The UK’s Leading Industry Newspaper ALUMINIUM – PAGE 23
Who reads us? Window, Door, Roof Fabricators & Installers, IGU Manufacturers & all who are associated with glass & glazing.
TRANSPORT & HANDLING – PAGE 42
Alan Robinson, director of specialist aluminium door and window fabricator, Alumen, advises how to decide on the best aluminium options for your business.
Issue 28 | July 2013
ARCHITECTURAL – PAGE 58
First impressions last - and in most cases your van is your customer’s first impression of you.
Oakland Glass is a high volume insulated glass unit manufacturer, operating from a 35000 square feet factory, which can produce in excess of 9000 IGU’s and 10,000 m2 in-house toughened glass per week.
A company led recovery can
buck the economic trend With half the year gone, and Wimbledon and the British Grand Prix just fading memories, it feels as if we’re rapidly heading for autumn without a real summer, yet again. But we can be forgiven for feeling there are the first signs of optimism for many a long year.
No one will deny that the first quarter was tough with the weather hampering the installation of windows and doors. D&G Consulting’s quarterly window Industry tracker confirmed that, overall, the window and door industry was down in the first quarter by around 4% compared to 2012. The awful weather in the first quarter showed temperatures were well below average for the quarter , as a whole, compared to previous years and previous quarters. Then there was the austerity measures causing consumers to ‘hunker down’ and put off home improvements after the Christmas and New Year spending. Finally completing the misery, the construction industry as a whole saw a contraction of 2.5%. However, there is evidence that the second quarter has perked up and there are positive signs of an improvement. What is clear is that
some companies have found the going tough since the start of the recession. Companies are now keen to maximise their potential with products, markets, customer service, productivity and promotions all on the agenda. But turnover is vanity while profit is sanity; and that profit is the key to survival.
shouldn’t the ‘man in the street’ be informed so they can ensure the products they buy have the required Certificates of Compliance or ‘Rainbow’ energy rating stickers? It seems that many companies are spending good money on
the necessary compliance without seeing any real benefit. Chris Champion, Editor Email Chris: chris@glassnews.co.uk
So, with the night’s drawing in while we wait for the summer that may have already gone, what will happen in the second half of the year and beyond? David Amos of D&G Consulting says: “Forecasts still indicate a performance marginally down on 2012. However, we are confident of a company led industry recovery as successful companies, fed up with waiting for the economy to pickup, are driving their businesses forward.” With forecasts through to 2016 showing small single figure growth the ability to buck the trend with innovative products and marketing, seems key. We might have hoped that the Green Deal would help our industry but recent progress reports from the DECC show the only beneficiaries to date being boiler installers. Indeed a less than scientific survey of family and friends, the odd shop keeper, accountant and local councillor; virtually no one knew anything about the Green Deal and what it might do for them. And more worrying, U Values, WERs or CE Markings didn’t register at all. When regulation is introduced to, presumably, benefit the buying public as well as count towards our quota of carbon reductions,
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