cover across all areas of the business while actioning the necessary “Safe Working Practices” which enables us to function in a way that is safe for our team and our customers and suppliers. We have taken information from Government guidance, industry practices and shared advice between customers and

suppliers which has been a great assistance in shaping DOORCO’s new working practices.

DOORCO’s stock position is extremely strong across door blanks, cassettes and glass.

Some of the new Safe Working Practices include social distancing measures from entrance and throughout the premises, reduced head count in the office, daily temperature checks for all staff, daily health check questionnaire, increased levels of PPE issued including gloves/visors, and hourly work station clean down, to mention just a few.

We will be continually reviewing our working practices as we move forward. We will be taking into consideration any updated guidance given by the government and keeping open lines of communication with our customers and suppliers as everyone adapts to the New Normal.

We are distributing door blanks and prepped doors along with the supply of the accessories, glazing cassettes and glass. As the demand increases, we will increase the team numbers in line with customer requirements. DOORCO has continued to receive container deliveries during the lockdown period, so needless to say

Stay safe and let’s hope a return to normal business volumes for us all can be achieved soonest. Regards, Dan Sullivan, MD DOORCO

GGF LAUNCHES SAFE GUIDE FOR INSTALLERS Following the GGF’s “first to market” launch of the Safe Guide for Homeowners during the Covid-19 Crisis, the GGF has now launched a complementary Safe Guide for Home Improvement Companies. The new Guide has integrated the most recent and relevant Government Guidance and includes direct links to the Government Risk Assessment Toolkit. Though several parts of the most recent Government Guidance issued were queried by GGF Members, the GGF, on behalf of its Members, sought and gained clarification from the Department of Business & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) before publishing this new Guide. This new publication has been produced in collaboration with a diverse cross-section

of Members, GGF Staff and Government officials, to ensure this Safe Guide is the most comprehensive and authoritative in the industry. James Lee, Director of External Affairs commented on the new guide, “The GGF focus has always been on delivering high quality information that can be trusted by the industry and consumers alike. Both Safe Guides reflect the expected GGF high standards.” The new GGF Safe Guide for Home Improvement Companies during the COVID-19 Crisis is available to all companies in the industry, for free download and viewing from the GGF website www.ggf.org.uk.

June 2020 | www.glassnews.co.uk

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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: MADE FOR TRADE

The UK’s Leading Glass & Glazing Newspaper

FABRICATORS, POST COVID-19, AND

THE VIEW OF MADE FOR TRADE

Chris Champion, Glass News’ Editor, talks to Bradley Gaunt, Made For Trade’s Managing Director, about how the Covid-19 epidemic will affect Made For Trade’s business, specifically, and fabricators as a whole.

Made For Trade fabricates Korniche Aluminium Roof Lanterns, Aluminium Bi-folding Doors and Global Conservatory Roofs and Orangery Roofs for the trade. Did you have to close, completely, or have you managed to provide a service of any kind during the lockdown? Bradley Gaunt:Made For Trade, like other fabricators and the broader industry in general had to close. It was, and still is an unprecedented time for all of us. There are no models, there is no previous data to draw information from and we only had a few days to understand the industries direction and intention to either stay open or close. Ultimately we based our decision to shut the doors on three main factors. First was to understand what our suppliers were doing; if we could not secure raw materials then staying open wasn’t sustainable. Second, we considered what our customers were asking. If we were not able to make deliveries, then we simply couldn’t continue to operate. Thirdly and most importantly was the welfare of our staff. Putting people in potential harm’s way couldn’t be an option so this really was the deciding factor.

How many of your customers locked down completely? Of those that kept open, what level of service did they offer during that time? Bradley Gaunt:As far as we know pretty much all of our customers shut up shop around the same time we did. We do supply some online merchants and some of these continued to operate. From my understanding they remained busy throughout due to their customers being able to continue with ongoing site work that wasn’t directly in the home.

Did you continue to receive supplies from your various suppliers during lockdown? Was hardware affected and was there a difference in supply according to the geographical origin? Bradley Gaunt:As I understand it, our suppliers all closed too. However, we couldn’t have accepted deliveries had they wanted to still deliver to us as the business was not open. We are phasing in our return to business as I write this and so too are our suppliers. We are experiencing variable service levels from them but as we are all in the same boat it is completely understandable. No one really knows what the normal level of business will be once the dust settles but I believe there will be an initial surge in demand coming out of lockdown. The tricky part is going to be bringing the right amount of people back from furlough to manage both the spike in demand but also not too much for the new normal market baseline that will follow.

You offer a wide range of product and distribute it to installers nationwide. Do you anticipate that some customers may have gone during lockdown and you may have to ramp up sales? Bradley Gaunt: It’s been on my mind that there will undoubtedly be collateral damage from COVID-19. There have already been some large companies go to the wall and I hear stories of others not being in such rosy positions either. It is understandable that investors are going to be twitchy in this climate and so if companies who were already failing to hit targets before lockdown will be under huge pressure now! However, I’m sure the industry will find its feet. Fortunately for Made For Trade, we are a family owned business and so don’t have any obligations to hit targets except for our own reasons. MFT is a strong business and we will weather the storm.

Bradley Gaunt:I think the second part of your question will have an impact on the answer for the first part. If governments go down the blame game route after COVID-19 then it could result in all kinds of changes. For example if tariffs or sanctions are implemented against states that are deemed to have failed to contain the virus where our government believes they reasonably should have or at least believes they weren’t as transparent as they maybe should have been, then the result could be that they won’t perhaps be the most competitive anymore. Thus, they may not be the most viable supply route any longer. This then perhaps answers the first part of your question. Companies might look for the most competitive supply chains and due to the political outcome, it could mean that pre COVID-19 suppliers may no longer be the ones at the top of the pile afterwards.

In your opinion, will there be an increase in the amount of product purchased from Europe and less dependence on overseas suppliers or will logistics and world trade return to how it was before coronavirus? Bradley Gaunt: I think certain people may change their minds on who they want to deal with. It might not be a ‘Europe and us’ mentality though but perhaps rather a ‘UK and the rest of the world’ one. I think if people do anything it will be to support British industry rather than send money abroad. However, this might end up being just a short lived and utopian point of view as companies ultimately need to protect profit margins and remain competitive and so they will probably find themselves buying the materials from the most competitive source regardless. Obviously I’m making a broad statement and factors such as quality and lead time will come into this decision process too.

What have been the key difficulties with returning to work? What exceptional arrangements have you made in terms of staff and customer protection? Bradley Gaunt:As I touched on earlier, one stumbling block is knowing how much resource is required to get through the initial few weeks of work where there could be a spike in demand but being mindful enough to not bring too many people back too soon and find a surplus of resources a month down the line. Other issues surround staff that are stuck with childcare or are in the vulnerable category. Even though companies aren’t obliged to let staff dictate if they come off furlough or not, I believe it is important to be compassionate in these circumstances and tread carefully. As far as safeguarding employees is concerned we acted very early on by putting up hand sanitiser points throughout the business, implementing and policing social distancing measures by various means and releasing regular updates via memos to staff to inform employees what we were doing and why as well as the

The UK’s Leading Glass & Glazing Newspaper latest government advice. As we return to work, we will enforce these measures again and go further by risk assessing all working activities, changing SOP’s, providing PPE to those who we feel need it and looking at one-way walkways where possible amongst various other considerations. We have also risk assessed deliveries carried out by our own drivers and made changes to the terms of delivery along with the changes to the procedures of unloading product.

Relationships are bound to change following the pandemic, particularly if you have had customers who have been slow or reluctant to pay what they owe you. Has that been an issue for Made For Trade and, if so, is there a way to repair the damaged relationship? Bradley Gaunt: I think any company who offers credit accounts will find that payments have been slow coming in. In my opinion there are several aspects to this. Firstly, most companies have been closed for the lock down and so there physically isn’t anyone at the other end to make the payments. Another reason for not paying could be due to companies’ ring fencing their cash reserves to keep it in the business. As the old cliché goes; cash is king’, although perhaps that should now go even further under the COVID pandemic and as such should be rephrased as ‘cash is emperor’! Obviously though there are going to be those that just don’t have the funds available. I think these ones are the real cause for concern as It is likely that both the other aforementioned types of customers will ultimately pay in a reasonable timeframe. However, they may cause undue strain on the supplier’s cash flow when going outside their payment terms. Fortunately, we have not had much of an issue so far. For those of our customers who have found it hard to pay for whatever reason we have worked closely with them and are working though each one on an individual basis. One thing is clear though: that customers that are struggling with payments must be transparent and keep the communication channels open. If people just bury their heads in the sand,

then it is likely that business relationships will be significantly damaged. Trusting relationships take time to forge but can be very fragile so companies should be careful not to push too far by withholding payments for long!

Looking at timescales, have you reopened for business or, if not, how long do you anticipate it will be before you are fully operational? Bradley Gaunt:We are currently in a phase of reopening. We are bringing back staff in keeping with demand for our products. First, we are re-establishing the quoting and processing departments along with sales and some customer services. Based on the subsequent sales we are re-establishing manufacturing and logistics to handle it. We are doing our best to quantify each phase based on the information at hand but there are occasions where one’s gut feeling still has to come into play! In terms of being fully operational, we are already in a position to take orders and will manage the changing demands on each department as they arise.

Have you started to receive deliveries from your suppliers and, if not, when do you expect those deliveries to commence? Bradley Gaunt:Deliveries have started to arrive. However, we always carry a significant amount of contingency stock to safeguard ourselves against blips in demand or delays in raw material deliveries. It would be fantastic from an inventory control point of view to work to a just in time model but its not always realistic and as it turned out we have ended up in a fortunate position where we are still well stocked and able to meet customers’ expectations.

Do you think we are talking about months or, perhaps years, before Made For Trade can say that you have returned to the same financial position as you were prior to December 2019? Bradley Gaunt:We had a great start to the year which will have had a nett positive effect on turnover up until the March 23rdcompared to last year. By being essentially shut since that date though, of course there will have been a financial impact but whether or not we end up at the end of the year in a worse position to where we were last December will be down to the next few months. Personally, I think fenestration is one area that will be less impacted over some other industries. People have been cooped up in their homes for the last 6 weeks. They have probably done all the DIY

www.glassnews.co.uk | June 2020

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: MADE FOR TRADE

they have the stomach for and may decide that after coming out of lockdown they want to improve their homes further or perhaps want to add more space. After all, people are unlikely to be spending their money by going abroad this year so perhaps they might invest in their safe spaces, their homes.

Finally, what is your vision for the future? Will Made For Trade have changed substantially? Can it be as successful as it once was? And do you think the market will return as it was and, if so, how long do think that will take?

Unfortunately, companies have already disappeared and for those who aren’t financially secure the effects of COVID–19 could be long lasting. Ultimately though, I think that not only will the size of the market contract at least in the short to medium term but also the industry too. Therefore, there may be less business to go around but for fewer companies. For these reasons I am truly confident Made For Trade will continue to stride forwards even in a more challenging environment. We will continue to develop well engineered products and we will endeavour to keep improving our customer experience. I still believe we have a very bright future.

Bradley Gaunt: I think that certain areas of the market will contract. For how long is difficult to predict. On one hand we will be in a period of financial uncertainty where people will naturally be more careful with their money and what they spend it on. But on the other hand, perhaps people will be used to spending more time at home with their families. They may have found that being home where it is safe is something people find more precious and therefore the desire to improve or expand what they have there might be further up the pecking order as it once was before lockdown. Another point to mention is the size of the industry.

TRADE NEWS

The UK’s Leading Glass & Glazing Newspaper

RETIREMENT CUSTOMADE GROUP BEGINS PHASED RETURN TO WORK After 35 hectic, busy and extremely successful years in the Window Industry, I felt that it was time to retire. After 9 great Colin Torley years in the building trade, I started in the Window Industry when I joined Everest in 1985 and then moved onto Solaglas CDW, Edinburgh, in 1986 and after two enjoyable years I joined pvcu systems company, The VEKA group, where I stayed for just short of 28 years. I joined VEKA in 1988, which was only two years after they set up in the UK. Initially joining in a sales position for Scotland and Ireland, I went on to become Product and Customer service manager and then became sales and Marketing Director in 2005 until I left the company in 2016. I really loved my time with VEKA, but never moved the family from Scotland so it meant a lot of travelling and staying away from home. It was a fantastic experience working with VEKA and extremely enjoyable as I had the best support team anybody could ever have asked for. The highlight for me was being part of the team that turned VEKA into the no 1 systems company in the UK. If so enjoyable, why leave? I missed a lot of my 3 kids growing up and when my grandson was born in Sept 2015, I felt it was time for a change and reluctantly, but through choice, It was time to move on, closer to home. On leaving VEKA I took on the Interim role as Managing Director with Andrew Wright Windows in Irvine and would loved to have stayed on longer, but it could only ever be short term with a round trip of 180 miles each day. I then went on partner Alex Gray for over 2 years to bring together 4 manufacturing companies and turn them into the extremely successful Saveheat Group. In March 2019 I joined the largest window manufacturer in Scotland, CMS Windows in Castlecary, as Market Development Director. A fantastic company with a great future, but being based in Cumbernauld and East Kilbride and me being based in East Lothian, the 3 to 4 hours travelling each day became a huge burden. I have loved my time in the Industry and would like to take the opportunity to wish all the people I have worked with all the best.

Customade Group has announced a phased reopening of the business following the temporary closure of sites in response to Covid-19. The group opened most of its sites on 4 May for order intakes and will phase in manufacturing over the next few weeks. It is the first step in a stringent strategy, which has been developed to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all the group’s staff and customers during the pandemic. The initial re-opening will operate with a selected workforce to

support customers’ immediate requirements and the group will steadily increase capacity in line with order volume.

The business will begin manufacturing existing orders for Duraflex, REAL Aluminium, Virtuoso Doors, and Atlas Roofs from 11 May and will commence manufacturing new orders from 18 May. It will manufacture existing orders for Rehau products from 18 May and new orders from 25 May. Existing orders for Eurocell, Halo and Veka products will be manufactured from 25 May and new orders will be manufactured from 1 June.

The group has implemented strict safety and social distancing measures throughout all sites to ensure the health and welfare of employees and customers. All employees who can work effectively from home will continue to do so.

David Leng, Customade Group’s chief executive officer, said: “We’ve spent the last few weeks developing robust plans to re-start the business in line with government guidelines. The health and wellbeing of our employees, customers and suppliers is our priority and we have implemented a series of strict safety protocols throughout the business to enable a safe and phased return to work. Existing orders will be managed first with production increasing steadily over the coming weeks to satisfy demand. “There is no doubt that this pandemic has affected lives and businesses in a way we’ve never seen before and we will be doing everything we can to support our valued staff, customers and suppliers during this challenging time. I’d like to

thank everyone at Customade for making our re-start possible and all of our customers and suppliers for their patience and understanding.” The group has also developed a fully managed business support package that enables customers to promote their business, generate and nurture leads and even price and measure windows remotely during the Covid-19 outbreak. To find out more about Customade Group and its support package, call 01453 707272 or visit www. customade.co.uk. Customade Group operates nationwide and employs 1100 people in multiple manufacturing sites across the UK. The group includes REAL Aluminium (aluminium), Atlas Glazed Roof Solutions (glazed roofs), Virtuoso Doors (composite and PVCu door panels), Polyframe (PVC-u), Hourglass Seal (sealed glass units), Stevenswood Trade Centre (trade counters) and Fineline Aluminium (specialist glazing). Tel: 01453 826884 www.customade.co.uk

INDUSTRY FACES BAD DEBT CRISIS Insight Data’s latest analysis of the fenestration industry highlights thousands of companies posing a high credit risk. Insight analysed the credit rating of 9,075 fabricators and installers and found that 353 fabricators and 685 installers had a high or very high credit risk. Jade Greenhow, Operations Director of Insight Data said; “We reviewed the financials of over 9,000 companies and 12% were rated as high-risk companies. If we used the same measurement across the entire industry that means 1,688 fabricators and installers could be in financial trouble.

want to assess their customers and potential customers to minimise bad debt risk.” Insight Data tracks the business and financial activity of the window, door and conservatory industry, providing business intelligence to help suppliers identify and target their ideal customers. As well as detailed contact information, Insight records the products that companies manufacture or install, product volumes, profile brands, sectors and more. The information is continuously updated and users access the information via

Salestracker, an online database that is ideal for marketing, sales and customer services teams. Salestracker also provides key financial information, including credit rating, net worth and details of any County Court Judgements. Users can even set up alerts, to advise them if any customers or prospects have a change in credit status. For more information please visit www.insightdata.co.uk.

