Fenestration Digital Magazine October 2018

Fenestration Digital Magazine October 2018

ISSUE 4 FENESTRATION DIGITAL MAGAZINE

 @FenDigital www.fenestrationdigital.co.uk

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Technology, performance, trends, culture and art influence many aspects of the glazing industry with design becoming more important than ever before, as sleek finishes that make bold statements are as important to end users as the performance of the product. Whether that is for contemporary new build or redeveloping a listed property to today’s standards, modern design is playing its part and it really matters. With Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or Snapchat now being major forces shaping our business and personal worlds, we must all keep pace to be relevant it seems. In some recent articles there appears to be increasingly heated discussion about the ‘abduction’ of Linked In as a more ‘social’ media platform rather than a business connection feed. Commercially speaking, online is gaining momentum and gives incredible power to marketers everywhere when looking to build brands and raise awareness. Those 15 minutes of fame now seem readily

available to everyone on a daily basis, particularly with the advent of live streaming options. Strategizing social columns and online newsfeeds has become more important than ever, to build into mainstream marketing and advertising packages. Businesses and manufacturers have to keep pace if they are to succeed. The next generation of ambitious entrepreneurs has never been without technology and they harness it in ways that leave some of us completely confounded….. but learn we must. When looking at architectural theming, product innovation and performance dynamics are critical aspects that will ultimately influence investment and must be readily available on the internet to view– so, even if it’s a retro design, acoustic glazing, toughened safety glass for a new build hospital, or a charitable cause that a product manufacturer or firm of architects wants to promote - it all has

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Looking at recognition of innovation, Award season is virtually on us and there is already a very familiar buzz that’s taking hold of those in the glass and glazing sector. Finalists have now been announced for this year’s NFA Awards and with more categories, the competition is already heating up. The industry’s movers and shakers are once again under the spotlight, with their peers having acknowledged the successes and corporate achievements by virtue of nomination. Celebrating innovation in industry technology, engineering, design and quality standards is at the heart of the NFA awards, with peer- led support. Once voting has concluded, the event then honours notable industry leaders, the professional and personal achievements within their field. It’s edge of our seat time again as we look to celebrate quality and success across the glass and glazing industry.

bearing for the sector and needs to be a part of the manufacturers online conversation today. We have to be relevant and focused. In terms of building design for commercial projects, there continues to be new challenges and rewards when it comes to making bold statements. Striking engineering projects, now dominate our city skylines, creating a lot of curiosity and much admiration for the architects and planners. Design and performance are inextricably linked and are expected to be more dynamic with every project. Architects and interior designers keep stretching the boundaries, with ever more creative challenges to create an aesthetic that addresses our modern desire to have something superb to live or work inside. Equally, there is a desire to create something new that offers a feeling of security and familiarity with the need to offer comfort. to the occupants taking a priority. Supplying to calls to produce the best of the past that combines perfectly with the desire to be part of something vital and new is becoming a priority for design professionals.

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2018 NATIONAL FENESTRATION FINALISTS ANNOUNCED

BI-FOLDING DOOR MANUFACTURER:

Just in case you missed it, although we highly doubt you did, the 2018 National Fenestration Awards finalists were announced recently, which means voting is now open and you can expect your social media timelines and email inboxes to rightly be filled with a plethora of media and marketing materials hoping to garner your votes and generally spreading the NFA message. Not sorry!

Liniar AluFold Direct Everglade Windows Folding Sliding Door Company Dutemann Warmcore by Synseal Origin Bifolds Sliders UK

Here are the nominees in each of the 24 categories:

COLOUR SPECIALISTS:

ALUMINIUM COMPANY:

Glazpart Kolorseal RegaLead Deceuninck TWR Bi-Folds Renolit

Bennett Architectural Origin Global Jack Aluminium AluK GB Sapa REAL Aluminium

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COMPOSITE/PANELLED DOORS:

FrameXpress Kingfisher Windows Emplas Listers The Glazerite Group UK Ltd Abcell Bison Trade Frames Made For Trade

Hurst Plastics Solidor Ltd Distinction Doors

Endurance Doors (Rocal) Door-Stop International IG Doors

GLASS SYSTEMS COMPANY

CONSERVATORY ROOF FABRICATOR:

Pilkington Saint-Gobain Guardian Glass

Prefix Systems Ltd Icotherm Roof Systems Premier Conservatory Supplies

Guardian Roofs Synseal – Global Korniche Ultraframe

HARDWARE COMPANY

VBH (GB) Ltd Glazpart

blu Performance Caldwell Security Ingenious Locks & Hardware

DIGITAL SPECIALIST

MACO UK BJ Waller Carl F Groupco Yale Trojan Group CR Lawrence Brisant Secure

Balls 2 Marketing Purplex Business Micros Plane Perspective

FABRICATOR/MANUFACTURER

Pratchett Joinery Unique Window Systems Ltd RJ Windows Ltd Selecta Systems Panoramic Doors UK Lancashire Trade Frames Solidor Conservatory Outlet Endurance Doors Pearl Window Systems Ltd Roseview Windows Ltd Masterframe Windows Exeter Trade Aluminium Everglade Windows

IGU MANUFACTURER

Double R Morley Glass Clayton Glass Ecoglass Oakland Glass

INTEGRAL BLINDS COMPANY

Between Glass Blinds Morley Glass HiTech Blinds Swiftglide

AluFold Direct rame Fast UK

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MACHINERY COMPANY

Elina Perry – Pratchet Joinery Mark Walker – Selecta Systems Lauren Edwards – Glazerite

Promac Avantek Machinery elumatec HEGLA/Bystronic UK Stuga Machinery Haffner Murat Glass Machinery Company Timberweld®

SPACER BAR MANUFACTURER:

Thermoseal Edgetech (UK) Ltd SWISSPACER

NEW COMPANY OF THE YEAR

SYSTEMS COMPANY:

Alumitech Ltd Architectural Aluminium Apertures Ltd Exeter Trade Aluminium Viiu Ltd

Selecta Systems Liniar / HL Plastics Deceuninck Eurocell Jack Aluminium Synseal VEKA

NEW PRODUCT OF THE YEAR

Masterframe Windows Ltd Selecta Systems Tremco / Illbruck Deceuninck aïr – aïr 80HI window

TIMBER ALTERNATIVE COMPANY:

Roseview Windows Masterframe Windows Ltd The Prestige Collection by Aztec Windows

PVC COMPANY:

Residence Collection Evolution Windows

Masterframe Windows Ltd Selecta Systems Unitfeature Ltd Eurocell Deceuninck

TIMBER COMPANY:

Pratchett Joinery Glyngary Joinery Ltd Exitex Ltd TimberWindows.com West Port Windows

SLIDING PATIO DOOR COMPANY:

Viiu Ltd VueLite Quickslide Eurocell

TRAINING CENTRE:

Fit For Trade Ltd PM Training IPS International Schueco UK West Suffolk College

SOCIAL NETWORKER:

Lucy Jones – Solidor

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VERTICAL SLIDING WINDOW COMPANY:

what we have had this year. Something that again I am very proud of.

Pratchett Joinery Roseview Windows Masterframe Windows Ltd Glyngary Joinery Exitex Ltd Barnet Window Co Ltd Quickslide Ltd

WHAT HAPPENS NOW

Voting is now live and we have already had a deluge of early votes. In fact during the writing of this post we have had whopping 1135 votes. To put this into perspective, we get the most votes as the campaign nears the very end as companies get into 5th gear with their promotion. There’s nothing like a deadline to get people motivated! As we reach that deadline, which is 11pm on Friday 26th October we can expect the votes to flood in. When voting does close, Winners Week will return, a feature we have had for the previous two campaigns. This is a week in which we drip-feed the announcement of winners over the course of one working week. This year Winners Week will take place from Monday 29th October and will end on Friday 2nd November. There will of course be the 2018 Winners Event, and that will follow in early 2019. But for now, focus should be turned to the voting, and you can find out more about that by following this link: www.fenestrationawards.co.uk/2018-categories

YOUNG PTERSON:

Harry Sellwood –Alumitech Ltd Rob Hawthorne – Pratchett Joinery Joel Rhodes – Prefix Systems Jake Hodgkinson – Bennett Architectural Tej Naik – Unique Window Systems

