DGB Magazine Edition 4 - Christmas Bumper Special by doubleglazingblogger

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From the industry’s leading independent fenestration media

EDITION 4

Everyone wants to be a diamond. Not everyone makes the cut.

VEKA.CO.UK

F E AT U R E D 6

New Building Regulations Announced

Inflation Surges to 5.1%

Less Is More - Our Future

This Will Be The Biggest Issue UK Fenestration Has In 2022

#UnitedFront Publishes An Open Letter To The Industry

Triple Glazing Versus Vacuum Insulated Glazing - A New Battleground

Sheerline Hits TV Screens

Brisant Launch Home Truths Book

Great Pride As Kolorseal Wins #NFA For Third Year Running

High Five For NFA Award Winning Morley Glass

Deceuninck UK Awarded Investors In People Silver Accreditation

Would You Want Your Kids To Follow You Into Fenestration

Kolorseal Tackles The Elements

Endurance Achieve A Zero Landfill Mark Double Glazing Blogger www.doubleglazingblogger.com

Merry

Christmas and happy new year

"The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other."

DGB | www.doubleglazingblogger.com | @glazingblogger

Exclusive Interview With VEKA UK MD Neil Evans

adapt to that. 3. How stable is VEKA?

If you look back at 2019 which is the most reliable year to peg against, no one would have had 2021 has certainly been a or at least very few. any idea that COVID was coming. baptism of fire for your first Like everyone else we had the year in charge. How have you The biggest achievement in that uncertainty of having to shut navigated VEKA plc through context is that we have delivered everything down and all the and what would you say was leading service levels, grown operational issues that come with your biggest challenge and ahead of the market and had the that. achievement? opportunity to demonstrate that our customers can trust us. Then, as has been well Back in October 2020 a lot of documented, at the start of the the things we are seeing now How has VEKA protected their pandemic we had two major we could see coming, such as customers and managed the customers go bust which of raw material challenges. The supply chain situation? course resulted in some debt and labour challenges hadn’t really significant loss of future revenues. developed like they are now, Late last year we decided to With that in mind we had to but we knew what we would be step up our use of recycled consult on that and unfortunately, dealing with and the major thing content. Initially it was the right we went through a redundancy that has happened this year is thing to do, though it ended up process. We originally thought that the problems we knew about being a critical thing and became this would be in the region of have got worse, whilst the market a pivotal moment in terms of 85 people but ended up being has grown bigger. protecting our supply chain. We 25 people. This was still hugely also don’t find ourselves with regretful but based on what The biggest challenge this year any conflicts of what we do with we knew at the time it was still is that is has all come together our materials because we focus necessary. You couldn’t get at the same time. Usually there on extrusion and lamination of away from the fact that we had is something that has been a systems for our customers to lost two major customers. How constant and reliable point from turn into finished products. Our things change quickly as now which to anchor, but this year we OTIF has remained above 95% the number of people employed haven’t had that. For example, we throughout the year, which has at VEKA is higher than prehave had one or two foil issues meant we haven’t had to put pandemic levels. and, whilst you now things might any of our customers on quotas. get tight, you hope you never get We try to treat our customers The beauty of VEKA being a to the point where you’re out of equally from that perspective. family-owned business is we had stock of something. Ultimately Any shortages have been a result their full backing and support. We it all depends on demand at the of a spike in total and specific did get some emergency funding time. We have benefitted from demand, rather than a general from the VEKA Group, but due the incredible flexibility of our shortage of any one raw material. to a busy market we paid this people, resilient and responsive back three years earlier than we planning, and a customer base One of the biggest thought we would do. that has largely worked with us opportunities for the sector is for along the way. Price Inflation has transparency to come back into Thanks to a very busy been a major factor this year, and the systems companies. If you’re marketplace, great family like others we have introduced a a systems company, offering day ownership, good quality material surcharge, and thankfully one for day three, which ours is, customers, a clear focus and no almost all customers have been on a 95% success rate, during conflicts when it comes to where reasonable about it. There has an unprecedented period is a our best interests lie, VEKA is in a been some reaction in turning very good performance. But the very stable company indeed. that surcharge into permanent missing factor is accessing that pricing, but most understand the information. Why are prices rising? What is reasons for it. We are not going happening to the prices of raw back to raw material prices of Planning is speculative, and the materials? March 2020. more information we all give each other allows us to plan better. If I had a list of every raw Right now, nobody is in a This avoids frustration and in this material we use in front of me, position where buying power current market where lead times we’d be talking about significant influences raw material prices. are longer it should allow us to be double-digit increases on every Procurement people now are more open with companies above single one, with some close to looking to secure product at in the supply chain and that extra triple digit! the prices the current market transparency would allow us to demands. No more negotiations adjust our business models and Resin alone is 60-70% higher 4