“The major concern is this data precedes the coronavirus pandemic, so the financial position will have worsened significantly, and this could lead to a serious bad debt situation for suppliers.” However, Insight Data’s analysis also pointed to 59% of fabricators and 53% of installers as healthy with a low credit risk. Jade added; “It is clear there will be a period of instability and some companies will disappear while others become stronger. As we move towards a recovery, suppliers will

June 2020 | www.glassnews.co.uk

TRADE NEWS

The UK’s Leading Glass & Glazing Newspaper

CONTINUED INVESTMENT

FOR LINIAR DESPITE UNCERTAIN TIMES The world, and our industry, are navigating uncharted waters as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic – but even whilst we’re in a period of uncertainty, one systems company remains firmly focused on the future. Known for its ongoing commitment to quality and innovation, together with pressing the importance of continued investment, Liniar has announced it has made £ millions of further investment into its PVCu extrusion facility. Not only is this positive news during a time of uncertainty, Liniar customers can rest assured the ongoing high quality of products remains safeguarded for the future.

“The upgrades in our extrusion hall include a twin strand extruder and a single strand extruder, and these are just part of the ongoing investment we receive from our parent company, Quanex Building Products."

Products. Whilst there is currently a period of economic turmoil because of the instability caused from COVID-19, we remain committed to providing the highest of standards. These standards require us to continue to invest across the business, ensuring our success for years to come.”

NEW ARRIVALS

Liniar’s new extrusion machinery is good news for its ever-growing customer base. New machinery equates to no down time, more efficient operations and Liniar’s exceptional delivery standards continually beating 99% on time in full. It will also help to ensure that the products customers receive are of consistently excellent quality.

Liniar’s Production Director Eddy Webb provides details about the company’s new arrivals: “This week, we received delivery of two new extruders. Both will be taking the place of end of life, older extruders to ensure that the efficiency of our operations remains excellent whilst also providing our customers with consistently high quality profiles. “The upgrades in our extrusion hall include a twin strand extruder and a single strand extruder, and these are just part of the ongoing investment we receive from our parent company, Quanex Building

www.glassnews.co.uk | June 2020

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR CUSTOMERS?

“When it comes to investing across our business, we’re putting customers at the heart of everything we do,” comments Eddy. For more information about Liniar’s programme of investment, visit: https://www.liniar.co.uk/about/investment/

TRADE NEWS

The UK’s Leading Glass & Glazing Newspaper

NO SHORTAGE OF RETAIL LEADS BUT CONTINUING ‘ANXIETY’ ABOUT DELIVERY An industry roundtable has found that installers who have gone back to work are seeing high levels of homeowner demand. The event hosted by Business Pilot, the cloud-based business management tool for installers on 13/5/20, revealed that despite being able to, the vast majority of installers (81%) were undecided about when to go back to work. Those who had, around 11% of those polled, said that they had received a high number of leads but expressed concern about the practicalities of completing installations safely. Attended by more than 150 people, the majority drawn from window and door retail, the event began with an overview of the impact on manufacturing from Everglade’s, Jay Patel; Duncan Girling ALUCO; and Andy Halsall, Origin. Duncan arguing that COVID-19 had highlighted the ‘symbiotic nature’ of the UK window and door supply chain and challenges in managing supply and demand. He added that he expected ALUCO, which he said was already running at 50% capacity would be at back to full capacity within two weeks. Andy said that he didn’t ‘subscribe to the concept of a new normal’. Instead he said the industry drivers including end-user aspiration fundamentally remained the same. “We have got to attract customers; we have got to keep people safe but ultimately it’s the same as it ever was. The light has gone back on and we’re doing what we have always done.” This sentiment was echoed by Business Pilot’s Ryan Schofield, also owner Thames Valley Windows.

Thames Valley Windows was one of a handful of installers to have gone back to work and Ryan said that the installer had seen continuing inquiries throughout lockdown.

He said FENSA, through parent-company, the GGF was lobbying government for clarification on revised requirements under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act and an announcement would be made shortly.

This was echoed by Joe Solomons, Windows Etc. He said enquiries remained ‘strong’ but expressed his concern about the challenges involved in safe installation.

He added in the meantime installers might want to take deposits from customers on credit cards or through third-party finance providers, as this would allow installers to comply with requirements in the short term.

“We have seen an average of 50 enquiries a week for the last three weeks”, he said. “We’ve had three people back and we’re working through them but we have a developing backlog. “We haven’t gone back to installation yet. We want to wait a couple of weeks and see what the ‘R’ rating does and then start surveying. We won’t start installation until we have more confidence that things are a little more stable.” He added that ‘unfurlouging’ staff also represented a challenge, and persuading employees to come back to work for an ‘additional 20% and put themselves at risk’, represented a challenge that all companies would have to overcome. The event also included industry representatives including Chris Beedel, Memberships Director, Fensa. He was asked what FENSA was doing to address the shutdown of insurance-backed guarantee schemes and the requirement for deposit protection schemes.

Watch the webinar at: https://www. youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlTHoqOZjkl NqDdf4R-0uRRMaiLAxn2ko Closing the event Business Pilot and Cherwell Windows’ Ryan Breslin, said he believed some of the changes to come out of COVID19 could be positive ones. This included less pressure on prices as consumers sought out deals with retailers that they believed ‘would be there for the long term, as opposed to those who were the cheapest’.

He said: “We’ve seen a spike of enquiries at the start of May. Consumers want to work with companies that they have confidence in.” To find out more please visit www.businesspilot.co.uk, email info@businesspilot.co.uk or call 0333 050 7560.

BUSINESS PILOT AT A GLANCE: • Cloud-based - access it on your desktop, laptop, or phone • Access powerful management information – understand employee performance, costs of installation, and your profitability on each and every job • Web-to-lead integration/lead management • Sales appointment setting • Link documents to jobs including drawings, site surveys, video and photos • Step-by-step lead-to-contract management, including followups and user and system notes • Link purchase orders to deliveries and schedule boards. Guaranteeing that product is always in for the start of the job

“People still have houses, they still have a desire to extend and improve, and the culture of keeping up with the Jones, is still t

• Log guarantees and manage service calls

Ryan added: “After 20 years doing this I believe people tend to focus close to home when things are a little more uncertain nothing is as safe as houses.”

• Financial reporting with export to multiple platforms

June 2020 | www.glassnews.co.uk

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HOW A TRULY MARKETING-FOCUSED

BUSINESS CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Sue Davenport, Group Marketing Director at Liniar, explores the true meaning of marketing.

produce bigger quantities more quickly – we wanted to help as many people as possible.

SWIFT DECISIONS

After closing our main facilities in order to protect our workforce, we continued to work from home – focusing on internal communication and trying to help our customers as their operations also ground to a halt, along with most others in our industry. We’re now slowly getting back to ‘normal’ and it’s good to reflect on one of the positives to emerge from this worldwide crisis.

From there, and over a matter of days (including the Easter weekend), Liniar ordered a new injection moulding tool, explored a new supply chain, established communication with deserving recipients for the visors, ordered stocks of acetate sheets and packaging, created assembly instructions and designed a flyer, created safe working practices in an assembly area, contacted volunteers to count, pack and assemble boxes of visors, and put in place a logistics solution to get them to the people who needed them. We continued sending out 3D-printed masks in smaller numbers, but once the tool arrived we were able to quickly increase production to more than 3,000 per day!

HELPING FRONT LINE WORKERS

SO HOW DOES THIS APPLY TO MARKETING?

the efforts of many communities and individuals.

After bringing operations to a standstill, the Liniar team’s attention turned to what we could do to help the efforts of the key workers on the ‘front line’, including NHS staff, care workers and many others. Social media told us these groups were crying out for PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) which was in short supply; and with a dynamic Design team and a 3D printer to hand, it was a quick leap to trialling a sample protective visor. We chose an ergonomic design that would be comfortable for the user to wear, and would allow a full range of movement whilst fitting over the top of masks and glasses.

People often talk about the ‘Four Ps of Marketing’ – textbooks define them as Product, Place, Price and Promotion. All too often, only one ‘P’ is focused on by marketers– and that’s Promotion.

Knowing we may be able to help this cause was a great incentive for us, and our flexibility and dynamic structure enabled us to pivot quickly into this new focus.

At the time of writing, I’m sitting in my makeshift office (the dining room) where I’ve been based for the last few weeks, thanks to the worldwide COVID19 pandemic.

We knew production would be slow using the 3D printer, but the front line staff we sent samples to were extremely complimentary, and initial demand was high. We continued looking for ways to

When a business fully embraces the Four Ps, however, starting at the beginning and truly understanding customers’ needs, something magical happens.

PRODUCT The first ‘P’ asks: “Does the product meet customers’ needs?” In this unprecedented time, when Liniar customers were closing their own facilities and our main focus was to protect our workforce of 500+, our usual product range was of little relevance. Instead, the need for PPE was far greater, its absence hampering

PRICE The third P asks: “How much are people willing to pay for the product?”

Initially, the Design team took turns to work in 4-hour shifts, 24/7, going into the office to man the 3D printer whilst it slowly churned out the visors. This led to further product development with the investment of £20k in an injection mould tool, supported by the Liniar senior management team and its parent company Quanex. We were able to refine the design and produce the visors in our own ‘Liniar green’ colour, even adding a positive message on each visor!

We’ve all seen prices of key items increase considerably during this pandemic – it’s the law of Supply and Demand, as any economist will tell you – but Liniar wasn’t doing this to make money. When your motivation is to help, it’s amazing how easily pricing decisions are made.

PLACE

Liniar’s main focus is to provide the visors free of charge to anyone in the ‘key worker’ categories we’ve defined. Any business also needing visors to protect their own teams as they return to work can purchase the visors at a small cost. These contributions help to keep the visors free of charge for front line workers, and customers have been very happy to help with this.

The second ‘P’ asks: “Where will customers find the product?” – for Liniar, this meant finding whole new supply chains and contacts very quickly. We used social media to get the message out to the marketplace and start to identify our new key worker ‘customers’. Our proud team, customers and contacts shared posts in order to reach the maximum audience possible. At the same time, staff hit telephones, contacting local GP surgeries, hospitals and care homes to ask if they needed visors. Orders were initially managed on a huge spreadsheet, but it soon became clear a more automated system was needed. Our IT and marketing teams worked together to set up a site for orders, whilst the visors

were also added to Liniar customers’ online ordering portal, LiniarConnect.

Our willing volunteers gave up their own time to help whilst furloughed, making it a true team effort and keeping costs low. Suppliers helped by not charging over the odds for packaging or acetate sheets.

PROMOTION The 4th P, usually the first consideration to a marketer, in this case came last. Apart from the initial social posts in gauging demand and gathering contacts, the majority of time was spent setting up the internal process to handle the new supply chain. Once we’d determined output speed and our capacity, we started to drip-feed social

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media channels and contacted customers to let them know what we were doing. Many customers in turn offered to distribute the masks within their own local communities too. Our engagement statistics and analytics are interesting to view. Take a look at our Facebook graph for Organic Post Reach – spot the date of our initial post about the visors?

www.glassnews.co.uk | June 2020

LESSONS LEARNED The experience has been a rapid learning curve for the Liniar team, and also extremely rewarding. Many businesses talk about being ‘marketing-led’ or ‘marketing-focused’ but in many cases that means they’ve come up with a great campaign idea – which may not necessarily be sustainable in the long term.

At Liniar, marketing starts at the top with an agile, responsive senior management team that is focused on doing the right thing. The speed at which departments were able to work together and change our business model in order to provide help where it was needed will always be a source of great pride in my fellow teammates and colleagues. It also demonstrates that ‘marketing’ in the true sense of the word should not be

restricted to the marketing team – it has to be embraced by the entire business in order for it to succeed. The beneficiaries in this case are our NHS heroes and front line workers – and that’s exactly as it should be. To order Liniar visors for your own business, visit www.liniar.co.uk/PPE

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ULTRAFRAME ACQUIRES CERTAIN ASSETS ECONOMIES OF APERTURE TRADING LIMITED THAT IMPOSED AN EARLY LOCKDOWN WILL THRIVE Countries that imposed strict and early social-distancing measures in response to the COVID-19 outbreak will result in their economies recovering much quicker than those who took a much more relaxed approach, according to new research from ESCP Business School. According to Professor Nabil Kahalé the social-distancing measures that have been taken to slow the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic in most countries, are already causing huge economic consequences. However, Professor Kahalé has proven in his recent studies that although social-distancing measures can damage the economy during the containment period, those countries that applied these measures strictly and as early as possible, will only suffer economic losses for a short period of time. This is because strict social distancing measures require a shorter period of time to reduce the number of infected individuals to a predetermined level. Therefore, countries that have enforced early interventions will diminish their total economic loss in the long-term as their society can begin to operate again having obtained low infection rates. “When social-distancing measures are needed to contain an epidemic, they should always be applied as strictly and as early as possible, so that they attain their objectives in a short period of time,” says Professor Kahalé As most of us have been in lockdown for over a month now, we are now starting to look ahead as to how our economy will recover long- term. What is apparent though is that those countries where stringent measures were applied early will also recover much quickly out of this crisis – a lesson for many governments going forward.

In a statement issued by the Administrators they announced following their appointment on 16 March 2020 as joint administrators of Aperture Trading Limited, Chris Pole and Will Wright from KPMG’s Restructuring practice have confirmed that they have sold certain assets of the company to Altrincham Doors Limited and Altrincham Roofs Limited. The assets included in the sale related to the Global, Celsius and Stratus roofing products. Whilst these businesses had ceased trading prior to the acquisition, the purchasers have indicated an intention to launch the Stratus product in the near future as well as exploring the reintroduction of the other roofing systems at a later date. Tim Bateson, restructuring director at KPMG, said: “Whilst we are continuing to market the remaining businesses and assets of the Company, we’re delighted to have completed this sale, which will recover value for the company’s creditors.” In a statement issued by Ultraframe they announced they had acquired from the

By way of background, the Synseal business failed in March 2019, with its business being bought out of administration by Aperture Trading Ltd. A year later, despite this fresh start, the business failed a second time going into administration again in March 2020. This time no buyer was found for the whole business nor was a buyer found for any of the roof businesses as continuing enterprises. The businesses were wound down and ceased trading some time prior to the sale. We note that the sales of Global roofs had fallen dramatically from annual sales of c.£30m around 5 years ago to a run rate of under £5m this winter, pre Covid-19. In recent years, there has been a shift away from glass roofs to solid pitched roofs and to flat roof extensions within the home extension market. This market trend accounts for some of the decline of the

Global roof although the scale of its decline is symptomatic of more fundamental issues within the wider Global product offer. The Celsius and Global roofs are complex systems with the Global roof having around 2,000 parts. A large amount of Global parts were extruded or sourced from the Huthwaite extrusion plant, which has also been mothballed by the Administrator. While we will talk to all industry stakeholders to understand the future potential of reintroducing elements of these roofing systems at a later date, relaunching them in the current economic climate is not feasible. The Stratus lantern is different, being a much simpler product with just over 100 parts and therefore it is more feasible for Ultraframe to manufacture Stratus from its existing facilities. We hope that with our track record of improving roofing products, and the fact Stratus is a much simpler product, we can restart production of the Stratus lantern soon.

