MARKETING & INTERNET

CAB’s Knowledge Sharing Initiative

By Phil Slinger – CAB Chief Executive

CAB have always ensured that during any Member meetings the time is always allocated for Members to network together in an interesting venue. Rather than an opportunity for Members to ‘sell’ to each other, the experience is one of relation-building which may lead to future business. During the pandemic CAB held regular webinars on various topics when meetings were not possible. Now that meetings are back on the agenda and following our successful Members Spring Forum, is there more CAB can do?

In response to requests from Members for greater opportunity to network, CAB is organising an in-person Members Knowledge Sharing Exchange in September this year. The aim of each Exchange is to facilitate learning and knowledge transfer that our members specialise in, to provide a platform for discussion and debate

Phil Slinger

using a strictly non-specific product sales approach between member companies. Each presentation will be pre-screened to ensure all presentations are objective, educational with non-commercial content, generic and neutral.

Sharing knowledge within organisations and across industry sectors is considered a pillar of success and prosperity. It assists in creating more awareness of and improves understanding of solutions products and services, contributes to continuous improvement, increases co-operation and acceptance to new ideas.

Member companies in attendance will appoint a speaker to offer the pre-screened presentation to communicate, educate, share information, and network to the mutual benefit of their company and other CAB members and potentially the wider sector.

Initially, CAB are considering a oneday Members Knowledge Sharing Exchange, with the opportunity to film each presentation, by agreement, to build a library of knowledge on the CAB website. Our intention is to secure CPD points per webinar, which in turn should gain interest from architects, engineers and other representatives from the Construction Industry, who require CPD points each year.

We have an initial positive response from the Membership and if the first event delivers, CAB are considering holding this exchange every six months, thereby establishing a rota of members to ensure updates can be catered for. The first event is planned to take place at the impressive Staffordshire Arboretum on the 8th September.

Caribbean Blinds Returns To Sponsor Glazing Summit

Caribbean Blinds MD Stuart Dantzic has hailed the Glazing Summit as ‘vital’ after coming on board to sponsor this year’s event, which takes place on Tuesday, October 18th at Edgbaston Stadium, Birmingham.

“I think the last two years has seen the industry realise it’s more than just windows and doors,” said Stuart.

“Last year’s Glazing Summit was hugely beneficial as it was important to find out what the industry was thinking and what challenges installers were facing so we could see how to help as a supplier and to make sure our products and solutions are relevant. “The calibre of people in attendance also meant that we picked up some important information that has helped us moving forward.

“It’s a really forward-thinking event that brings together every sector of the industry and we knew it was vital to get back on board.”

The award-winning Caribbean Blinds has been involved in the manufacture of luxury external shading systems for more than 30 years and Stuart is looking forward hearing the industry’s views on the new building regs and Approved Document O.

“As a shading company it will be interesting finding out what the industry is thinking about Part O, and we are also keen to hear how installers have got on with supply this year after last year’s challenges.” www.glazingsummit.co.uk

After hogging some of the limelight at FIT Show’s Late Night Wednesday in May, PiGs is heading Sow’th West to make its Bristol debut on 23 June.

“We always listen to feedback from the PiGs people,” says Sarah Ball of Balls2 Marketing. “There’s been lots of requests for us to host one of our get togethers in the South West so we felt the time was right to bring PiGs to Bristol.

PiGs Is Heading Sow’th West For Bristol Debut

as people looking to attend for the first time, so it promises to be a great night.

“Taking place at Revolución de Cuba at Bordeaux Quay BS1 5EP and kicking off at 5pm, anyone who works in the supply chain of the glazing industry is welcome to attend. It’s completely FREE and there are no speeches or presentations.

“However, we would ask everyone to register before turning up so we can keep people informed of any changes and updates.”

As ever, a massive thanks to our sponsors – who, at the time of writing, are: APS Aluminium, Arkay Windows, Bison Frames, Brownhills Glass Company, Business Pilot, Crystal Clear Bristol, Edgetech, Emplas, Extrudaseal, FIT Show, Georgian Bar Company, Glazerite, Glazpart, QANW, Quickslide, RegaLead, Selecta Systems, Sol Roofs, Supalite, Thermoseal Group, Unique Window Systems, Window Ware and Yale Door & Window Solutions.

If you’d like to join this exclusive list, you can contact Sarah at sarah@balls2marketing.co.uk or 07540 049655, or email PiGs at sty@peopleinglazing.co.uk. To sign up for the Bristol event, go to www.peopleinglazing.co.uk/upcoming-events/.

There are two more 2022 PiGs events taking place after Bristol. We will be back in Birmingham on 29 September and then PiGs is going international with a special event in Las Vegas on 19 October, in conjunction with GlassBuild America.

One Final Pedal For Retina UK

Martin Nettleton, managing director at Euroglaze, Rehau’s longest standing trade fabricator, is taking on yet another challenge in aid of sight loss charity Retina UK.

At the end of May, he is taking part in Ride London – a 100-mile cycle through the heart of London, out into the Essex countryside and back again to finish at Tower Bridge, with his tandem partner Dr Andrew Oates acting as pilot.

Martin and his brother Simon both have the inherited eye disorder Retinitis Pigmentosa, so Retina UK, which helps to fund research into treatments for lots of different eye conditions, is very close to his heart.

The charity was chosen as Euroglaze’s charity partner for its 40th anniversary celebrations in 2019/20 and Martin had a fundraising place in Ride London for 2020. After the ride was cancelled, the Euroglaze team organised their own ‘virtual’ sponsored ride at the Barnsley factory which helped the company reach its £10,000 target, but Martin couldn’t resist one final pedal when Retina UK invited him to take part in the rearranged 2022 event.

He said: “There are so many exciting new treatments being developed at the moment that have the potential to preserve and potentially even restore sight so funding the research has probably never been more urgent.

“Retina UK have gifted me this place, so I’ve started things off by making a donation equivalent to the normal entry fee. I really appreciate all that friends, colleagues, suppliers and customers have already done to support Retina UK, but if they could dig deep one final time, I would be especially grateful.”

Martin’s fundraising page is at:

https://bit.ly/3xpisZS

NBP Depots Play Hard To Raise Money For Macmillan

Four 5-a-side football teams came together on Saturday 7 May at Powerleague Bolton for the inaugural Northern Building Plastics charity football tournament.

The charity chosen for the event was Macmillan Cancer Support and on the day £312 was collected, which NBP matched, to make the total donation £624.

The teams were made up from men and women working from each of the Northern Building Plastics Depots plus one fielded from Leeds HQ. Kick off was at 1pm and during the afternoon’s mini-league, a series of 4 matches were played, culminating in an exciting final between Leeds and Hinckley, with an 8-8 draw decided by a penalty shootout. It was Leeds that took the trophy with a final tally of 7–6. Although runners up, the Hinckley team saw their player Lewis Shaw pick up the Golden Boot award with an impressive 15 goals during the tournament.

It remains to be seen whether Leeds will successfully defend their title in 2023, especially as there will be more teams involved due to the depot expansion programme. However, the trophy is theirs for 2022!

Steve Jones, director at Northern Building Plastics, says: “The inaugural tournament was a great success and the organisation of the event by the Bolton Depot was superb. It was a good opportunity to get all the depots together outside of work – and raising money for Macmillan Cancer Support made it even more worthwhile.” www.nbp.co.uk