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than a year ago and still rising. This is happening across all materials and is further compounded by increasing cost of energy. Taking resin as an example, we expect further acceleration before it potentially levels off and falls. If prices come down, how they come down, whether it’s a smooth process or bumpy, no one knows. Labour costs have also had an impact on prices this year too. The real impact of the true price to the end user caused by price increases on profile costs may in its own right be quite small but it’s when you factor everything else in, such as rises in labour, glass, transport and all other factors in other parts of the supply chain, that is how you get to the inflation we have. According to the latest data available to us, a few years ago the average price of a window was around the £500 mark, now it’s more like £700. What would be your one big prediction for 2022? I think the prediction is don’t expect any significant change. that, but we would rather call it Continue to be alert to more pragmatism and we plan based surprises to come. It may not be any easier next year than this year. on what is the most logical path ahead, and then we adapt as One observation we are making needed as we go along. is that the sector can’t expect What would you say is the to sustain this level of business single biggest issue we have to throughout 2022. We have a tackle in 2022? planning assumption that some of the heat in the market will I think it has to be labour start to go from Q2 of next shortages. Supply chain year, but we also have a raw management will always be an material assumption that 2022 issue but will sort itself out over will continue in the same vein as time. But as an industry we have 2021. So prudent on the financial said for a very long time we have assumptions yet geared up if to tackle the lack of talent we are development is not as expected. attracting. We also have the arrival of a new variant and we don’t know Who wants to work in a how that will play out. There are factory? Who wants to work as an also other factors such as many installer? People may be looking people still wanting to go away at career changes now. There are on holiday and spend money on other employment opportunities other things. We have had the in the economy where people benefit of some pent-up demand can earn the same, if not more, and millions of people getting money and we must compete. holiday refunds over the past 18 months, but that level cannot Is the industry actually doing continue forever. enough to combat the problem? Some may call us negative for

For me the answer has to be no. If we were doing enough, we’d be reaping some of the rewards from that work or we would have changed our minds on the issue. At the moment we are not in a place where we can say we have put enough effort into turning it around. It is rare we act as a true collective, how do we rectify that? VEKA does a lot of work in the local area to attract people to the business and establish itself as a good local employer. Can I say it has driven loads of people through the door? Probably not. But we have to try to do something about it and the work we do builds recognition of the business in the local area. There’s a whole range of opportunities in this sector, it’s how we can get people to step into them. That is the question.

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New Bu Regulations The long-awaited revisions to Building Regulations have finally arrived and there are a number of updated regulations that are going to have a direct impact on the fenestration industry. In this post, I am going to mark the noteworthy changes that have significance and try and explain what it means for us all. There will be a series of follow-up articles exploring the changes in more detail. But for now, let’s just try and digest what these revisions are and how they will or won’t change what we do.

Part F – Ventilation This is the one part of the Building Regulations changes that we have quickly got to know about over the past day or so. In short, the new requirements are going to be that new windows going into existing dwellings (homes) or new dwellings will require trickle ventilation. Here is the wording from the newly published documents: Background ventilators 1.52 All rooms with external walls should have background ventilators. If a habitable room has no external walls, paragraphs 1.42 to 1.44 should be followed.

Part L – U-Values Another expected change was the lowering of minimum u-values for windows. At the moment that stands at 1.6 for new windows going into existing dwellings. New Part L regulations revise that down to 1.4. There was a suggestion at one point that it could be lowered to 1.2, which sparked debate about whether the use of triple glazing would be needed to achieve this. These are the new minimum u-values for windows and doors:

Source: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/ government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_ data/file/1040935/ADL1.pdf – page 25 Doors have also been moved 0.2 lower, from being at 1.6 previously. At 1.4 any decent double glazed window with the right glass and spacer bar mix should be able to achieve 1.4, which will mean this is no new dawn for the age of triple glazing. I don’t think that many of us will have to worry about the u-values of swimming pool basins.