ALUK ANNOUNCES DEPARTURE OF

RUSSELL YATES

After 17 years with AluK and 8 years as Managing Director, Russell Yates has announced his decision to step down, in order to pursue his long-term ambition of business ownership.

immense and I would like to place on record our thanks to him for all that he has done, especially in the last few years, to transform the UK business into a truly world class operation.

Since becoming Managing Director in 2012, Russell has helped to grow the business six-fold and has spearheaded an investment programme, which has seen AluK create a market-leading 350,000 sq ft production facility in Chepstow and establish a brand which is trusted and respected throughout the industry.

“AluK’s ethos is built around encouraging and promoting entrepreneurship. Each country’s MD is appointed to run the business as if it were their own, with the full support of myself and the other shareholders. It was clear when I appointed Russell as MD in 2012 that, despite his young age, he had the necessary capability, determination and more importantly the passion for the business. His results and track record since then demonstrate both his expertise and his flair.”

Russell commented: “I have enjoyed every moment of my time with AluK and feel incredibly privileged to have worked with such a supportive and talented team. The company means a huge amount to me personally. I joined my father’s small family business and discovered my passion for the business and love of this industry. As we all know, this industry has a way of getting hold of you and making you feel part of the fenestration family. It goes without saying then that I am sad to leave, but I know I am leaving the business in a very strong position and a major brand leader. Even given the current situation, I am sure it will continue to realise its potential with such an outstanding team in place.” AluK’s Group CEO, Hélène Roux said: “Russell’s contribution at AluK has been

administrators of Aperture Trading Limited, certain of the assets relating to the Global, Celsius and Stratus roofing products, including the tools and equipment but excluding others, such as the customer or supply arrangements.

Russell’s replacement at AluK will be Justin Hunter, who has extensive experience in the fenestration industry, including as Managing Director of another aluminium systems house. In the short term, Russell and Justin will be working alongside one another to make sure that AluK emerges from the current lockdown in the best possible shape. Russell will be remaining in the industry however and is joining Blackburn-based aluminium fabricator AluFoldDirect as a key shareholder and Managing Director. Hélène added: “We are understandably sorry to see Russell leave, but we recognise

his desire to fulfil his personal career ambitions of business ownership. We all wish him every success in his new challenge and, as AluFoldDirect’s key supplier, I know that AluK will very much be a part of that.” Russell said: “I believe Justin’s appointment is a strong one. He has a wealth of knowledge and experience within the aluminium and fenestration industry, in both trade and commercial markets. He has a strong leadership team in place at AluK who I know will be supporting him to take AluK forward into the next phase of its growth plans and I certainly look forward to working with him in the future.” Tel: 07717 448036 / 01291639739

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AFTER EVERY STORM COMES A RAINBOW...

A PERSONAL MISSION TO HELP

The worldwide pandemic of COVID-19 has brought challenging and distressing times for many. Yet, through the negativity, there have been spots of brightness. From Sir Tom Moore raising millions for the NHS as he walked laps of his garden prior to his 100th birthday, to local postmen delivering food to the elderly on their routes, we’ve seen examples of humanity at its best. Innovative brand Liniar wanted to do more than protect its employees, which it did by temporarily closing its facilities until social distancing measures could be put into place. The company has a deep-rooted ethos of ‘doing the right thing’ and wanted to help those in the health sector by producing PPE to help them to stay safe whilst taking care of members of the community. Using its 3D printer, Liniar’s Design and Development Director Chris Armes ran a test to find it out if it was possible to create protective face shields. After selecting a visor design and making changes for comfort and wearability, it became clear that this was much in demand; but the printer was slow and needed round-the-clock attention in order to produce the maximum possible visors. Chris enlisted the help of his team, who were all passionate about the project - one

www.glassnews.co.uk | June 2020

more than most. The reason? This was very personal for Oliver Marriott (Ollie), Liniar’s Design and Development Apprentice. Ollie’s mother and sister both worked at Derby Royal Hospital, experiencing the pandemic first-hand. Ollie’s sister was in the ‘COVID Assessment Unit’ while his mum is a Radiologist treating cancer patients, some of whom had tested positive for COVID-19. He was acutely aware of the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) shortage they were facing, as well as others in the medical field such as care homes. As soon as there was a proven model for the face shield, the Design team documented steps for creating the visors and attaching acetate sheets, which they ordered from a local supplier. The slow speed of the 3D printer meant working around the clock for maximum possible output – and the Design team (most of whom were on furlough leave whilst the company was temporarily closed) were keen to keep production moving. Between them, they came up with a 24/7 shift pattern to ensure the printer kept running. They went above and beyond the call of duty, and covered some very antisocial hours, even over the Easter weekend, with some team members choosing to sleep on the floor in the printer room for the overnight shifts.

“I’m lucky enough to have a camper van, which I parked in the Liniar car park for the night shifts,” comments Ollie. “I didn’t mind – it made the early mornings a lot easier and almost made me feel like I was on holiday! I just wanted to do the right thing.” Ollie went on to enlist the help of the site’s security team, who were watching over Liniar’s empty premises. The team from Riber Security were also keen to keep the 3D printer running 24 hours a day.

RAMPING UP PRODUCTION Within a few days of producing visors on a single 3D printer, Liniar knew that the demand was far surpassing the production they could achieve in their current process. The team had posted the offer of free visors for front line workers on social media, with Ollie himself proudly modelling the visor, and the posts went viral, with requests for tens of thousands of masks flooding in. In order to satisfy demand, the Liniar team invested in an injection mould tool which allowed them to produce thousands of visors per day. Until this arrived, Ollie and the Design team continued to produce the 3D visors, knowing every single one would be highly valued by its recipient.

“Using its 3D printer, Liniar’s Design and Development Director Chris Armes ran a test to find it out if it was possible to create protective face shields. After selecting a visor design and making changes for comfort and wearability, it became clear that this was much in demand; but the printer was slow and needed round-the-clock attention in order to produce the maximum possible visors.”

THE STATUS TODAY At the time of writing, the injection moulded visors are in full production, which has allowed many more Liniar team members to get involved in this worthwhile cause. Liniar employees on furlough leave have volunteered to help package the masks, ready to be sent out to those in need. When on 12 May 2020, Boris Johnson announced the phased re-opening of the country, this did not mean that the need for PPE went away. In fact, with the new safety measures required for businesses and schools to reopen, more companies and people will need these necessary items in order to work, shop or travel. Liniar has continued to produce upwards of 3,000 visors per day, delivering them to Liniar customers, hospitals, care homes and schools amongst many others. “We know the demand is still high – and while ever they’re needed, Liniar will continue to produce them,” says Ollie. “It’s been a privilege to get involved with such a worthwhile project, and I’m proud to be a part of the team that has helped make it all happen. I’m grateful to work for such a caring employer that always seeks to do its bit for the community – and my family are also very thankful.” Visors continue to be donated to NHS and front-line workers free of charge – and the more that are purchased, the more visors can be donated. To order yours, please visit www.liniar.co.uk/PPE - and if you’re a front-line worker, telephone 01332 883900 for your order code.

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ADD VALUE TO THE SALE IN A BLINK! ODL Europe began a phased and controlled reopening of their business on 4th May, 2020 and whilst still in the early stages of business recovery, the Bootlebased business has already noticed that adding value to the sale is something that is becoming even more essential to fabricators and installers. Andy Meakin, Business Development Manager of ODL Europe, explains: “Throughout the lockdown we have continued to develop a pipeline of strong enquiries from our online portal for Blink Integral Blinds along with a steady flow of immediate orders upon our return. At consumer level, Blink Blinds answer consumers’ need for convenience, contemporary style, safety and low maintenance. And for fabricators and installers, they offer a real opportunity to increase your product offer, add value and increase revenue which is very important at this time.” Suitable for windows and doors, Blink Blinds are the modern alternative to traditional corded or cordless door and window blinds and consist of an insulated glass panel with blinds between the glass. As a company who continues to invest in all areas, the business recently undertook a series of product updates that have been well received by their growing Blink Integral Blind customer base. Updates included improved aesthetics of the blinds with double valances to hide unwanted joints, an improved raise, lower and tilt operation

MORLEY GLASS & GLAZING SHOWCASES SUSTAINABILITY CREDENTIALS IN NEW BROCHURE Post-consumer glass recycling, a green funding initiative, and making use of waste products through upcycling are some of the measures featured in a new sustainability brochure from Morley Glass & Glazing.

with the operator switch to control the facilities being redesigned to make it more ergonomic and the aluminium guiderail is now on the internal side of the operating channel, a move that makes inserting the wedge gasket and beading easier. Blink Integral Blinds are available in a selection of colours, each with matching surround and slats. And ordering is straightforward by using the online Blink Blind design and ordering portal. Andy concludes: “In today’s changed business landscape, fabricators and installers will need to look at additional upsell opportunities to extend their portfolio, increase customers satisfaction levels and grow their margins. And with over five million units sold worldwide Blink Blinds are the perfect products to help fabricators and installers achieve just that.” Tel: 0151 933 0299 www.odl.com/europe.htm

The sealed unit manufacturer that specialises in integral blinds has created the new brochure and new sustainability area of its website to illustrate its credentials and also help demonstrate to other manufacturers how they too could become more sustainable and support their local communities. Ian Short, managing director at Morley Glass & Glazing said: “We still have a long way to go in our green journey but we hope that by sharing our experiences we’ll be able to inspire others to do the same. As a profitable and successful company, we’ve always believed in giving back and supporting local communities and good causes through donations and sponsorship. We also aim to improve our own environmental sustainability within the factory, as well as finance the creation of new environmental projects in our local area with our newly launched green fund.” Morley Glass & Glazing recently teamed up with Saint-Gobain Glass to recycle postconsumer glass from installers and other tradespeople, helping to divert old windows from landfill. A glass crushing machine has

been installed at Morley’s factory in Leeds to create cullet, which is then returned to Saint-Gobain Glass for the manufacture of new float glass. Morley is then donating the money from the scheme to local good causes that focus on green projects such as sensory gardens, allotments, and other environmental initiatives. Also, as a UK manufacturer there are a number of sustainable resources from Morley’s supply chain which can be easily upcycled to create environmentally friendly products. These include glass offcuts which are made into pieces of art, coasters and decorations, and wooden packaging boxes which have been turned into time capsules, treasure chests and memory boxes, toy boxes and display cases – some of which are then sold and the money raised donated to charity. Download the brochure at https://www. morleyglass.co.uk/wp-content/pdf/FVMorley-Glass-Forever-A4-singles.pdf

SENIOR’S RESIDENTIAL BROCHURES ARE READY TO VIEW Face to face sales meetings may be on hold for the time being but you can still inspire your potential customers with online versions of Senior Architectural Systems’ latest residential aluminium door and window brochures.

We appreciate that these are difficult and unprecedented times and although our sales teams are still working remotely, they are only ever a phone call away. We encourage all of our customers to stay in touch so that we can help them in whatever way we can. ”

Following on from the popularity of Senior’s Door Collection guide, the new Window Collection is now also available. Both brochures can be downloaded directly from the company’s website as PDF versions that can then be easily passed on via email, either to satisfy direct sales enquiries or as part of speculative marketing campaigns.

Copies of Senior’s Window Collection and Door Collection brochure can be downloaded from the website or requested directly from its team of technical sales managers. Other product literature is also available via the online Resources section.

At a time when ‘virtual’ sales appointments are becoming an important way to maintain contact with customers and lockdown has given people more time to consider home improvement projects, Senior’s product guides have been specifically designed for use by installers working in the domestic residential market. A valuable sales tool, the new brochures include inspirational images and information on Senior’s stylish aluminium windows and patio doors from across the company’s high-performance Ali and PURe® ranges.

Please visit www.seniorarchitectural.co.uk or search for Senior Architectural Systems on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Featuring clear and concise details of the different window and door styles, configurations and finishing options available, the brochures showcases Senior’s in-house powder-coating facility which offers an almost unlimited choice of colours. Important security information is also included, with details of how Senior’s aluminium products have been tested to achieve compliance with PAS 24:2016, approved document Q of the Building Regulations and Secured by Design. Commenting, Senior’s marketing manager Jonny Greenstreet said: “Following the success of our recent Door Collection brochure, we are pleased to be able to give our customers working in the domestic sector a new resource in the shape of our glossy new window brochure. “Both have been designed to appeal to the end-user and provide a great introduction to our aluminium window and door systems, as well as helping our trade installers to secure new business.

June 2020 | www.glassnews.co.uk

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GGF GETS GOVERNMENT CONFIRMATION ON SHOWROOMS RE-OPENING

INDUSTRY AND ASSOCIATIONS ENDORSE THE DECISION

In the last few weeks the Glass and Glazing Federation (GGF) has received numerous queries regarding whether or not Showrooms can be re-opened following the Government’s Guidance on working in people’s homes was released on 11th May. The GGF has contacted the Director of Construction at the Government department of Business Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) to ask if Showrooms could re-open. The GGF was informed that the scope of the guidance on retail has been a subject of debate within Government, however it was confirmed that the interpretation now is that, if a firm is selling products that are linked to the home, either furnishings or for home improvement, they would be covered by the exemption for “homeware, building supplies and hardware”.

The Government emphasized though that if firms in England choose to open premises they must apply social distancing guidelines, and if social distancing is difficult then perhaps companies should consider opening on an appointment-only basis. So it is up to companies to decide whether or not to open their showrooms, but if they choose to do so, they need to apply the Safer Working guidelines as published by Government for companies and individuals operating in England. To read the Government guidance on safe working please visit: https://www. gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-duringcoronavirus-covid-19

The effects of the Coronavirus have now also impacted glasstec 2020, which will be postponed to 15 to 18 June 2021. In view of the continued uncertainties in terms of travel restrictions and quarantine provisions in the core target markets Messe Düsseldorf has opted in favour of these new dates in close coordination with the trade fair’s advisory board and all partners involved. The world’s No.1 trade fair for the glass industry was originally planned to take place from 20 to 23 October. Messe Düsseldorf is already busy cooperating with the associations to offer digital service formats for 2020 with the aim of bringing customers and exhibitors together and digitally place the information and ranges available at glasstec at the disposal of interested trade visitors on the original trade fair dates. Further details will follow shortly.

manufacturers hard. Many companies are forced to switch to crisis mode and put all investments – including trade fair participations – to the test to mitigate possible negative economic impacts. Potential travel restrictions and the protection of visitors’ and exhibitors’ health will have an impact on visitor numbers. A smaller glasstec 2020 with markedly fewer visitors would in our view not do justice to the trade fair. glasstec has been and will be the most important global event for the glass industry, mechanical engineering and skilled crafts; and since it should continue to be that way we decided to postpone. In 2021 we expect a strong glasstec with high international attendance, ideally in perfect sync with a phase of economic recovery after Corona,” says Egbert Wenninger, Chairman of the glasstec

advisory board and Chairman of VDMA’s Glass Technology Forum. Commenting on the rescheduling Dr. Overath, Director General of the Federal Association of the Glass Industry (BVG e.V.) says: “glasstec is the leading trade fair for glass. It thrives on the international cross-section of its visitors and brings together people from throughout the world with a passion for the material that is glass. Many companies and visitors, however, will abstain from participating this year in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic and/ or heavily cut down their engagement at the trade fair for economic reasons. We therefore back the decision taken by Messe Düsseldorf to not hold glasstec this year. glasstec should be postponed to a point in time where glass rather than the Coronavirus is centre stage.”

