7 minute read
Exclusive Interview: Apeer
LUMI ALUMINIUM. GREAT TO LOOK AT AND EASY TO FIT.
Catching up with Asa McGillian, Managing Director of Ballymena based Apeer Doors and the Lumi frameless window and doors system, Glass News’ Editor, Chris Champion, asks him about the launch of Lumi Aluminium.
Apeer is a brand that is well known for a whole range of composite residential doors and when the company developed Lumi in 2015 it was a significant departure from its core products. How did that come about and what was the inspiration that led to designing a frameless window and door system? Asa explains the origins of Lumi and how, in 2015, the products were brought to market. Talking of markets, does a modern frameless system simply suit a modern design? It’s an emphatic no. Asa reveals the wide span of applications for Lumi and how both windows and doors have been fitted to a whole range of buildings, from ancient thatched cottages to today’s new build and commercial application to a castle near Sheffield, not forgetting the replacement market. To look at Lumi windows they immediately shout ‘aluminium’. But this is not the case: the first Lumi windows used a fibreglass composite frame whereas the Lumi sliding doors have always been fabricated in aluminium. So there is plenty of experience of aluminium fabrication in-house and it’s not surprising that the windows should follow suit. Has this had anything to do with architects’ and specifiers’ dislike of PVCu? Not really says Asa, and indeed it has not stopped the rapid growth of Lumi windows since 2015. Where did it all start? It may seem strange for a door company to develop this frameless window but the launch of the Modo door in 2013 started it all with the realisation that there was an appetite for high end products. Asa tells the story of his neighbour having PVCu replacement windows installed and, although they looked very nice, it made him wonder if this really was the pinnacle of window design and manufacture. He experimented with a completely new look of bonding the glass to a timber frame and this concept was put together in 2014. And the reaction? Some slightly unkind comments said it looked like a microwave oven! But the clean lines and modernistic look suited large windows and was ideal for high-end self-build houses. Lumi 2 double glazed replacement windows with PVCu outer frames and GRP sashes came to the market in 2017. Lift and slide doors using an aluminium frame and rooflights in GRP were added to the range in 2018. Asa says that perhaps the windows should have been in aluminium from the start although I, for one, thought they were aluminium anyway! So why aluminium now? Asa admits that he had no idea that aluminium would gain the popularity it has, and now, with improved isolators and thermal breaks, aluminium makes sense. But what about fabricating and fitting? We find that fabricating aluminium is much easier than fibreglass and doesn’t ruin the tooling and machines instantaneously! Fitting is much the same, only easier. Much lighter and always very rigid with the large range of sizes and different sightlines from 50mm, through 60mm and 72mm, windows now become a 2 man fix as opposed to 4 man with heavy lifting gear. The windows are fitted from the inside so no scaffold requirements either and it all makes it very appealing to fitters. Has Lumi aluminium moved the price point? The answer is no. They’ve removed various options such as the colours simply because standard whites, greys and blacks are all that are ordered. You may think that Lumi is just an architect’s dream but that is not the case. Lumi has found that advertising direct to the public is the way forward and let the imaginative homeowner specify Lumi to their builder and architect. Price is always important and Lumi is around 2.5 times the price of PVCu frames – about the same as other aluminium systems. So Lumi aluminium costs the same as other aluminium systems but has that ‘wow’ look. Great. But can we get Lumi in these post Brexit and Covid days? Asa McGillian confirms that they are getting both raw materials in, and finished product out of Northern Ireland. Has it proved a problem? Not really. It’s clear that the team at Lumi are well up on the new regulations and paperwork required for both importing and exporting goods to Northern Ireland, even to the point that they are helping suppliers with their paperwork or sending their own vehicles backwards and forwards and completing all the necessary paperwork themselves.
This attitude is positive and it works: they’ve had a great start to 2021.
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GQA QUALIFICATIONS REACHES 20-YEAR MILESTONE
Most in the industry today are well aware of the high levels of training and certification that are now part of the landscape when it comes to the manufacture and installation of windows and doors. Long gone are the days when the industry worked to self-set standards.
Today's industry is governed by stringent building regulations to which those manufacturing and installing windows and doors must adhere, and most companies are investing widely in their staff, ensuring they have the right skills to do their work to the highest standards. For those carrying out key roles such as installation, there is the opportunity for them to be independently certified to demonstrate that they are qualified to carry out their role. The result is not only peace of mind for homeowners, but an on-going rise in standards in the industry, which benefits all parties. Playing a key role in driving up these standards is GQA Qualifications, the fenestration industry’s leading awarding and qualifications writing body. 2021 sees the start of their 20th year of operation. The ethos of GQA is that working towards qualifications and encouraging learning opportunities are vitally important if the fenestration industry is to continue to improve and to set the highest standards, and to make it appealing as an industry to young people looking for a career after education to help address the skills gap that has been prevalent in the construction industry for so long. GQA is a major advocate of vocational careers and qualifications for the industry, and in the 20 years since it began operating has grown the network of approved centres delivering its qualifications from an initial 15 to over 200, and now employs 21 staff in total from an initial starting point of just seven.
It is a sign of the progress made by the industry, that at its outset, GQA offered just 11 qualifications. Today it offers 238 and over the past 20 years, they have issued a staggering 142,000 qualification certificates.
Commenting on the milestones achieved, Mick Clayton, Chief Executive Officer
of GQA says: "As we enter our 20th operational year, I am very proud of what GQA has achieved and how it has grown. It is clear that the appetite for learning has never been greater amongst the tradespeople in our industry and despite the challenges of the pandemic I see significant growth in this during 2021. For GQA, as a leading awarding body, it is something we are delighted to see, and it is fantastic that that desire for self-improvement is leading people to think more about formal achievement in the form of qualifications or taking accredited courses." “We are committed to seeing our industry hone the skills of its tradespeople so that homeowners and commercial clients can always be confident of receiving the best quality of workmanship and service, and to making our industry a genuine career choice for youngsters leaving the education sector”.
PARENTS' VIEW OF FENESTRATION INDUSTRY AS OFFSPRING'S CAREER CHOICE
Among many partnerships it is involved in GQA is a major supporter of the Building Our Skills – Making Fenestration a Career of Choice campaign to attract new entrants to the market. On the subject of making fenestration a career of choice, homeowners may be very interested to learn of the results of a YouGov survey commissioned by GQA into the attitudes of over 1,000 parents with school-age children concerning university attendance and vocational training. The survey results revealed that over 60% of respondents agreed that for decades we have been recruiting too many young people onto university courses that do nothing to improve their life chances or help with their career goals. In addition, over 75% agreed that vocational training, careers and/or vocational qualifications could be beneficial to young people as an alternative career path to going to university. Heartening for GQA was the survey's revelation regarding how the fenestration industry is perceived by the parents questioned. Over half of respondents were not averse to their children one day entering this industry. It is to be hoped that year on year more and more parents will encourage their children down this route when they are of employable age.
For more information about developing a qualified workforce www.gqaqualifications.com.
March 2021 | www.glassnews.co.uk