Part L – Airtightness Here’s something that perhaps hasn’t hit some radars yet but will be of some significance to most of us and that is the revision of section 4.21 part h:

NOTE: A window with a night latch position is not adequate for background ventilation, due to the following: 1. The risk of draughts. 2. Security issues. 3. The difficulty of measuring the equivalent area.

Source: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/ government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_ data/file/1040932/ADF1.pdf – pages 22/23 There is a loophole within these new rules. Mechanical ventilation systems or extractor fans can be installed in each room instead of windows. This is all part of the wider purge ventilation section of Part F which starts on page 19 of the document linked above. But that is simply not a realistic alternative. So trickle vents in windows remain the most viable and readily available solution for installers to abide by these new regulations. 6

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Windows and doors: to ensure continuity of the air barrier, window and door units should connect to the primary air barrier and window and door frames should be taped to surrounding structural openings, using air sealing tape. Compressible seals or gun sealants may be used to supplement

uilding Announced taping.

Source: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/ government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_ data/file/1040935/ADL1.pdf – page 40 For those installers that fit a lot of their windows and doors into new-build homes and extensions, it looks like you’re going to need to get used to working with expanding sealant tapes or whatever similar alternative is out there.

Questions still to answer This is a very brief rundown of what some of the major changes are in the revised Building Regulations. There are others that affect conservatories and porches which will be worth a read as well. But the three above I have highlighted as perhaps the most significant. The one that has had many people talking on social media is of course the new requirement for trickle vents in all new windows to all existing and new dwellings. There have already been major pushback from the installer part of the sector, and indeed some fabricators I have already spoken to about it. However vehement and passionate the protests, these do look set to the be new rules that come into force, unless there are some extremely unexpected revisions in the coming months.

enforcement, a homeowner that doesn’t like trickle vents will simply go down the road to the company willing to flout the new rules, leaving the business willing to comply losing orders. Second, what about the transition date? The Government has set June 15th 2022 as the date from which these new Building Regulations become law. But this would pose a very practical problem for both installers and fabricators. Many installers have three to four months worth of work already scheduled. It would mean that any orders sold in mid-February would need to be produced with trickle vents. This is a very short space of time and I would expect the Government to push back that June date to allow more time for the sector to adapt as needed. Third, will the compliance schemes allow installers another way around registering installations with qualified background ventilation? There is a very high chance that many installers will not comply with these new rules. But will trade bodies really kick out all their members if they don’t follow the rules? No, that would cause chaos. Instead, they may decide that there could be another way to define background ventilation, to avoid what could be a very difficult and awkward situation. As I have mentioned, these new Building Regulations have just dropped, and this is just my early analysis of them. In the coming days, I will issue follow-up articles to explore each of these changes in more detail and how they are going to affect our industry.

There is however a number of unanswered questions that these new Building Regulations raise. First, who is going to enforce these new laws? On the issue of trickle vents, it has already been pointed out that without rigorous and effective DGB MAGAZINE

UK Inflation S Another month and another inflation figure that surges past all previous estimates. UK inflation in November spiked to 5.1%, up from 4.2% in October. This blows past estimates of 4.8% and the prediction from the Bank of England that inflation in the UK would rise to 5% in Q1 of 2022. This is a further prediction that has underestimated the pace of inflation in this country and will add more pressure on the BoE to act. The idea that this has ever been transitory is now a joke and perhaps one of the worst calls the central bank has made in decades. There were murmurs that things were perhaps starting to settle down. These figures out today suggest otherwise.

prices in this sector, and indeed the wider economy, is going to remain a massive issue in 2022 and it is something we have to be acutely aware of as we enter a new business year in a few weeks time. Inflation is going to be one of our biggest challenges for 2022 and we have to deal with it on two fronts. The inflation in our own sector, coping with very high price increases coming from all sides very