“The economic crisis caused by the Corona pandemic has also hit the glass industry and its machinery and equipment

HS TRADE WINS AWARD FOR ITS RESIDENCE FACTORY HS Trade has recently won in the Build 2020 Home and Garden Awards, as best independent window and door manufacturer – East Midlands, which is represented by its new Made By Sedgebrook brand. Over the last 12 months, HS Trade has invested heavily in the development of its Timberweld manufactured R7 and R9 windows and doors, which are now promoted under the Made By Sedgebrook brand, as the company looks to drive growth for The Residence Collection. The award received was for their new dedicated manufacturing facility for this unique and exquisite product range in Grantham, Nottinghamshire. Michael Gromett, managing director of HS Trade commented: ‘We’ve invested considerably in this new manufacturing facility for R7 and R9 and it’s the focal point of our business. These windows and doors are also perfectly suited to the Timberweld manufacturing process, due to their outstanding quality and consistent 3mm wall thickness. He continued: ‘What we make in this new facility are hand crafted windows and doors with a tolerance of just 0.2mm. It’s the careful detail, care and attention that we pour into each frame that really makes a difference for us and our customers, who demand the best.’ Sarah Hitchings, sales and marketing director of The Residence Collection concluded: ‘We’re all thrilled with the award for HS Trade, but what really sets them apart along with our other manufacturing partners is in the most exacting detail and care taken in each frame made. That’s why The Residence Collection is the defining PVCu systems brand of the moment.’

From left to right: Michael Gromett, managing director of HS Trade with Katie Atkinson of The Residence Collection

www.glassnews.co.uk | June 2020

For further information on HS Trade please visit hstrade.co.uk or madebysedbrook.co.uk. For information on The Residence Collection please visit www.residencecollection.co.uk and www.residencecollectiontrade.co.uk. You can request a free brochure pack including the My Residence Magazine via e-mail at journey@residencecollection.co.uk or by calling 01452 348650. You can also add to their following on Twitter @residence9 and engage with them on other social media platforms including Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest and Houzz.

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CONSERVATORY OUTLET NETWORK HITS

£4M SALES IN LOCKDOWN SALES COMP UK-wide fabricator Conservatory Outlet has this week announced retail sales figures topping £4m across its Network for the seven-week lockdown period beginning Monday 30th March.

“The sales results we’ve been able to achieve collectively during lockdown have blown us away and are far greater that we could ever have expected given the unprecedented circumstances.” Amongst the competition’s accolades were the largest value single window & door order, largest conservatory & orangery order, highest overall sales value and highest number of contracts signed during lockdown – with winners and prizes due to be announced later this week.

It is believed the dramatic results are largely owed to the launch of a proactive ‘lockdown sales competition’ by the fabricator for its network of salespeople to battle it out for the top spot. Retail sales teams across the country have been supported by bi-weekly ‘virtual’ sales training sessions, which have focused on utilising Zoom, Facetime and other online tools to enrich the customer journey during lock-down and secure valuable contracts.

Stewart Kelly, Managing Director at Network member Eden Windows, continues: “We’ve been really impressed with the proactive way in which Conservatory Outlet has approached the lockdown and the level of support we’ve received to keep selling whilst we’ve been forced to close.

Despite both the factory and installer showrooms being closed for the duration,

sales staff and design consultants have embraced the challenge to close a staggering 200+ contracts during the seven-week period whilst working from home, and with no face-to-face contact. Greg Kane, CEO at Conservatory Outlet Group explains “The sales results we’ve been able to achieve collectively during lockdown have blown us away and are far greater that we could ever have expected

given the unprecedented circumstances. I’m incredibly proud of the resilience and determination shown by the high calibre sales force we have amongst our Network of installers. It just goes to show there is opportunity to be found in every challenge. Coupled with a consistently strong level of enquiries, the results of our sales competition have set us all up for a very strong return to work.”

“Customers have been keener than ever to plan their home improvements whilst they’re stuck at home, and we’ve been perfectly placed to take advantage of that, ensuring we have a strong order book ready to fit when we return to work. We’ve found some creative new ways to bring the sales process to life without having to be face-toface with a customer – something that will continue to benefit us into the future. “And hopefully our sales team can also bring home a prize or two for Eden!”

June 2020 | www.glassnews.co.uk

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COVID-19 GUIDELINES ‘CHECKER’ Business Pilot, the cloudbased business management system, has launched a new COVID-19 digital risk assessment tool, which simplifies compliance with Government guidelines for working in other people’s homes.

Quick and easy to use, the Business Pilot COVID-19 risk assessment tool supports installers in scheduling works safely and automatically provides an audit trail against each job to evidence compliance. This includes pre-planning and on-site checks carried out by surveying or fitting teams on arrival at site. Elton Boocock, Managing Director, Business Pilot, said: “The Government published guidance for safe working in other people’s homes on 11th May, but it is just that – guidance. There is very little that is explicit other than not working in the homes of those who are ‘shielding’ or anyone who is exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms. “The guidance as it stands right now is much more about best practice, putting in measures to social distance, communicating with the customer to minimise risk,

• Web-to-lead integration/lead management • Sales appointment setting

equipping teams with hand sanitizing or washing kits, social distancing where you can and avoiding sharing tools. “The term that’s used by government time and time again in the guidance is, ‘as far as is practicable’. It’s leaving how this is achieved to the individual company, but wants to see, - and it is absolutely explicit in this – that installers are thinking about risk ahead of time and doing what they can ‘as far as is practicable’ to mitigate risk. “They also want to see evidence of that in the form of a risk assessment – and that’s where the new risk assessment tool comes in.”

The new Business Pilot risk assessment draws down on current government guidance to create a series of simple tick box checks that can be completed by surveyors and installers through the Business Pilot app on their phone, tablet or laptop. This is pulled through the system automatically and assigned to the specific job, alongside all other records, providing a clear audit trail and providing the evidence that the Government is looking for, to prove that risks have been considered and where they can be, managed. Elton continued: “The risk assessment tool isn’t prescriptive. It doesn’t tell you that you should wash your hands as an installer on arrival at site, or clean down surfaces more frequently in the home of someone who is say 70 plus and therefore falls into the ‘vulnerable category’. “Government is leaving those decisions to individual companies and the guidelines being issued by individual industry trade associations. These will also no doubt also evolve over time. “It’s instead about evidencing your processes, the communications you are putting in place with your team and your customers and being able to show it, through a very short and simple compliance process – we’re talking minutes.” Its new risk assessment tool was created by Business Pilot after a webinar, held two days after the Government issued its new guidance for working in people’s homes at the beginning of May revealed concern about managing installations safely was a key obstacle to getting back to work. Attended by more than 150 installers, the forum found that installers who have gone back to work were seeing high levels of homeowner demand but remained unclear about how to evidence compliance.

• Link documents to jobs including drawings, site surveys, video and photos • Step-by-step lead-to-contract management, including follow-ups and user and system notes • Link purchase orders to deliveries and schedule boards. Guaranteeing that product is always in for the start of the job • Log guarantees and manage service calls • Financial reporting with export to multiple platforms “The coming months are no doubt going to present more challenges for installers but the Business Pilot Risk Assessment Tool at the very least takes something off their plate, providing a quick and easy route to demonstrate compliance with government guidance for working in people’s homes during COVID-19. “The insight and the tools that Business Pilot delivers to support you in running your business more effectively - from anywhere - can take away a whole lot more, allowing you to maximise your profitability, providing a foundation your business’ continuity whatever lies ahead.” Elton concluded. Watch the webinar here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL lTHoqOZjklNqDdf4R-0uRRMaiLAxn2ko To find out more please visit www.businesspilot.co.uk, email info@businesspilot.co.uk or call 0333 050 7560.

June 2020 | www.glassnews.co.uk

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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: APEER

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THE HARDWARE INDUSTRY, POST COVID-19, AND THE VIEW OF BALLYMENA BASED, APEER Apeer is a manufacturer of composite and PVCu panel doors as well as the Lumi frameless window and door system. Chris Champion, Glass News’ Editor, talks to Asa McGillian, Apeer’s Managing Director about how the Covid-19 epidemic will affect Apeer’s business, specifically, and the door and window sectors in general.

Did you have to close completely, or have you managed to provide a service of any kind during the lockdown? Asa McGillian: As with the majority of companies in the window and door industry, we closed our production and related facilities. However, very early on we took the decision that we would not let up at all on our consumer sales support and marketing, maintaining these operations in the belief that we should sustain both ready for when we were able to resume production, however long that took. And these were decisions that have been more than justified: for the first few weeks there was nothing. But after about a month or so, we began to receive interest from homeowners that with time on their hands were seeing the videos we have produced for Apeer and Lumi, which are going out on YouTube, Facebook and other channels. We have a series of eight videos now across both brands and they are deliberately lifestyle orientated and which treat new doors and windows very much as

Asa McGillian MD Apeer

a furnishing and styling choice, rather than appealing to them as home improvements in the conventional way. And it’s worked very well for us… We are receiving some decent enquiries, through the website including our Doorbuilder facility and also through the enquiry form, and even a growing number of telephone enquiries. These were spread between Apeer composite doors and a very pleasing number for the new Lumi window, launched last year as a home improvement product. We have continued to send these on to our retail installation partners which have in turn, contacted every homeowner. Appointments will be made when it is safe to do so. When the lockdown came we were so far into a complete revision of our marketing that it didn’t make sense to halt it. So when we do return to some sort of normality our partners will have a new suite of marketing materials to go to work with. That will include new websites for Apeer and Lumi. It just didn’t make sense for us to simply halt the process and to shut up shop, and we have been rewarded for taking that decision, though it was never in doubt.

How many of your customers locked down completely? Of those that

Apeer - leave germs at the door video

kept open, what level of service did they offer during that time? Asa McGillian: Every one of them. We had five full vans loaded with product for delivery, which we had to unload. It was that sudden.

Did you continue to receive supplies from your various suppliers and did you see a marked difference according to their geographical origin? Asa McGillian: No, each of our key profile and hardware suppliers closed so the decision was made for us.

You offer a wide range of product and require a range of materials and components which, presumably come from a variety of sources. Do you anticipate that you may have to change suppliers in the future or look for

new ones? I’m thinking of issues connected with Far East suppliers, specifically, if that is a source of hardware? Asa McGillian: The vast majority of the components and raw materials for our doors and windows, are sourced from within the British Isles. Apeer doors, especially, is one of the most thoroughly locally sourced composite door brands in the market and that will continue.

Do you think ‘the blame game’ over responsibility for starting this pandemic

will influence either your thinking over suppliers or prove to cause problems from a political aspect? Asa McGillian: No, not at all! It would be fundamentally wrong in my view and so much of what we hear of that nature is from conspiracy theorists. We buy much of our capital equipment from China and that will continue. And as I have said, we already source most of our raw materials and components locally, from with the UK and Ireland, because it works for us. We make all of our own door slabs, for example. That will not change.

A composite door on one of Apeer’s paint lines

June 2020 | www.glassnews.co.uk

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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: APEER

arrangements have you made in terms of staff and customer protection?

Apeer videos are ‘lifestyle’ based and highly evocative

Fortunately, we extended the factory again during the last year which allows us a great deal more space in which to separate our workforce. All undergo rigorous training and supervision to ensure they comply with strict requirements imposed for their protection.

A video for the Silka door range

In your opinion, will there be an increase in the amount of product purchased from Europe and less dependence on overseas suppliers or will logistics and world trade return to how it was before coronavirus? Asa McGillian: As I say, we are self-contained. But events in recent years, not just the lockdown, have highlighted the issues about buying from suppliers that are eight weeks away in logistical terms.

Asa McGillian: We planned our return to work over a period of several weeks, as soon as there was a consensus and clarity on what steps had to be taken to introduce and then enforce safe working practices. A small team then spent two weeks actually implementing the distancing measures, marking out workstations, gangways, adding screens, handwash stations, new PPE and PPE stations…It has been an extraordinary learning curve.

However, despite buying ostensibly European products from European suppliers with UK bases, much of the componentry originates in China. There was therefore a knock on from the early days of the coronavirus, even though the hardware and other products we buy might be marked with a European stamp. As that will have hit others harder we may see change in the short term; but I believe that the status quo will return fairly quickly to how it was before December 2019.

What have been the key difficulties with returning to work? What exceptional

Relationships are bound to change following the pandemic, particularly if you have had customers who have been slow or reluctant to pay what they owe you. Has that been an issue for Apeer and, if so, is there a way to repair the damaged relationship? Asa McGillian: During the first four to five weeks everything stopped. No money coming in, no communications from or with any of our customers. But then, as people began to get their heads around what was going on, the channels began opening up. For some time now we have been working on payment and supply plans so we should be in good shape when demand begins to increase. It is all about communication and throughout lockdown, we have produced twice weekly bulletins to our staff and our customers and that has served us very well, to keep the channels open. I don’t expect us to have any seriously damaged relationships.

Apeer extended the factory again during the last year

www.glassnews.co.uk | June 2020

Looking at timescales, have you re-opened for business

Space is needed when Lumi sliding doors of this scale are produced

or, if not, how long do you anticipate it will be before you are fully operational? Asa McGillian: We never actually closed for business as such. Our factory was closed of course. But we maintained our sales operation, so our team has been in touch with our customers, even if they have not been operational. When the lockdown came, we were in the advanced stages of a revamp of all of our marketing, including new websites, videos… everything in fact…and so we kept our marketing department open, dealing with our studios and agencies, to complete everything as planned. Which, with some logistical difficulties to overcome, will be ready by June, as intended.

Have you started to receive deliveries from your suppliers and, if not, when do you expect those deliveries to commence? Asa McGillian: All of our suppliers are now opening; just as the industry closed pretty much overnight, then so too is it opening, although a little more cautiously. We will be able to fulfil all orders as sales build again.

Do you think we are talking about months or, perhaps years, before Apeer can say that you have returned to the same financial position as you were prior to December 2019? Asa McGillian: Of course it will take years for every business to return to the same financial position as they were in prior to

December 2019. We will never know how much business has been lost forever as peoples’ lives have been changed, especially for those that have lost loved ones or whose jobs and businesses have been damaged, perhaps permanently. The question of when Apeer might return to a position with positive cashflows and balance sheet, will be months, rather than years.

Finally, what is your vision for the future? Will Apeer have changed substantially? Can it be as successful as it once was? And do you think the market will return as it was and, if so, how long do think that will take? Asa McGillian: We expect the market to retract in the short term but we have the flexibility to deal with that as we are very selfreliant as a business. The plans we had laid down for the business will continue and everything that we have been doing during the past five years or so will sustain us through this current period. We will get back on track quite quickly and so Apeer will not have changed very much at all. I believe that the market will begin to recover meaningfully from early next year, always assuming that the virus has been controlled and the threat of reinfection has passed. People have an extraordinary instinct for improving their homes and will be keen to put this behind them. There will be some pent-up demand. By the time FIT Show is upon us, everyone will be looking very firmly forward.

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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: QUICKSLIDE

NECESSITY IS THE MOTHER

OF INVENTION... So says Adrian Barraclough, Chairman of Brighouse based fabricator Quickslide to Glass News’ Editor, Chris Champion, as he reveals the ups and downs of Covid-19, including how it has revolutionised service calls, shown who their friends are and how social media can turn even the best of intentions sour.

We’re only just getting back to work but you are already talking about how this epidemic has changed your work practises. What do you mean by that? Adrian Barraclough: At Quickslide we closed down all manufacturing but left the service department operational. We didn’t want to let any customers down and decided that we needed to have a service available for any issues of customer care in the home, posting out of stock items, and having a service engineer available. As it happens, it provided a 24/7 service and many customers took advantage of it by ordering spare parts and we could service the requests without sending a van out. However, what really came out of this experience was the use of video and Zoom technology and how we could talk people through issues and help them through technology without the need to send a man and a van out to sort things out. Just as found out during other crises such as World War 11, necessity is the mother of invention! Customers like the instantaneous reaction to a problem and the fact that they could, with a little help from our end, sort the issue themselves – and very quickly. Just as you have interviewed me over Zoom and saved time, mileage and my supplies of coffee, we are saving valuable time for everyone and, as we all know, time is money. This has to be the way forward.

A new factory has been commissioned to produce flush sash frames

Adrian Barraclough, Chairman, Quickslide

How many of your customers locked down completely? Of those that kept open, what level of service did they offer during that time? Adrian Barraclough: I think the majority of customers shut down their normal operations but it was surprising how many needed odd items to be sent out. Obviously, the manufacturing of windows and doors had halted and I believe, like us, some customers were providing an emergency service as opposed to a full-on programme of fitting.