Owen Mullock – Solidor Ltd Grace Mullock – Solidor Ltd

THE BIGGEST YET

This is the fifth NFA campaign and is the biggest to date. In 2018 we wanted to build on the now permanent and influential reputation the awards had worked very hard for. We thought that one of the best ways to do that was to shine the NFA light on new areas of the industry that we hadn’t yet focused on, or was being missed out by other parts of the industry. So, we expanded the NFAs to cover 24 categories. This made the awards easily the most inclusive glazing sector awards in the industry. Something I am personally proud of. We had nearly 300 nominations cast over the longest nominations phase ever. It started Tuesday 16th January and closed Friday 14th September. Nine months. But for me, this isn’t the most impressive stat. The most impressive stat for me was that we had 110 different people and companies nominated. The aim of the awards is to be able to represent and show off as much of the very best people and companies in our industry. You can only do that if you get more and more people and companies taking part, which is

Good luck to all those taking part!

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MORLEY GLASS & GLAZING SHORTLISTED FOR FENESTRATION AWARD

Morley Glass & Glazing has been nominated in the IGU Manufacturer of the Year category at the 2018 National Fenestration Awards. The nomination is the third award shortlisting for Morley Glass in 2018, after the business was also named as a finalist in the Yorkshire Business Masters Awards and in the Component Supplier of the Year Category at the G18 Awards. Ian Short, Morley managing director, said: “We may be coming to the end of our twentieth year, but we have no plans for slowing down and I think the awards nominations we’ve received this year perfectly reflect our ambitions for the future. “As the biggest part of the window and one of the biggest parts of the industry, the IGU sector continues to be one of the most competitive areas of the glazing sector, and the shortlist for the IGU Component Supplier of the Year award reflects this.

Best of luck to everyone who has been shortlisted!”

Launched in 2013, and now into its fifth year, the National Fenestration Awards aims to be the fairest, all-inclusive fenestration event, rewarding the very best of the glazing sector. Voting for the winners of the 24 award categories is now open on the NFA website until Friday 26 October. Winners will then be announced online during the NFA 2018 ‘Winners Week’ from Monday 29 October – Friday 2 November and invited to a special Winners Event in the New Year. With the 2017 campaign seeing over 3,600 votes cast, organisers are confident that this year’s awards will be even bigger. For more information, and to vote for your favourite companies, visit: www.fenestrationawards.co.uk

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IT’S A HIGH FIVE FOR SELECTA!

Birmingham based PVCu Window and Door Systems Company, Selecta Systems, are revelling in the success of being nominated as finalists in no less than five categories at the National Fenestration Awards. Sales Director Andy Green, talks about the nominations and why Selecta are beginning to win accolades and be firmly recognised as one of the fastest growing and most progressive PVCu window and door system houses. “Firstly, we are absolutely thrilled to have been nominated as finalists in five categories at the National Fenestration Awards 2018. The great thing about the NFA’s is that all the awards are nominated for by your industry peers, which for me, there is no greater recognition than from those that work in the industry, day in day out, so thank you again.”

“Having been voted Systems Company 2017 at last year’s awards, we are delighted to be able to defend our crown at this year’s awards as well as being nominated for PVC Company, New Product of the Year, Social Networker and Fabricator / Manufacturer. The nominations epitomise and recognise the amount of hard work that the team have put in over the last couple of years, as Selecta goes from strength to strength” says Andy. It is quite clear that Selecta’s presence and activity in the market has grown considerably over the last couple of years, as has the popularity of the Advance 70 Window and Door System and the service and support package of which Selecta provides. The NFA nominations endorse this, combined with perseverance, hard work and a positive swing in market perception.