Inflation challenge For those that work in UK fenestration, you all know how fast and how high prices have been rising now just in 2021, but in the latter stages of 2020 as well. We have been working in this inflationary environment for a very long period of time. This is a set of circumstances that many of us have never faced during our time in this sector. We have also been getting predictions of when things may calm down very wrong as well. At the end of 2020, I remember seeing forecasts that the start of 2021 would see a gradual slowdown. That never came. These predictions were then pushed back to Q2 of this year, then Q3, then Q4. The reality is that we cannot really know ourselves. Some are saying Q2 of 2022 could be the time when the house of cards comes tumbling down. Some believe we’re at the start of a multiyear cycle of much higher demand for home improvements. I personally would side on the Q2 of 2022 forecast that we’re in for a hefty slow down, but again, no one has called this right so, in the end, only time will tell. However, what is clear to me is that rising

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regularly. In some cases every couple of weeks. We also have to deal with wider economic inflation which is going to impact people’s ability to spend. We cannot bury our heads in the sand over this. Inflation in the UK is going to be a real problem and we have to be proactive rather than reactive. What we can do to fight inflation UK inflation isn’t going away, and it is going to affect everything and everyone. So, rather and sit around and hope for

Surges To 5.1% the best, UK fenestration has to be on the front foot in dealing with what is likely to be one of the most serious problems in the coming year. First, the supply chain has to continue to pass on increases right down to the homeowners and end-users. Do not fall into the trap of believing that companies further up the supply chain are making an absolute mint on every stick of profile

that comes out of the door. Each metre of profile is sold for only a few pounds, and the amount of money spent to create that metre of profile means the profitability of that product is marginal. Hence the need to sell millions of metres of it per year to make any decent amount of money. The same goes for fabricators. Many work on profitability in the single-digit percentages and any hit to their own costs immediately affects their profitability. Installers have to continue to pass on price increases to their customers. Profit margins have to be protected when costs

are rising and absorbing everything that filters down is only going to result in bad news for the business. The past 18 months have shown that the public can weather the higher prices. I suspect there is slightly more wiggle-room with the consumer to pay higher prices. How long that continues will remain to be seen, but I feel like we’re approaching a limit, and in some regions we may already be there. Marketing to the public also has to ramp up, and significantly. December looks to be pretty quiet out there, and January could be a rough month too. Inflation is biting, people will be paying off Christmas and generally, it’s a low-spending month. This is the best time for our industry to get out there and get our message across to the public and show them that investing in new windows and doors for their homes is the right investment during this time. We cannot as an industry afford to let the sales pipelines slow down. We cannot rest on our laurels because we have a few months of work already booked in. A couple of quiet months will quickly wipe that out and we’ll find ourselves back to 2019 lead times. We also have to up cash flow. December is a short month and January is quiet in terms of sales. But bills still have to be paid. This is why the start of a new year can see a spike in companies going under. Cash is king, and companies up and down the supply chain have to make sure that they maintain good inflows of cash. This means getting paid on time, keeping new sales coming in, taking healthy deposits if you’re an installer. Any pause in regular cash coming in could be highly damaging. I think the most productive thing we can do in the coming months to combat UK inflation is to vastly increase marketing to the public. Create a new swathe of leads at a time when business activity is traditionally lower. And with the Omicron variant causing a huge amount of concern, anything we can all do to create new business is going to be worthwhile.

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GENERAL & PVCU Has The Slowdown Begun?

In a press release issued by Business Pilot this week, they report that leads for new windows and doors are down 12% in October compared to the previous month.

this year than it was in 2020 and 2019. At some point, this rapid rise in inflation begins to have an effect, which it may well be doing now.

In recent months it has been noticeable that the tone of the conversation has changed. So is this the start of a more protracted decline and slowdown? Is there something more dramatic on the way?

In the wider economy, food, fuel, gas, electricity, labour and pretty much every other thing possible to buy has risen sharply in price too. This hits the spending power of the public, and more often than not, it is big-ticket items that get put back. New windows and doors are firmly included in that category.

Either way, the industry should be acting now, rather than reacting later.

A gentle slope or a cliff edge? A 12% decline I would describe is a bit more than a gentle slope downwards. A few more months of 12% declines in leads would result in a quite dramatic drop from where we would have been in mid-2021 and before. At the NFA Winners Event on Saturday I was canvassing opinions from various members of the crowd that were there and I did notice a stark change in the predictions of many. Many told me they were expecting the bubble to burst sooner rather than later. I suspect they already see signs of the changing landscape for the sector.