Did you continue to receive supplies from your various suppliers during lockdown? Adrian Barraclough: No, supply was nonexistent and, to be fair, we didn’t expect any deliveries. We keep a large amount of stock on the shelves at any time so that re-starting isn’t a problem, initially. In fact the bigger problem is having £600K worth of product that remained undelivered. When the lockdown happened we had to turn round 6 x 17.5 tonners and bring them back to base, simply because the product couldn’t be delivered.

You offer a wide range of product. PVCu frames , composite doors and aluminium and distribute it to installers nationwide. Do you anticipate that some customers may have gone during lockdown and you may have to ramp up sales? Adrian Barraclough: That’s really an unknown at the moment but we aim to work with our customers through these hard times. The more interesting side is from the supply side. We appreciate that cashflow for everyone is a problem but it is interesting how it is, generally, the very large companies that have made the demands to be paid in full and, on the nail. We have one supplier with whom we spend around £120K per month on a rolling order who furloughed all their staff, including the MD, with the exception of a credit controller simply tasked with getting cash in. It didn’t matter what your payment record or longevity of relationship was, they wanted the cash, now. So I paid what we owed and we shall never order from them again. That has happened with two large suppliers but, the good news is that we shall now source product from other suppliers who I’m sure will appreciate the business. We have £1 million of stock, effectively 2 months of production, and a fleet of lorries ready to deliver products out to our customers. The service we provide is very important and we have always tried to have spare machinery or vehicles

Will there be an increase in the amount of product purchased from

Europe and less dependence on overseas suppliers or will logistics and world trade return to how it was before coronavirus? Adrian Barraclough: It’s an interesting one. I would like to think everyone would be encouraged to ‘Buy British’ but, inevitably, price will come into it. At Quickslide we are very pro UK and, even more, pro Yorkshire! As time has gone on we have become more and more self-contained with glass, foiling, fabricating vertical sliders, aluminium and hardware, all in-house. We have a £20m turnover now and what we don’t want to see is a drop in prices. If that happens then the industry will spiral downwards at an alarming speed. What we want to see is organic growth for the business. What, of course, we don’t know is other people’s views on purchasing. I suspect that money rather than politics will rule opinions.

What have been the key difficulties with returning to work? What exceptional arrangements have you made in terms of staff and customer protection? Adrian Barraclough: As I am sure every other fabricator has had to do, providing a safe environment for our work force to return to work has been essential. Social distancing, wiping down of surfaces and machinery and providing the facilities to maintain a germ-free environment has taken some doing. It has taken time and investment. Additionally, the whole shift

June 2020 | www.glassnews.co.uk

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: QUICKSLIDE

The UK’s Leading Glass & Glazing Newspaper

A range of new vehicles were added to Quickslide’s delivery fleet in the months just before lockdown

particularly if you have had customers who have been slow or reluctant to pay what they owe you. Has that been an issue for Quickslide and, if so, is there a way to repair the damaged relationship?

Heritage windows remain the cornerstone of Quickslide’s offer

pattern has had to change. Whereas we had 140 people on a shift, that has reduced to just 16, and what was an 8 hour shift has now changed so that we have three shifts with an hour in between to allow for wiping down and preparing for the next influx of people. It is all about reducing the number of people in an area at any given time. Other changes have included delivery patterns and we have had to introduce a delivery charge to customers within the M25. While we furloughed a lot of staff we kept on around 30 to provide a service and that has had to be financed out of my pocket to the tune of £750K. We have also been helping by using our vans to provide a service to old and infirm people in the Brighouse area, taking provisions from Morrison’s to their homes. But even helping people backfires! Suddenly there was social media saying that Quickslide was breaking the lockdown and profiteering from still making windows! Of course, however much you reply and tell them you were delivering food, the damage is done. Social media can be dangerous.

Relationships are bound to change following the pandemic, www.glassnews.co.uk | June 2020

Adrian Barraclough: If anything, I think it will have strengthened relationships particularly with those with whom we have conversed and kept a communications channel open and active. I have already mentioned the converse where demands have been made by big companies. At the end of the day, we shall all have long memories and will discard those who haven’t played fair and have stronger relationships with those who have.

Do you think we are talking about months or, perhaps years, before Quickslide can say that you have returned to the same financial position as you were prior to December 2019?

Adrian in the factory

based 17.5 tonner that is available for urgent deliveries.

What is your vision for the future? Will Quickslide have changed substantially? Can it be as successful as it once was? And do you think the market will return as it was and, if so, how long do you think that will take? Adrian Barraclough: The market will return and good companies will survive. Will they be as successful? I think that depends on a lot of factors and is mostly connected with buyer confidence. That confidence, in turn, is reliant on the worldwide economy generally and the UK economy, specifically. I’m not sure anyone can estimate the timescale for this but we may well find that home improvement will do well while overseas travel declines. At this point it is anyone’s guess.

You have talked quite openly on social media during the lockdown, about the return to work and the issues that surround that return. Do you feel that there has been a better communication between companies within the industry as a result of the lockdown? Can that continue after the pandemic is over? Will people be nicer to each other? Adrian Barraclough: What a nice thought! I think the answer is yes…the good ones will maintain the communication they have always had. There is a caucus of people and companies who have been competitors and friends over many years and I believe that will continue.

It feels as if the industry has been slightly rudderless over this time and that there is the need for a Trade Association, as there is in most other industries… Adrian Barraclough: That’s true. There is no leader and so we all chat together and the result of that can be chaos. Various organisations have put out guidelines but not rules. Who do you listen to? At the end of day, we need our own guidelines for the industry, along the lines of: • Protect the industry, • Don’t self-destruct, • 80% should be fun and enjoyable, and • Don’t get greedy.

Adrian Barraclough: Being realistic, it will probably take two years. Part of the problem will be volumes. Many of us have invested in machining centres that are highly efficient and are great at producing 400 frames per day. What they are not that great at is producing just 70 frames! We will be operating at around 70% to 80% capacity and we have always kept an additional 10% of spare capacity, so we shall be underworked, for certain. The other side is that we have always kept spare machinery in all areas so that if maintenance is required or there is a breakdown, production is not affected. Therefore, we are going to have plenty of capacity for a considerable time. That also goes for transport, too. Apart from the normal fleet we have always kept an additional factory

This Schirmer machining centre was installed as part of a £2million investment just as the UK shut down

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CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES AHEAD, SAYS INSIGHT DATA BUILDER’S MERCHANTS REPORT It’s long been one of the fastestgrowing areas in our industry. Now, Insight Data, glass and glazing’s award-winning data experts, have conducted a comprehensive study of the UK’s booming builders and builders’ merchant sector, and are about to publish their findings in an in-depth report. Operations Director Jade Greenhow talks us through the key takeaways. Builders' merchants are one of the key fenestration sector success stories of recent years. They boomed throughout the 2010s – and at Insight Data, we’ve been watching these developments with interest for some time now. That’s why, earlier this year, we decided to conduct an in-depth research project focused on this fast-growing sector. Members of our elite market research team spoke directly to over 190 of Britain’s leading builders’ merchants and the tradesmen who use them, gauging their opinion of the market as it stands, and how they think it will change in the year ahead. We’ve now collated our findings in a comprehensive report – and we’re delighted to share a snapshot of our key insights.

PRICE STILL KING FOR BUILDERS To start, we focused on builders themselves. At Insight, we hold data on over 23,000

building companies with a turnover under £5m, and we contacted a random selection to get a better understanding of their key priorities, and how they see the market changing in the year ahead. One of the things we were most interested in establishing was simply why builder’s merchants are so popular, and what’s driving their ongoing growth. To try and get some answers, we asked builders what factor influenced their purchasing decisions more than any other. The response was very clear. By far, the most common answer was price. Product quality came in a distant second, while factors like customer service, delivery time and others lagged far behind. That would strongly suggest that one of the main reason builders find merchants so appealing is their ability to offer highly competitive pricing.

other ways in the twelve months ahead. 72% said they expect materials costs to rise, 28% thought they’d stay about the same, and, tellingly, no respondents thought prices would fall.

NO POST-BREXIT BOUNCE

If that does come to pass, it’s likely to hit SMEs in our industry hard, especially against a backdrop of tighter post-Brexit immigration rules and an increasing National Living Wage. It also potentially means higher costs for consumers further down the line.

At the beginning of 2020, with the General Election over and Brexit finally settled, some hoped we’d start to see growth in the home improvement market. The ambivalent responses from our builders suggest that hasn’t been the case. When asked whether their sales have increased, decreased or stayed the same since December’s General Election, 73% of respondents said they’d seen no change. 19% had registered an increase, and 8% had seen a decrease. However, given that the New Year typically sees a post-Christmas slowdown in consumer spending on high-ticket items like home improvements, their neutral responses are not unexpected.

PRICE RISES AHEAD Nearly three-quarters of builders also predicted the market would get tougher in

BUILDERS’ MERCHANTS: LUCRATIVE AND GROWING We then turned to look at the builders’ merchants themselves. In the UK, builder’s merchants range from small, locally focused businesses to large organisations with a network that spreads right across the country. This market’s already worth in excess of £5bn, and shows no sign of slowing – mergers and acquisitions are thriving, and so it also presents a lucrative market for investors.

A MORE PROMISING START FOR MERCHANTS Builder’s merchants reported a more promising start to 2020 than builders themselves. When asked whether sales have increased, decreased or stayed the same since the General Election, 33% reported a rise, 54% reported that sales had stayed the same, and 13% registered a decrease. What’s more, the builder’s merchants predicted price rises even more overwhelmingly than builders – 81% think that materials costs will inevitably

“The response was very clear. By far, the most common answer was price. Product quality came in a distant second, while factors like customer service, delivery time and others lagged far behind.”

rise throughout 2020, with 18% believing they’d stay roughly the same, and only 1% of respondents suggesting that prices might fall. However, when it came to the key factor influencing their buying decisions, the merchants responded similarly to the builders – price was well in the lead, followed distantly by quality and customer service, with all other factors far behind.

CHALLENGES AHEAD The overall picture that emerges from our findings is a market that’s thriving, and looks likely to continue its very healthy growth in the years ahead. But it’s also one that anticipates facing some challenges along the way.

June 2020 | www.glassnews.co.uk

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on our sector, but on the economy more generally.

SPEAK TO THE EXPERTS

It’s clear that hoped-for post-Brexit bounce hasn’t yet materialised – with most respondents in both the builder and merchant camps telling us sales haven’t changed much since the General Election. On the whole, both groups also expect to see material prices continue to rise, which will likely cause difficulties for many in our

www.glassnews.co.uk | June 2020

sector, and possibly mean end-users have to pay more for products and services.

Our findings are explained in a lot more detail in our official report, which can be downloaded for free from the Insight Data

website – and if you’re interested in learning more about the market intelligence we can provide, or perhaps commissioning some market research of your own, don’t hesitate to get in touch. For more information call 01934 808293, or visit www.insightdata.co.uk.

Then there’s the coronavirus factor. Our study took place before COVID-19 had spread beyond China, and before we appreciated quite how radically it would change everyday life. It remains to be seen what impact this will have, not just

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MAKING THE COVID-19 RETURN TO WORK SUSTAINABLE With the Government setting out its proposals for the return to work Cornwall Glass Manufacturing’s joint MD and former Director of HR, Mark Knight reflects on what this means for employers. “Companies and employers need to be focussed on balancing the books and getting back to work”, he said, “but they also need to give time and thought to how they can and will need to support their teams as they come back.” With the continuing ‘fluidity’ and changing nature of the situation and government advice, he argues this includes putting in new controls to support save working but also support for those employees still on furlough: • Risk assess the return to work “We’ve had teams reviewing our processes to understand how close they get to each other and to establish the controls that we need to put in place. We’re adapting our layouts, marking floors and identifying requirements for PPE”, says Mark. • Cultural change As part of its return to work programme, Cornwall Glass team members go through an awareness programme to build understanding of what is required to support the return to work, including ‘wellness’/fitness for work, distancing and hygiene, as well as requirements for PPE. “Cultural change is much more important than PPE”, says Mark. • Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) “There’s a lot of confusion about PPE and the situation is an evolving one”, says Mark. “At the time of writing

there is no specific requirement for facemasks, although there is a suggestion that this may change. Given the changing situation, it’s very important to check ‘current’ government advice (https://www.gov.uk/government/ publications/guidance-to-employers-and-businessesabout-covid-19). • Support for employees coming out of furlough Cornwall Glass has maintained an open and transparent dialogue with employees throughout the crisis. Mark says this has been important in supporting its team as it returns for work. “It doesn’t need to be complicated, we’re simply making sure that as a leadership and management team, we’re available for our colleagues, to answer and address their concerns. It’s open conversation and discussion.” • Support for colleagues coming back to work in later phases “We don’t want our colleagues to think that just because the site they work at hasn’t reopened yet or they haven’t been called back in, that it’s not going to happen. So, we’re maintaining communication with those still in furlough, doing everything we can to make sure that they understand what we’re doing and why.” Watch the interview with Mark here: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=ErmM2U9lKgU&feature=youtu.be

manufacture of super-sized units. This includes automated concertina racks and gantry crane and Intermac cutting tables, process cutting laminated jumbos in as little as 15-minutes. The site also features a Northglass Gapless Series toughening furnace capable of handling sheets of 2,850mm x 4,200mm. Its Bystronic IGU line is meanwhile capable of handling units of up to 2.7m X 5m. “We’ve seen the greatest demand from commercial customers. A lot of sites didn’t close down, others are being reopened, and that’s creating a higher level of demand, including for larger units. We can meet that demand most effectively through Plymouth.

Cornwall Glass Manufacturing’s return to work has been focussed so far on its Plymouth operation, returning with a skeleton staff at the end of April. This was expanded on 11th May, building capacity in-line with growing demand.

“We will, however, be opening other sites and bringing more colleagues back as we move forward. It’s about timing and ensuring that we manage our return exceptionally carefully so that it is sustainable, for our customers, for us and our colleagues.”

At the cutting edge of glass manufacturing technology, it’s fully geared to high volume IGU fabrication, including

For more information please call 01726 66325 email info@ cornwallglass.co.uk or log on at www.cornwallglass.co.uk.

CAPITAL WINDOWS SIGN UP TO STELLAR

Specialist fabricator, Capital Windows is fabricating Stellar, the double-award winning aluminium window and door system from Epwin Window Systems.

Marketed under their branding ‘Evoke’, Peter Adams, General Manager at Capital Windows said: “We have manufactured aluminium products for many years and we were very impressed by the true flush aesthetics of Stellar. We are marketing it under the brand name ‘Evoke’ which we felt was appropriate as it’s a window and door system that is extremely memorable.” Peter continued: “What stood out for us is other systems on the market use ‘plant ons’ or adaptors to achieve flush aesthetics which is a popular trend in window design. But Stellar was designed from scratch as a true flush system and along with its slim sightlines and the benefit of its knockin beads, normally only seen on PVC-U windows, it’s a very appealing system for our customers. Furthermore, the system has been superbly designed to use fewer profiles which helps with our stockholding too.”