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The change in perception and positivity surrounding Selecta and the Advance 70 System, has not only resulted in Selecta being nominated finalists in five categories at the National Fenestration Awards, but it has also had a major impact on the number of fabricators now converting to the Advance 70 System and choosing to #bepartofthefamily, as Andy highlights. “Over the last 18 months or so, over 80+ fabricators have been converted to our Advance 70 System. This is an amazing achievement when you consider that the industry as a whole is, reportedly, between 5 and 15% down over the year. We have really opened the industries eyes in to what Selecta has to offer whilst attracting a broad array of customers of all sizes. Having customers visit our site, meet and greet the Selecta ‘family’ and leave totally impressed with the state-of-the-art extrusion and distribution facilities has been immensely satisfying.” “Being nominated finalists in five categories, on the back of converting a record number of fabricators, really demonstrates the progress we have made and puts Selecta and the Advance 70 System firmly in the spotlight. I would personally like to thank everyone involved in our recent achievements, which

are already looking likely to continue in to the New Year with some exciting growth a bnd expansion plans just around the corner.” Selecta Systems certainly look in to the future with optimism and enthusiasm as they look to build further on one of the industry’s biggest success stories of the last couple of years. Fabricators, installers and specifiers, it’s time to #bepartofthewinningfamily If you are looking for a PVCu window and door system supplier that can service and support your business or require further information, then contact Selecta on 0121 325 2100, email marketing@ selectasystems.com or visit www.selectasystems.com

Written by Mark Walker, Marketing Manager, Selecta Systems

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ProudToBeNominated in FOURCategories!

Best Manufacturer / Fabricator VOTE

Composite / Panelled Doors VOTE

Social Networker Lucy Jones

VOTE

Young Person Grace Mullock Owen Mullock

VOTE

Every vote counts...

We hope we’ve got yours!

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Cast your votes today: www.fenestrationawards.co.uk

solidor.co.uk

E D I T I O N 4

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10 TOPICS I WANT TO SEE DISCUSSED AT FIT SHOW 2019

Next year’s FiT Show is the biggest meeting of the industry’s people, companies and those with power to make changes.1 It is the single most important three days in our calendar and therefore is the three most important days in which to enact those changes and tackle some of the biggest problems our sector faces. Exhibitions are of course good ways for companies to launch and show off new and existing product lines, create leads and strike up new relationships. All of that is useful. But we’re at a pinch point in the window and door industry right now. A unique moment in time where we face a large number of threats, that if we fail to effectively tackle, we can expect chaos in the near term.

politics and letting it turn into the kind of fruitless chatter than much of social media turns it into.

I personally don’t think that there needs to be a shortage. The Government, whether you believe in their politics or not, have outright said on a number of occasions that anyone from the EU living here right now will absolutely get to stay. No one therefore is at risk of being kicked out. That being said, someone will feel a natural reaction is to go back to their country of origin, despite that guarantee. What I see being more of a problem is future growth. Most manufacturers will be planning for growth in the coming years, as most good companies should. The problem I see is companies being able to attract the staff to do the work. Human beings will be required to produce the windows and doors, deliver them. Who is going to do that? There’s a good chunk of Brits who believe that work to be beneath them, so they won’t do it. Therefore we’ll have to rely on outside help. I want to see our industry tackle this head on. Discuss tangible, actionable plans and help the whole sector get to grips with what could be a major issue in the years to come.

This is my list of ten topics that I want to see discussed at the 2019 FiT Show.

1. BREXIT – LABOUR

I’m not talking about the Labour party and their stance on Brexit. I’m talking about any potential labour shortages as a result of Brexit. What I don’t think is helpful is to spend the exhibition talking about the referendum, getting bogged down in tribal

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2. SKILLS SHORTAGE

3. TACKLING PRODUCT QUALITY

The first topic nicely segways into this one. This country is woefully understaffed when it comes to trades-based jobs. Our education system has for decades now neglected this area of employment,and encouraged as many as possible to go through the University system. What we have now is a situation where more people than ever before have degrees, and the least amount of skilled workers for a very, very long time. I don’t see those degrees building the homes and commercial spaces that are in very high demand. I want to see much more of the industry coming together to create plans, real plans and real schemes to help the sector attract more youth. To come up with ways to demonstrate to the outside world that good money can be made from a career in fenestration. The 2019 FIT Show shouldn’t be an exhibition of nodding heads all talking about how bad the problem is. We know it’s bad. It’s been bad for years. This very moment is the time to actually do something about it. The FiT Show seems asgood a time as any to do that.