Apart from the system itself, the fact that Stellar is an Epwin Window Systems product was an important factor. Peter said: “We have been buying in Profile 22’s Optima products for some time and know first-hand the quality and flexibility that their product range delivers.” During the set-up process, Capital Windows worked closely with various Epwin Window Systems’ personnel including their awardwinning in-house marketing team. As

such, a comprehensive marketing plan was developed to cover all marketing touchpoints and included a bespoke 28page Evoke brochure which beautifully showcases the window and door credentials and helps drive the message to the consumer. Peter said: “We worked closely with Epwin Window Systems’ marketing team who proactively developed a range of marketing assets for us to use in the launch of Evoke to our customer base. The marketing support delivered was impressive

and we are delighted with the high-quality results the team produced.” Capital Windows is based in Uxbridge, Greater London and works with domestic, trade and commercial sectors throughout the South East of England. For over 35 years the company has positioned itself as a specialist designer, supplier and installer of the latest generation of technically advanced window and door products. And the gamechanging credentials that Stellar delivers, is sure to cement this reputation even further. For more information on Evoke visit www.evokealuminium.co.uk

“We worked closely with Epwin Window Systems’ marketing team who proactively developed a range of marketing assets for us to use in the launch of Evoke to our customer base. The marketing support delivered was impressive and we are delighted with the high-quality results the team produced.” June 2020 | www.glassnews.co.uk

TRADE NEWS

The UK’s Leading Glass & Glazing Newspaper

SLOWLY BUT SURELY

– STEERING A PATH OUT OF LOCKDOWN AluK announced a partial reopening of its Chepstow manufacturing facility on 23rd April to supply customers working on essential commercial contracts. We have had longer than most then to adjust to a new socially distanced work environment. As a result, we’re able to share our experience with customers and help them as they also get back to work and make similar adjustments to their operations, in line with the latest government guidance. Inevitably, like AluK, most customers are managing a phased restart and, while that’s frustrating in terms of sales and volumes, it does at least give them the chance to rearrange their factories and, crucially, train their staff so that new safe working practices become firmly embedded before volumes start to increase. What is critical here is that there is simply no room for error. No business can afford to get things wrong and undermine not just the safety, but also the confidence of their workforce. The government has issued clear guidance on the rules which apply to factories, plants and warehouses on its www.gov.uk website*, but I would also offer some further tips of my own:

OPTIMISE THE SKILLS SET OF YOUR WORKFORCE When you are looking to un-furlough staff, carry out a detailed skills matrix across your team so that you first bring back people who can work across different areas and minimise the number of staff you need to have working on the shop floor

In uncertain times, fabricators need to know that their suppliers have the experience to navigate the challenges which they will face and also the strength and security to be able to weather the logistical and financial pressures which come with that.

It’s already a cliché to talk about the ‘new normal’ but what is quickly becoming clear is that if fabricators are going to be able to recover quickly from this crisis, they will need much more than a ‘normal’ service from their suppliers.

Obviously, in various forms, AluK has been in the UK for more than 25 years and we have the global backing of the AluK Group and its shareholders, which has given us unstinted support throughout the lockdown.

It will be all about adapting our approach for individual customers and being flexible in the products and service we provide to them.

That’s the reason why we have been able to continue helping customers throughout, even when our manufacturing facility was initially shutdown. We were able to go on investing in product development, marketing and customer support and stay in close contact with customers to work together on bespoke operational plans for their recovery.

AluK is determined to stand by our customers in the difficult months ahead, and we have the resources and expertise to be able to do just that. By Graeme Bainbridge, Operations Director, AluK * https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safelyduring-coronavirus-covid-19/factories-plantsand-warehouses Graeme Bainbridge, Operations Director, AluK

REINFORCE THE MESSAGE Use all the tools you can to communicate the social distancing message – from stickers on the floor to posters and notices inside and outside of the building – these are available from AluK. It’s a really big ask to expect people to undo years of ingrained working practices in just a few days without lots of positive reinforcement

EXTEND YOUR PLANNING TO THE CAR PARK AND COMMUNAL AREAS Remember, you need to ensure full compliance with social distancing throughout the entire site – from the car park and the clocking-in area to the canteen and the toilet facilities. Plan for this in advance so that you don’t get caught out as the numbers coming in and out increase. Throughout this crisis, and as we hopefully start to emerge from it, the crucial thing for businesses is the strength of the partnerships which exist throughout their supply chain.

www.glassnews.co.uk | June 2020

INSTALLER FOCUS

The UK’s Leading Glass & Glazing Newspaper

CORGI FENESTRATION LAUNCHES CERTASS TRADE ASSOCIATION ITS COVID-19 OPERATING CODE LAUNCHES COVID SECURE CORGI Fenestration has produced a Covid-19 Operating Code for Installers of replacement windows and doors in domestic properties and a corresponding Consumer Guide for homeowners. They are free and available to all as downloadable documents on the CORGI Fenestration website – www. corgifenestration.co.uk/trade/installerservice-2/ They cover the measures that should to be taken by installers to protect themselves and their customers whilst working and the responsibilities that homeowners have to minimise any risks to workers that operate in their properties. “We have written our Covid-19 Operating Code and Consumer Guide in preparation for the relaxing of lockdown restrictions by the Government and after consultation with the industry. Hopefully these will allow operatives to work in homes on non-essential installations using common sense measures to social distance wherever possible and use practical hygiene procedures to minimise risks of cross contamination,” commented Jacqui Crawford, CORGI Fenestration Chief Operating Officer, and the author of the documents. “They can also be used by operatives that are currently undertaking essential work in homes – which we believe only includes emergency repairs of windows and doors.”

The Code and Guide have taken current Government approved methodologies from other sectors and inserted them into real installer work practices, procedures and situations. The CORGI Fenestration Covid-19 Operating Code covers everything from the quotation and sales process (no faceto-face interaction) to safe surveying and installation, to job sign off. The Consumer Guide tells the homeowner what they can expect from an installer following the Code and what their responsibilities are too (ranging from advising the installation company if they or any of the household have Covid-19 symptoms to wiping down frames and work areas). “Information already provided about working practices has been limited to generic construction sector guidelines. We don’t think they go far enough and have therefore created our own very specific Code for installers entering inhabited domestic properties,” added Crawford. “As this crisis and resultant restrictions look as if they will be with us for some time our industry needs to face up to the new realities and operate accordingly.”

PROCEDURES FOR INSTALLERS

Certass Trade Association has launched the COVID Secure Procedures Pack for installers. Endorsed by the Trade Association Forum (TAF), which is supported by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), the pack has been developed with Government to give installers the confidence to install safely in occupied homes as lockdown is lifted. Jon Vanstone, Chair at Certass Trade Association, says: “We are going to be living and working with this virus in the UK for at least the next 12 months. Through my participation

in Government steering groups, it was clear that the delivery of advice for installers needed to be driven by industry. As the only glazing representative in these discussions, responsibility fell to Certass Trade Association.” Available to all Certass members, the document outlines the best practice procedures for how installers can keep their teams and customers safe as the industry returns to installing non-essential windows and doors in occupied homes. The Certass TA COVID Secure Procedures Pack includes a full method

CORGI Fenestration is very supportive of industry initiatives along the manufacturing and supply chain to get the sector moving again. “However, we think that as big an issue will be weak demand. Quite understandably homeowners could be reluctant to have workers in their homes. Installers operating our Covid-19 Operating Code, with its very visible measures, could go some way to minimise those concerns,” Crawford concluded.

statement for working safely in the home, with specific advice for surveyors and installers, remote selling and showroom guidance, selfassessment declaration forms for both installation teams and homeowners to complete before work commences and final inspection guidance. There is also a quick reference guide for installers and an information leaflet to give to homeowners. A complete homeowner guide for members to use in their marketing will follow next week. Jon adds: “The pack is designed to help installers maintain social distancing, keep contact with homeowners to a minimum and prove that they have taken necessary steps to reduce risk for all parties. “We have stayed in close contact with installers and trade fabricators during the lockdown period and the overriding request was for clear, practical help and information that will help them get their business back to work. This is what we have delivered.”

For further information on CORGI Fenestration go to: www.corgifenestration.co.uk

www.certassta.co.uk

ENDURANCE HELPS INSTALLERS BACK TO WORK WITH COVID-19 GUIDE As the government begins to encourage companies back to work under safe working practices, solid and secure composite door manufacturer, Endurance Doors, has published a COVID-19 Installation Guide which is aimed at both installers and homeowners. The message is loud and clear from government that they want to get certain industry sectors back to work as soon as is safe for all those involved and specifically, in the manufacturing and construction sectors. Already the likes of Certass and CORGI Fenestration have published guidelines, but this production from Endurance Doors is specific for the door sector and importantly highlights the expectations and requirements from homeowners for a stress-free and safe installation. The general COVID-19 Installation Guide

from Endurance Doors is branded, but there is the opportunity to bespoke this with unique content, different colours and logos for all installer partners with immediate effect. Endurance Doors returned to work on the 4th May with a skeleton staff and they were all provided with the necessary PPE, along with detailed guidance as to the safest operating procedures and new company policies. These were put in place by senior management, including Ian Murgett, QHSE and Continuous Improvement Manager and the site Health and Safety Supervisor for Rocal Group. Stephen Nadin, Managing Director of Endurance Doors commented: ‘This new publication is important for us, our valued installation partners and the homeowners who have carefully decided that an

Endurance Door is the best investment for them. It’s important that as a diligent manufacturer, we communicate in what we are doing and the expectations of door installers, so that throughout the supply chain everyone is clear what has been done and what will be done. He continued: ‘We’re now back manufacturing doors, taking orders and delivering to our nationwide network of partners as of 12th May. The hope is that as an industry we work collectively to get things moving quickly and to establish a new normal.’ For further information on the Endurance Solid and Secure composite door range please call the sales office on 01652 659259, visit https://endurancedoors.co.uk, or e-mail marketing@endurancedoors.co.uk. You can also add to the Twitter following @

EnduranceDoors.

June 2020 | www.glassnews.co.uk

INSTALLER FOCUS

The UK’s Leading Glass & Glazing Newspaper

FREEFOAM SUPPORT INSTALLERS GETTING BACK TO WORK As part of a comprehensive installer support package Freefoam Building Products have released an informative, simple video to illustrate how roofline fitters can carry out work while keeping themselves, colleagues and homeowners safe. Colin St John, Commercial Director explained “Freefoam Registered Installers are an important part of our business. We commissioned this video to support them, so that they can feel confident in working safety whilst continuing to sell and fit Freefoam products.” View video at: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=ZvZQMinP12k&feature=youtu.be The video features NG Roofline Windows and Conservatories and shows a series of easy measures that

installers can take to ensure a safe working environment when installing fascia, soffit and gutter. Freefoam will be using the video across all social media channels and sharing it with their installer and customer network to maximise exposure of this important message. Louise Sanderson, Marketing Manager explained “We know that safety is critically important at the moment, but at the same time installers want to get their businesses up and running again. We want to support installers. We have kept the message simple and straight-forward so that installers can easily follow the guidance and homeowners can feel secure in having work carried out on their homes.”

SUPPORT PACKAGE This video is part of a wider support package that Freefoam are providing to help installers. Being able to promote, explain and sell products whilst staying social distanced is also essential. Freefoam provide a comprehensive range of sales and marketing brochures as pdf files at Freefoam.

com for installers to download. Ideal to attach to an emailed quote. Likewise roofline and cladding visualiser tools are available online to illustrate how colour fascia and soffit might look, or how colour cladding can change the look of a façade. For more information about becoming a Freefoam Registered Installer go to www.myfreefoam.com.

FENSA MAINTAINS SUPPORT FOR INSTALLERS THROUGHOUT COVID-19 LOCKDOWN FENSA, the UK’s largest government-authorised competent person scheme for replacement windows and doors, says that it has prioritised supporting its installers throughout the COVID-19 lockdown period, following a significant shift from homeowner enquiries to requests for information from FENSA Approved Installers. Chris Beedel, FENSA Director of Membership, said: “FENSA Approved Installers have experienced unprecedented disruption over the last two months so we’ve ensured that they continue to have access to the same high level of support we’ve always provided. FENSA has remained open throughout the COVID-19 lockdown period with our staff working from home to support our installers and their

customers. All FENSA services remain fully operational and the FENSA team has been proactive in responding to enquiries whether received by phone, email or via social media.” Rachel Culpan, Customer Service Manager, explained that all helplines have been maintained: “At such a challenging time for businesses, a timely response for our installers and their customers is the least we can do and our team has more than risen to the task. We are all working from home so that brings its own challenges, but it hasn’t changed our availability to support FENSA Approved Installers.” However, Rachel explained that the nature of the queries received through FENSA helplines has changed throughout the crisis: “Homeowners continue to contact us to order replacement FENSA

certificates, but where we’ve really seen an increase in engagement is from our installers. Our technical helpline has been kept busy providing technical information around installations, assessments and the building regulations. Meanwhile we’ve been talking to our installers every day to assist them with the work they can do at this time, such as reassuring them they can still notify jobs and helping them through the FENSA Skills Card MTC process. “We’ve also seen more FENSA Approved Installers logging on to the FENSA Installer Portal, the online hub for our installers. In addition to keeping installers up to date via email, we’ve been sharing the latest on COVID-19 support available for businesses on the portal, as well as important clarifications on Government guidance provided by the Glass

and Glazing Federation. It’s also where our installers can access all the extra benefits they get as FENSA Approved Installers, and we hope they all take advantage of those as there are some great savings to be made.” FENSA Approved Installers have access to a wide range of offers from FENSA’s affinity partners including TradePoint discounts, free FuelCards, tailored insurance from FENSA Business Insurance Services, and preferential rates on the Business Pilot CRM system. As well as supporting their current installers, FENSA continues to sign new applicants thanks to the use of video conferencing facilities to assist with assessing their work and competences. FENSA intends to continue to make use of this technology as the industry gets back to work.

Chris Beedel added: “We have been very pleased that large numbers of FENSA Approved Installers are well aware of the services that are available to them, indicated by how many are helping themselves by accessing the information and services that are available, as and when they need them.” For more information on FENSA, including details of how to join, please visit: www.fensa.org.uk.

CORGI FENESTRATION PUBLISHES FURTHER FREE COVID-19 SUPPORT DOCUMENTS CORGI Fenestration has added to its suite of support documents for Covid-19 with the introduction of a completed example of a COVID-19 Risk Assessment (For Installers Working in Domestic Properties) form and produced new guidance for those carrying out remedial works. They are free and available to all as downloadable documents on the CORGI Fenestration website – www.corgifenestration.co.uk/trade/ installer-service-2/

www.glassnews.co.uk | June 2020

The COVID-19 Risk Assessment (For Installers Working in Domestic Properties) example covers the measures that should to be considered by companies to protect themselves and their customers whilst working in occupied dwellings. Companies can adopt the example and customise it to reflect their identified risks. The COVID-19 Remedial Works Guide carries on from the Installer Guide to identify the specific actions required of those carrying out remedial works following installation.

“We have written our Covid-19 support documents to help our companies prepare for a return to work. Government requires a COVID-19 specific risk assessment to be carried out and we felt it would be right to provide an example of what that might look like. We also realised that guidance was needed for those carrying out remedial work. Hopefully these will allow operatives to work in homes on non-essential installations using common sense measures to social distance wherever possible and use practical hygiene procedures to minimise

risks of cross contamination,” commented Jacqui Crawford, CORGI Fenestration Chief Operating Officer, and the author of the documents. “As these continue to be unprecedented times, we are continuing to make our support documents available free of charge to all companies.” For further information on CORGI Fenestration go to: www.corgifenestration.co.uk

INSTALLER FOCUS

The UK’s Leading Glass & Glazing Newspaper

COVID-19 ADVICE AND INFORMATION

FROM FENSA AS ITS APPROVED INSTALLERS RETURN TO WORK As home improvement window and door businesses return to work in response to the gradual lifting of lockdown restrictions FENSA, the UK’s largest government-authorised competent person scheme for replacement windows and doors, has issued a number of documents designed to assist FENSA Approved Installers as once again they prepare to enter homes and commercial premises to replace and install windows, doors, conservatories and related products. Having maintained services for FENSA Approved Installers and homeowners throughout the Covid-19 lockdown, with key FENSA advisors operating in isolation from their homes, the publications now provide timely support for installers and,

through them, for homeowners seeking guidance about engaging with installers as they undertake home improvements. These include Practical safety precautions when installing windows & doors during the COVID-19 pandemic; Guidance on completing a risk assessment; and a guide specifically for homeowners Having windows and doors installed during the COVID-19 outbreak.

PRACTICAL SAFETY PRECAUTIONS…. In the first of these, with the lengthy if unequivocal title Practical safety precautions when installing windows & doors during the COVID-19 pandemic, the information will often be regarded as common sense for skilled FENSA installers. However, as well as offering practical tips the guide serves as an excellent check list and one that may easily be circulated

"Our publications, written by highly skilled former installers, bring all effective advice together for FENSA Approved companies so there is consistency throughout the FENSA network, with all operating to the same high standards.”

to every member of the team, to ensure consensus. The document is organised into 11 easy to follow sections and that order, in itself, is useful to provide structure to the installation process. These are: Materials; Travelling to site; Communication with the occupant; Personal Protective Equipment (PPE); Arriving at site / pre-installation; Social distancing & minimising contact; Access equipment; Refreshment breaks; Packing up at the end of the day; Disposal of waste products; Returning home. Each section is concise and written in clear, jargon-free language.

RISK ASSESSMENTS Again, whilst many installers may have experience of producing Risk Assessments or indeed, have trained personnel to carry out such tasks, for many the FENSA Guidance on completing a risk assessment, including a template form, provides a check to ensure that such assessments are carried out and, actually, fulfilled. In fact, as well as providing guidance on correct procedures the completion of a Risk Assessment for each job is essential to protect the company and individuals in the case of any potential claims arising from work carried out on site.

ADVICE FOR HOMEOWNERS The guide for homeowners provides similar information as provided in the

Practical safety precautions….’ document but of course, as its title suggests, from the perspective of the homeowner. FENSA Approved Installers are now encouraged to pass a copy to their customers in advance of an installation to ensure that both sides are fully engaged in all processes, to ensure swift and safe installations. All documents, which are written by experienced former installers, are available free of charge to FENSA Approved Installers, in addition to other benefits such as fast and efficient installation certification from the UK’s leading compliance body and TV, radio and social media promotion for the FENSA brand and its Approved Installer network. Chris Beedel, FENSA Director of Membership, says it is important that FENSA Approved Installers operate to agreed and shared standards: “There are a number of documents around offering advice about how installers may return to people’s homes and all offer relevant if slightly differing information. Our publications, written by highly skilled former installers, bring all effective advice together for FENSA Approved companies so there is consistency throughout the FENSA network, with all operating to the same high standards.” For more information on FENSA, including details of how to join, please visit: www.fensa.org.uk.

June 2020 | www.glassnews.co.uk

BMBI

The UK’s Leading Glass & Glazing Newspaper

BUILDERS MERCHANT BUILDING INDEX

BUILDERS MERCHANTS Q1 SALES CONFIRM CORONAVIRUS EFFECT Emile van der Ryst, Senior Client Insight Manager at GfK comments: “I remember reading a news article at the beginning of January about the initial outbreak in Wuhan, when about 80 people contracted the Coronavirus. Four months later and we’re in an upside-down world that will never be the same when things return to normal. “For builders’ merchants this upside-down world became a reality towards the end of March as a nationwide lockdown was enforced. Sales come to a standstill overnight, with only essential deliveries done.

the two most recent years. In 2019, February to March saw an increase of 14.6%, but in 2020 a decrease of -1.9% took place.

shift was a 24.2% growth in Workwear and Safetywear, which could be expected under current circumstances.”

“Heavy Building Materials was down by -6.5% from Q1 2019, with Bricks, Blocks and Insulation seeing the largest declines. Timber & Joinery saw an even larger decline of -11.1%, with Timber and Sheet Materials most affected and Cladding the only area that saw growth from 2019.

John Newcomb, CEO of the Builders Merchant Federation says: “As Donald Rumsfeld once said, there are known knowns, known unknowns and unknown unknowns. The first quarter of 2020 has certainly led us into “unknown unknowns” territory. Daily life in the UK, along with almost every other country in the world, changed radically as governments first acknowledged the deadly threat of Covid-19 and then struggled to find the “right” way to keep citizens safe and reduce its impact.

“Other noticeable market shifts include a -12.7% decline for Tools, and a -7.4% decline for Plumbing, Heating & Electrical. In the former, Power Tools is the driving factor behind the drop, while the latter has been negatively affected by both Plumbing and Electrical Equipment. The one interesting

“Overall, Q1 2020 was down by -6.7% in value, with all core categories affected. The shift becomes more evident comparing February to March figures for

“Merchant sales figures revealed in this report are the first results within our sector to reflect the negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and Government measures to reduce transmission of the virus.

Quarter 1 2020 index v Quarter 1 2019 index 30%

24.2%

20% 8.8%

10%

10.5%

0.6%

-10%

-7.4% -12.7%

-7.1%

-6.7%

-6.5%

-5.1%

-4.1%

-3.0%

-11.1%

-20% -30%

Quarter 1 2020 v Quarter 4 2019 30% 20%

15.9% 12.6%

10%

7.6%

-10%

-5.9%

-5.3%

-3.9%

-3.3%

-2.9%

-2.4%

-20% -30%

www.glassnews.co.uk | June 2020

-0.9%

-0.8%

-0.2%

9.5%

“In the current circumstances no-one will be surprised by these figures. They reflect a period when confidence dropped as coronavirus spread across the world to the UK and many building sites and builders’ merchants shut down completely when the lockdown took effect on 24 March.

Emile van der Ryst

John Newcomb

“Due to the method of collection, we can be sure that the BMBI results are an accurate reflection of the period. Whereas the estimates published this month by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) came with a caveat that they are subject to more uncertainty than usual as a result of the challenges they faced in collecting data during the coronavirus pandemic.

For the full report, including comments from the BMBI’s panel of leading industry Experts, please visit www.bmbi.co.uk.

“Nonetheless the ONS figures make interesting reading. Total construction output fell by -2.6% during Q1 2020 over Q4 2019, and by -3% in Q1 2020 vs Q1 2019. A closer look reveals a poorer performance in RMI work, down -3.5% this quarter vs Q4 2019 and by-6.0% vs Q1 2019. “Drilling down further, Private Housing RMI work – a mainstay of builders’ merchants’ sales – fell by 14.6% compared with Q1 2019, having dropped -18.6% in March 2020 vs March 2019 and by -8.6% vs February 2020. The decline in the first quarter reported by the ONS is the largest since data was first published in Q2 2012.”

GfK’s Builders Merchant Panel GfK’s Merchant Panel includes national, multi-regional and regional merchants such as Buildbase, Jewson, Travis Perkins, EH Smith, Gibbs & Dandy, MKM, Bradfords, Covers and Ridgeons. GfK’s Builders’ Merchant Point of Sale Tracking Data represents more than 80% of the value of the builders’ merchant market. GfK insights can trace product group performance and track relevant features. GfK can also produce robust like-for-like market comparability, tailored to the requirements of an individual business. The Builders Merchant Building Index Builders Merchant Building Index (BMBI) appears every month, in print and online. A full quarterly report is published every three months. The BMBI is a brand of the Builders Merchant Federation. Launched and produced by MRA Marketing, it uses sales-out data from GfK’s Builders Merchant Panel. BMBI includes a panel of leading industry Experts, who speak exclusively for their markets.

CHARITY NEWS

COLOUR

SENIOR’S MAMMOTH CHARITY EPWIN WINDOW SYSTEMS

CAMPAIGN PAYS OFF

A small aluminium elephant has helped to make a big difference to two South Yorkshire hospices and pay homage to an important part of Sheffield’s history in the process. Inspired by the legend of Lizzie, the Indian Elephant that became a familiar sight around Sheffield throughout the Great War, the unusual charity challenge saw South Yorkshire based aluminium glazing systems manufacturer Senior Architectural Systems create a number of bespoke ornamental elephants that went on to be sold at various events throughout last year. In total, over £8k has been generated and split between two important local charities -St. Luke’s Hospice and Rotherham Hospice. The campaign was launched as part of the 2019 Master Cutler Challenge, a fundraising initiative organised by The Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire of which Senior’s managing director is a member. Although more used to designing and manufacturing high performance aluminium glazing systems, Senior used its skills and in-house resources to create the special mementos and bring the story of Lizzie the elephant to a new audience. Originally part of a travelling circus show that wintered in Sheffield during the Great War (1914-1918), Lizzie became an unlikely local war hero after being leased to scrap-

metal merchant and former Master Cutler Thomas Ward to help transport machinery and metal. With all the local horses conscripted by the military, Lizzie played a valuable part in the city’s war effort and has become a celebrated part of Sheffield’s local heritage. Commenting; Senior’s managing director Mark Wadsworth said: “We are thrilled to have been able to help support the local community and two vitally important charities, and to have brought a smile to some faces along the way. Creating the bespoke aluminium elephants was no mean feat and we couldn’t have done it without the fantastic support of our supply chain partners Press Metal, Pryor Marking Technology, B&B Press and Harris Creative. I hope we have helped ensure that Lizzie is one elephant that Sheffield certainly won’t forget about!” Following on from the success of the charity campaign, Senior has pledged to join forces with St. Luke’s Hospice once again to help raise vital funds but unfortunately owing to the current coronavirus outbreak, the new campaign has been put back until 2021. More information about this new initiative will be unveiled in due course. In the meantime, people can support St. Luke’s Hospice directly by donating online at www.stlukeshospice.org.uk.

LAUNCHES NEW COLOUR OFFERING

Epwin Window Systems has launched its new colour offering across its marketleading PVC-U system brands. Clare O’Hara, Managing Director of Epwin Window Systems, said: “Our new colour offering has been designed to deliver what our customers need – making the most popular colour profiles available on their next delivery schedule as well as introducing new shades that look set to be the next trends in colour. It’s the latest in a series of major investments in colour so we can give our customers a market advantage both now and into the future.” The new colour offering features up to 16 Fast Track foil finishes which includes ontrend colour choices including Anthracite Grey Smooth, Cream on White, Sage, Claystone and Pebble Grey. Furthermore, Epwin Window Systems has worked closely with its sister companies within Group to offer a range of matching trims and roofline products to help customers provide a seamless finish across an entire building

"The Made to Order range includes an expanded selection of attractive heritage tones, more of the popular contemporary greys and a new Ultimatt black finish, as well as new metallics to capitalise on the growing demand for aluminium alternatives.”

Order options that reflect modern trends in colour selection. Clare said: “We’ve listened to our customers and looked at the market research so we could develop a range that suits all sectors and all tastes. We have also witnessed a growing trend towards both solid colours and smooth finishes which has been reflected in our new offering. The Made to Order range includes an expanded selection of attractive heritage tones, more of the popular contemporary greys and a new Ultimatt black finish, as well as new metallics to capitalise on the growing demand for aluminium alternatives.” Quality has also been escalated in the new offering too. The use of a new grey substrate for grey foil finishes has been extended across most product groups, bringing a new level of finish to these popular shades. And complementary base colours now include white, tan, brown, cream and grey. All colours in the range will benefit from Epwin Window Systems’ investment in state-of-the-art colour technology. The systems company invested in two new twin lines last year and is also using the world’s first Luna R automatic profile wrapping machine, which is able to wrap even the most complex of profiles perfectly. It also reduces set up times, providing additional capacity and product accuracy, which will all benefit Epwin Window Systems’ customers. Epwin Window Systems is renowned for leading the way and setting new standards in the industry. In unveiling its new colour range, it’s done exactly that for colour. It means its customers have a valuable way to enhance order values by adding more colour options into their portfolios. Tel: 0845 340 3968 www.epwinwindowsystems.co.uk

envelope. The new offer also includes 30 Made to

June 2020 | www.glassnews.co.uk

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www.glassnews.co.uk | June 2020

TRADE NEWS

HARDWARE

The UK’s Leading Glass & Glazing Newspaper

MILA EXPANDS DELIVERIES IN LINE WITH DEMAND

KENRICK SUPPORTS CUSTOMERS DURING CORONAVIRUS With many fabricators planning to re-open for business on 11 May, hardware supplier Kenrick is geared up and ready to supply customers after the shutdown.

With an increasing number of fabricators announcing their intentions to restart limited operations from 11 May, Mila is expanding the delivery service it has been offering from its Daventry warehouse. As of 4 May, any hardware orders received before 3pm every day will be delivered within 48 hours – so orders placed on Monday will be delivered on Wednesday etc. Orders can be placed anytime via the dedicated email address: sales@mila.co.uk. Mila has a skeleton warehouse team working in line with the new ERIC (Eliminate, Reduce, Isolate, Control) safe working protocols and is gradually increasing the numbers who are picking, packing and despatching orders, as it looks to match its capacity with demand from the market. Richard Gyde, Mila’s Managing Director, said: “We’ve already been offering a once a week delivery service for customers working on essential contracts, and have refined our protocols so that we know we can operate safely and efficiently.

“We’ve been talking to customers throughout the shutdown to make sure we are geared to what they will need from us and we’ll certainly be looking to increase the numbers of staff and the delivery times as volumes increase.” Mila is continuing to offer contactless delivery on all orders so there is no risk to customers or couriers and there is no minimum order value. Tel: 01327 312400 www.mila.co.uk

The company hopes this added flexibility will help customers get back to normal working practices as quickly as possible. VBH remained open during lockdown, with a reduced number of staff covering key functions from home and a vastly reduced warehouse team coming in to the Kent site as and when required to satisfy urgent orders. VBH kept their customers informed regularly about the situation and the best means of making contact as the crisis developed. Now that much of the industry is returning to work, the reduced warehouse team’s hours have increased and the team are keenly observing all the proper working practices to keep themselves and staff from VBH’s partners safe. Managing Director Simon Monks states “We were quick to pull our sales team

Steve Jones, managing director at Kenrick, says: “We continued to supply the industry during the crisis and we’re now planning to scale up the business over the coming

“We’ve been preparing for when the restrictions are eased and, more importantly, we’ve been helping our customers to get ready too. We’ve kept in touch during the shutdown and responded to some of our customers more pressing needs. With many of them keen to reduce costs, boost margins and secure their supply chains, they’re confident that we’re here to deliver what they need when they re-start production.”

Kenrick has pledged to support its network of fabricators in every way it can during the pandemic. Currently stocking one of the widest ranges of quality window and door hardware, door furniture and architectural hardware for PVCu, aluminium and timber systems, the firm also provides unrivalled technical expertise and after sales support to assist customers as they get back to work. Tel: 0121 553 2741 www.kenricks.co.uk

MILA SAYS IT’S GOOD TO TALK

FLEXIBILITY AT VBH HELPS CUSTOMERS Hardware specialist VBH has reduced its minimum order value to just £10 per order to give fabricators and installers the flexibility to place smaller orders while they ‘get their ducks in a row’ following a return from lockdown.

Having implemented a number of safety measures to avoid the spread of Covid-19, the WestBromwich firm remained partially operational during the lockdown with a team taking orders and disptaching products from Kenrick’s extensive stock of hardware. Now, it plans to gradually increase staff numbers and delivery schedules to match volumes as more fabricators re-start.

weeks as more fabricators open their doors. The health and welfare of our employees and customers is paramount and we’ve introduced strict protocols to allow for a safe return for everyone. We will be following all government advice and we will, of course, only continue to do this if it is safe and sensible to do so.

off the road and instruct them and their office-based colleagues to work from home from the week before lockdown. “Since 1st April we’ve had a skeleton crew across the business keeping things moving and working on a number of exciting new product developments and services for later in the year.” As orders pick up VBH advise that they will bring more staff back to work to ensure that customers receive their window and door hardware on time. Returning workers will phased in only when demand requires. Simon adds “Our customers are working strange hours at the moment. We would recommend that those who don’t already use the VBH24 online shop to place orders and check stock consider doing so, as that service is available to them whatever hour they’re working.” More information on VBH24 can be found at www.vbhgb24.com, or email VBH via sales@vbhgb.com.