I am running a poll at the moment which paints a pretty poor picture when it comes to the general state of product quality and customer service within the industry. This, after 2017 was one of the worst years in a very long time for such things. This year seems like it’s no better. There are a number of reasons, all of which have combined to create the situation we are in now. Personally, I think parts of our industry are in denial as to the severity of the problems. Part of it I think doesn’t really know the best way in which to reverse the situation. But, there are going to be a lot of smart people and resourceful companies all within the same space for the best part of a week. This seems like as good as time as any to talk about it. Find out what are the root causes, and then come up with tangible solutions. There will be a lot of installers attending as visitors, where they will see a lot of their own suppliers. My guess is they will want to see actions and not words when it comes to things like product quality and customer service.

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4. SOLID ROOF LEGISLATION

is going to have an impact when we leave no doubt. But overall, the longer term trend is for higher prices across the supply chain. That is all well and good. But those rises tend to be in quite sudden and dramatic jumps. There’s no one or two percent on a semi-regular basis. It tends to be double-digit rises on a frequent basis throughout the year. For the installation and fabrication part of the markets, these kinds of rises make it very hard to plan ahead and can put real pressure on the lower ends of the supply chain. We are also in a situation where IGU makers can buy certain glass products cheaper now than 30 years ago. Utterly crazy. We have ruined many parts of our industry with this insane obsession of undercutting each other on price, forcing the industry-wide prices to remain artificially low. What we should have been doing is paying a fair price, that rises in line with inflation over time, focusing more on the quality of the product and future development. We haven’t, and the glass supply shortage problems we have seen recently are a symptom of that. As there is a dedicated glass show within FiT Show in 2019, this seems like a very good time to be honest with ourselves and to admit that we have to adapt to a very different pricing scenario in the years to come.Those are my five major issues that I want our industry to tackle next year. But there are of course more than just those five topics to cover.

I was shown a picture the other week where a conservatory had collapsed under the weight of a solid roof. I suspect that there might be one or two more out there when this kind of disaster has happened. I have long said that this is a part of our industry that needs regulating. Some companies go about solid roof installations the right way, following Building Control guidance and rules from their local council areas. Some however, it is clear, do not. I have seen too many conservatories all too quickly converted to have a solid roof where it is clear checks on the existing structure, foundations and frames have not been done. They have just had a roof installed and the installers walk away with the money. The solid roof market is filled with way too many gaps and lack of accountability. Given that there is a percentage populated by cowboy outfits, it seems only common sense to me that the industry as a whole gets together and tells itself that before any more collapsed conversions occur, this is a subsector that needs regulating.

5. PRICING

We really need to have a very open, honest and frank discussion about what we pay for our goods. Brexit

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9. GETTING RID OF HIGH PRESSURE SALES

So here are five more that I would like to see. Perhaps not as pressing or important, but worth covering nonetheless.

It’s 2018, and I cannot believe that hard-sell tactics are still a thing. We should be ashamed that we have allowed it to foster this long. FiT Show 2019 seems like a good opportunity for the industry to announce a solid pledge to outlaw it completely.

6. INTEGRATION OF SMART TECH

We’re already seeing it with doors. Can windows be next? And how do we ensure that hackers and cyber- thiefs don’t make these their next viable targets.

10. COMMUNICATION TO HOME OWNERS

7. GREEN POLICIES

I still feel like our industry has some progress to make when it comes to communicating with the public and with general education of our industry. There are a handful of businesses that have done asterling job in bridging that gap. The rest have some catching up to do. These are of course my top ten topics to be discussed at the 2019 FiT Show. I would hope that at least the top 5 topics get an airing, they’re all pretty pressing. I will be covering FiT Show 2019 in-depth throughout the three days. There will be the DGB Live page, constantly updated to give all those who cannot make it a sense of what is going on. I’ll be live on Twitter, and I may even have video for the first time, which could either be fun or very much a onetime thing! There will be plenty of product reviews, polls and all the other good stuff that these events create.

I would have included this in my top 5, but I know that there is still a large amount of the industry that either isn’t in tune with current changes, or just doesn’t care. Still, we cannot ignore the changing attitudes towards plastic. We have to talk about this next year.

8. FUTURE PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

I feel as though we’re coming to the end of this current product development cycle. Many of the products that could be classed as “new” we have had for a little while now. It might be time to start thinking beyond the products we have now.

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