As the return to work gathers pace, Mila’s National Sales Manager, Julie Holmes, is appealing to fabricators to talk to their suppliers as much as they can so that they can deliver the kind of support which will make the biggest difference. She says: “Mila has been phoning and emailing customers regularly to find out exactly what they need from us in terms of stock, lead times, deliveries and sales and marketing support to help them through the crisis. “The feedback we are getting is helping us to manage our resource in house so that we can make sure we have the right number of staff available and can work out where to focus our efforts. We’ve been encouraged at how quickly the demand has increased from such a standing start and we’re grateful to customers for keeping us up to date, because it’s meant we’ve been able to get people back in our sales office quickly to keep orders on track.

“We’ve also reduced our minimum order value directly in response to customers who asked for our help in completing orders from before the lockdown, and we’ve switched to 48-hour deliveries because that is what customers have told is the most appropriate option for now. “As things move forward though, we are planning new digital solutions across sales and marketing, and we want customers to tell us how useful they would be so that we can tailor our approach.”

weeks to gauge the level of demand across the whole market so that it can ensure optimum stock availability moving forward, and will be sharing those results with customers so that they can gear up their own businesses to match the shape of the likely recovery.

She adds: “The Coronavirus crisis has shown us all just how interdependent we are in this industry and the mantra throughout has been that ‘we are all in this together’. The vast majority of suppliers really do want to help, and I think if fabricators talk openly and share their experiences and expectations with us, then they will undoubtedly see the benefits.”

Julie adds: “Customers rightly have very high expectations of Mila and I’d like to think we’ve lived up to those throughout this crisis so far. We’ve done all we can in terms of offering useful advice and practical support and we’ve been praised for that, but we know the most challenging times are still to come. We are determined to continue delivering market leading product availability and customer service and I hope our customers will help us to do that.”

Mila plans to survey customers over the coming

Tel: 01327 312400 www.mila.co.uk

June 2020 | www.glassnews.co.uk

COLD CALLING

The UK’s Leading Glass & Glazing Newspaper

DANNY WILLIAMS

‘COLD CALLING’ Each month our special correspondent Danny Williams* replies to a reader’s letter...

From a huge mailbag of oooh, four or five (OK, three) letters received this month I note a commonality, even consensus, that it is a privilege to work in ‘double glazing’. It is an industry that is distinguished by many qualities. Not least, camaraderie, common sense of purpose, and a will do things right and well – and actually, one that presents opportunity. This month I thought I would explore that... There continues to be a considerable backlash against the national journalists who are berated for continually knocking pretty much everything that our illustrious leader and his various acolytes say and do. Apparently, this is not a new phenomenon either, just one that has become more profound with the daily Downing Street press briefings for which, frankly, it has been extraordinarily difficult to put a positive spin on during the best of them. But it seems that this is very much part of a trend in which growing numbers of people are shunning the news generally. Last year, research by Reuters Academy indicated that more than a third of people actively avoid news, a figure that by then had risen 11% in the two previous years. The main reason given, expectedly, was that negative news put them in a bad mood whilst others said that it left them feeling powerless to influence events. With this in mind, it is hardly surprising that any journos actively questioning Boris about pretty much everything that he announces, will be seen as merely whining to drive up their own self-importance. I have no doubt this is the case but this should be considered against the key factors that a/ they are doing their jobs and b/ much of what our PM says is BS at the best of times. But the point is, faced with the tsunami of bad to worse news with swathes of people dying, jobs lost or threatened, the economy in tatters, people don’t want their noses rubbed in it. All of which led me to wonder if Danny Boy had been a tad knocking in recent weeks, when I could have looked on the brighter side of life… Now, let me make it clear that in no way do I compare my amateur scrawl with the prose churned out by the minute

by these highly educated and talented individuals but then neither, I suspect, could Laura Kuenssberg or Emily Maitlis make a Deceuninck flush sash or fit a 5 panel bi-fold when required to either. Each to their own – but I began to dwell upon the world that I inhabit and, actually, to understand just what a great place to be is the British ‘double glazing’ industry… Now, before both my readers simultaneously reach for their buckets, let me say that man and boy, during my thirty three years working in this market, having begun and made my first marks in Essex in the ‘Eighties, I have seen and been complicit in some of the naughty stuff. But that was a long time ago now and I am delighted to say that, since windows, doors and connies became less deserving of the ‘White Gold’ tag simply because it is quite hard work to turn a coin selling them these days, the cowboys have moved on to pastures new and the rest of us have grown up. We have all had a great deal of time to consider our lot recently, perhaps the reason for my uncharacteristic sentimentality, one that will undoubtedly pass by the time I get home this evening. Britain has been an extraordinary place these past three months: whilst we might have been formally ordered to stay at home on 23rd March, we knew the door was going to slam shut some weeks earlier: it was merely a case of pushing just how long we could keep going. Shutting up shop was easy and, as I have noted previously, many firms seemed all too ready to close the doors when the time came. I believe that we will all have experienced some bad behaviour as that happened, with a few suppliers simply unwilling to go the extra yard. For the majority however, there has been a realisation that we are all in this together and that is how we will get out of this crisis successfully: if we work together. I have heard stories, usually amongst larger operations, in which faceless owners manage their interests as part of large share portfolios, where the managing director has been furloughed whilst the credit controllers have been placed in the front line. In these operations, the fixation has been on

“There has been a realisation that we are all in this together and that is how we will get out of this crisis successfully: if we work together.”

collecting cash with any consideration of customer care the least of their considerations and, frankly, that cold attitude will reap its rewards in the fullness of time. In my personal experience and that of others I have spoken to, the greater attitude has been ‘we are in this together, and together we will work our way out of it’. A great example of which came from Quickslide, actually, who sent us a letter thanking us for paying an invoice despite the lockdown and acknowledging the difficult times we are all going through. Real class. And that is the industry of which I am proud to be a part. I am a trained and qualified man – as a diesel fitter. But with that under my belt I came into this industry because I had a young family, needed the money and saw it as being an opportunity for a gobby likely lad, which indeed it was. But over the years what this industry has been for me and thousands like me has been The Land of Opportunity. It has allowed me to build a small group of decent businesses that I love to get involved with every day and which has allowed me to bring up a family and offer them a comfortable life and security. I have provided jobs for many people, most of whom I have enjoyed working with, often for many years. I love the challenges. I have also enjoyed meeting like-minded folks, the majority of whom are like me, smart if not necessarily well-educated, prepared to roll up their sleeves and put in the hours and the years, making good products and striving to offer exceptional service, building something worthwhile. MBAs are optional in this industry, but if you have such a thing, you still need the rest of it. And all of these collective qualities are why we will come out of the extraordinary, continuing episode in our lives that is Covid-19, a life-defining period for most of us, some sadly more than others. And I believe that we will be more resilient than other industries because of the way that most of us, at every level, have clawed our way up, through hard work, street smarts, commitment and actually, a moral compass that generally points in the right direction. We have tough times ahead for sure and there will be casualties. But one way or another we will make it out to the other side, leaner, fitter and actually better people too. We will make the journey together. See you there. Good luck!

* Danny Williams is managing director of Chelmsford based Pioneer Trading and has been involved with all aspects of the windows and doors industry for 30 years. His activities include manufacturing a full range of windows and doors in PVC-U and aluminium, an IGU facility, retailing and commercial contracting.

www.glassnews.co.uk | June 2020

CAREERS & QUALIFICATIONS IN FENESTRATION

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SPONSORED BY GQA AND BUILDING OUR SKILLS GQA Qualifications is the only issuer of CSCS cards for the Glass and Fenestration industries. Building Our Skills is a strategic campaign designed to help bridge the growing skills gap in the Fenestration Industry

NEW APPOINTMENTS

DOOR & HARDWARE FEDERATION REINSTATES ITS ON-SITE FACE-TO-FACE TRAINING

NEW APPOINTMENT AT HAFFNER MURAT Leading machinery supplier Haffner Murat Ltd has further strengthened its sales management team with the appointment of Paul Yeo in the position of Technical Sales Manager from 1st June, 2020. Paul joins an eight-strong technical sales team as demand for Haffner Murat’s cutting-edge fabrication machinery continues to gather pace. Speaking on Paul’s appointment, Dave Thomas, Managing Director of Haffner Murat, said: “Paul has extensive knowledge of PVC-U and aluminium profiles along with fabrication machinery from his many years working in the window industry. His knowledge, focus and enthusiasm will be a great asset to our growing team and will further support the needs of our customers.” Commenting on his appointment, Paul said: “This is a great opportunity to work with a company whose product range is superb and their ambition and plans for future market growth is exciting. I am looking forward to working with Haffner Murat’s customers and demonstrating the benefits that the Haffner, Italmac and FOM machinery ranges can add to their businesses.”

Haffner Murat began the phased reopening of their business on 18th May, 2020, with the full technical sales team in place to start supporting their customers once more. The company has recently expanded its headquarters and has doubled the footprint of its Staffordshire premises. It has also commissioned a new 37,000 sqm purposebuilt factory in Istanbul, Turkey, to support the company’s continued growth. Expansion on this scale in this economic climate is noteworthy, but Haffner Murat’s continued success in offering a range of machines that make a tangible difference to fabricators and supported by an exceptional technical sales team is something that is reflected in their growing business. Tel: 01785 222421 - www.haffnermurat.com

Door & Hardware Federation (DHF) has announced that, from 1st June, it will be reinstating its on-site face-toface training sessions. With the building industry’s activity getting back up to full speed, the federation will be leading the way by holding face-to-face training classes at its academy in Tamworth, a self-contained building on its own premises.

up to 25 people; however, given the necessity to maintain a two-metre distance, the number of delegates on each course has been restricted to six. Hand sanitiser will be available for all attendees, face coverings (if requested) and there is plenty of outdoor space to enable members to park safely and at a distance. The academy will be thoroughly deep cleaned following each course.

“Following a full risk assessment on the premises, a small skeletal staff has now returned to DHF’s head office, albeit adhering to social distancing measures,” explains Head of Commercial Operations, Patricia Sowsbery-Stevens. “These safety measures have also been extended to our spacious training academy; we are extremely lucky to be able to provide this facility to our learners, particularly at this time. DHF has taken advice from other training facilitators across the UK and is confident it will offer delegates a safe and secure environment whilst they continue with their learning.”

“Courses will be filled on a first come first served basis and slots are already booking up quickly,” says Patricia. “The two-day course will be split over the course of a week, so candidates will not need to stay overnight to complete this course. Exams will be undertaken in the usual way. DHF has taken every precaution necessary to ensure a safe and rewarding learning experience for all, and we are delighted to be able to resume as much of a normal service as we can at this time.”

The trade association has already contacted those who had booked training courses, to offer them the option to resume face-to-face classes. Ordinarily, DHF’s training academy accommodates

Courses can be booked online at https:// www.dhfonline.org.uk/training/booka-course/142.htm; in addition, DHF has announced a special offer for would-be members who will receive a 10% discount on the first year of membership if booked before the end of July 2020.

June 2020 | www.glassnews.co.uk

CAREERS & QUALIFICATIONS IN FENESTRATION

The UK’s Leading Glass & Glazing Newspaper

HAS THE BOUNCE BACK BEGUN?

JOBS DECLINE SLOWS FOR FIRST TIME IN A MONTH According to Broadbean Technology’s data, vacancies were down just 4% across the UK – the smallest decline in jobs for May so far – as the Government presses ahead with plans to ease lockdown.

unable to return to work due to caring responsibilities or sickness.

IS THE TIDE TURNING FOR SALES? The data also indicated a possible change in fortune for sales and trading as businesses

begin to plan for the future and the possibility of non-essential shops reopening in the next two weeks was announced. Sales and trading saw the first uptick in vacancies in a month – up 10% week-on-week – with jobs advertised in this specialism making up 6% of all live roles last week and 41% of all new postings added during this time.

This indicates the first sign that the Prime Minister’s announcement of schools reopening and people returning to work is starting to ease the decline in employment activity. Vacancies in Greater London noted the biggest week-on-week increase, with the number of jobs advertised up 36% as transport options are increased in the City. Permanent hiring has continued to suffer – down 5% week-on-week – as employers maintain control on overheads by limiting headcount numbers. In comparison, temporary contracts are only down 3%, indicating the reliance across many businesses on substitutes to step in for staff

Alex Fourlis, Managing Director at Broadbean Technology commented: “As the Government continues to unveil plans to get the nation back to work again, there are tell-tale signs to look out for that suggest we’re ready to kick-start the economy – and the uptick in sales and trading vacancies is one such indicator. And given the impact the May holidays usually have on hiring numbers, even a small decline in job numbers at this time can be considered a positive sign. As a country we are, of course, in it for the long-haul with the effects of Covid-19 set to impact our economy for years, but signs that Britain is starting to sell – and hopefully buy – again suggests a level of positivity that many will welcome. However, for employers, the challenge now is to find the staff able to get back into the saddle again, with a significant proportion of the workforce unable, and perhaps unwilling, to return to the workplace as they seek to keep the vulnerable people they live with, and care for, safe. As the lockdown eases, we can expect to see more demand for temporary professionals to step in for these people to support the re-opening of businesses.”

WE ARE RECRUITING! VACANCY: EXPERIENCED MAINTENANCE ENGINEER

Due to continuing expansion and the opening of our very own foiled window production factory, we are now on the look out for an experienced maintenance engineer to join our maintenance team. As a maintenance engineer you will be responsible for the continuous running of equipment and machinery. You will use computerised systems to oversee routine maintenance and organise repairs. Maintenance engineers are also involved in control and monitoring devices and occasionally in the manufacture of items that will help in maintenance. You will play a vital role in the efficiency, development and progress of manufacturing and processing industries. Maintenance engineers work with other professionals in order to improve production facilities, reduce the incidence of costly breakdowns and develop strategies to improve overall reliability and safety of plant, personnel and production processes.

SALARY Depending on industry experience.

WORKING HOURS Working hours are usually 40 hours a week. You’ll work with technicians and minimising downtime can sometimes mean working unsociable hours.

RESPONSIBILITIES Responsibilities and tasks vary from role-to-role but you will typically be involved in: • Carrying out routine scheduled maintenance work and responding to equipment faults • Diagnosing breakdown problems • Fitting new parts and making sure equipment is working correctly • Carrying out quality inspections on jobs • Liaising with departments and other engineering and production colleagues • Arranging specialist procurement of fixtures, fittings or components • Controlling maintenance tools, stores and equipment

HOW TO APPLY Please send CV to: sales@pearlwindows.co.uk

www.glassnews.co.uk | June 2020

• Dealing with emergencies, unplanned problems and repairs

TIME OUT!

The UK’s Leading Glass & Glazing Newspaper

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June 2020 | www.glassnews.co.uk

FIND A SUPPLIER

Connecting you to quality trade suppliers

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Use the free enquiry form, inside this issue, to obtain information from multiple companies

USEFUL NUMBERS

British Plastics Federation (BPF) Tel: 0207 457 5000

Glass & Glazing Federation (GGF) Tel: 0207 939 9101

British Standards Institution (BSI) – Standards & Publications Tel: 0208 996 9001

GQA Qualifications (formerly Glass Qualifications Authority) Tel: 0114 2720033

BSI – Assessment & Certification Tel: 0845 080 9000

Health & Safety Executive (HSE) – Glass & Related Industries Phil Smith, HM Principal Inspector Tel: 01782 602300 David Appleton, HM Inspector Tel: 0115 9712800

BSI – Product Certification & Testing Tel: 08450 765600 BBSA (British Blind & Shutter Association) Tel: 01449 780444 Building Research Establishment (BRE) Tel: 01923 664000 Council for Aluminium in Building (CAB) Tel: 01453 828851 Dekura Tel: 01952 201631

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Door & Hardware Federation (DHF) Tel: 01827 52337

UK Green Building Council Tel: 0207 580 0623

Double Glazing & Conservatory Ombudsman Scheme (DGCOS) Tel: 0845 053 8975

ADVERTISE WITHIN THIS SECTION FOR A WHOLE YEAR, FOR AS LITTLE AS £295 + VAT Keep your company name in front of our readers all year long For this offer, and our other yearly marketing plans, please email: christina@glassnews.co.uk

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BALUSTRADE SYSTEMS

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