My inflation warnings are now coming home to roost. It does appear as though people are becoming warier about spending larger sums, and with Christmas coming up the usual seasonal slowdown may hit harder this year than normal. I am quite certain that 2022 is going to feel very different to 2021.

So what should the industry be doing now? It’s time to increase marketing As is mentioned in the Business Pilot article, the industry must now turn to increase the number of leads it generates.

They also told me that, as is always the case, the bigger the boom, the bigger the bust. And the past 18 months have seen one hell of a boom. Something which we’re not likely to see again for a very long time. History generally tells us that a slowdown is rarely slow and controlled. They’re more like stuttering, jagged falls.

My concern here is that the industry has tried to grow and expand to be able to meet much higher demand. Companies have hired extra staff where they can, many have given significant pay rises to their staff, and input costs are way higher than they were. All of this means that the amount of revenue required to sustain our sector is much higher than it was two years ago.

My concern, as it has been all year, and something that I have been warning about for much of 2021, is that inflation is one of the biggest economic risks to us all. Our industry, along with most of the construction sector, has seen material prices rises 30-40% or even more. The prices homeowners and end-users of our products pay is a lot more

The right thing to do is indeed to seek to create new leads. But to try and attempt to do this in November, December and January is going to be a hard task. The inclement weather doesn’t exactly encourage people out of their homes. Christmas takes up much of the priority on spending. January is the month where spending is reigned in as the

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& PVCU public recovers from Christmas. As a result, I think the height of Winter could be very tough for the sector. But, that doesn’t mean we should shirk away from generating leads.

The next few months will be a case of wait and see to discover whether this slowdown is gentle deflation or an abrupt halt. Either way, our industry has to get back into marketing mode now and create the leads that will benefit the sector further down the line.

Our industry is going to be competing harder against other sectors for what spendable income remains with the public. It means we have to try harder to get our USPs across and convince people that new windows and doors are a vital investment in their homes. We also have to remember that it’s all about the sales pipeline. Leads generated now may not become orders for days or weeks, some even months. But the more leads generated, the longer the pipeline goes. And consider that many installers are sat on three or four months of prescheduled work already. It means that even if Winter is hard, there is enough work coming in to last until March, by which point you would hope that business activity would be pretty brisk.

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Less Is More – Our Future The arrival of vacuum insulated glazing, or VIG, has got me to thinking about our industry in a much wider sense. The more I look at vacuum insulated glazing, the more I believe it is something we should be looking at in way more detail and energy. But it shouldn’t stop at that. In every aspect of our sector, we should be looking at how we can use less raw materials, but also achieve the security, energy efficiency, quality and longevity goals. Our planet demands that of us, and so will the generations that come in after us. Vacuum insulated glazing is just the start I am using vacuum insulated glazing as a good example of an industry that is able to use less and gain more. But the concept of “less is more” can be applied across the sector. Specifically, on vacuum insulated glazing, this new product (which has actually been around for a few years now) is a product that can achieve lower u-values using less material than triple glazing. Up until now, triple glazing has been touted as the way to be able to achieve the new lower u-values that are going to be enforced via the new Building Regulations. Now, vacuum insulated glazing, which can form part of a standard 24mm or 28mm double glazed unit, or can sit alone within heritage applications, can do all that without having to use significantly more material. Whilst it isn’t the cheapest technology on the market, its impact on the environment is certainly better than triple glazing and therefore something our industry should be looking at 12

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further. There has been a lot of money and marketing put behind triple glazing over the past ten years, for it to dribble along without really gaining traction. If we were prepared to back something like triple glazing with relatively little success, then surely VIG also deserves to have the same amount of attention. Glass technology like this would actually allow for slimmer profiles to be created. Slimmer profiles mean less material used which means fewer carbon emissions which has to be better for the planet. This is the principle behind less is more. Less of something be made and used that allows us to achieve our aims and goals. That principle can be applied across all other areas of our industry. Less is more across the board You can apply “less is more” to all other areas of the sector. For example, using fewer virgin materials in the production of PVCu profiles and glass in favour of more recycled materials. More IGU manufacturers could invest in glass crushers at their facilities and ensure that post-consumer glass works its way back into the manufacturing cycle. Then there is the wastage at fabricators. Where does that go? Does it get collected and recycled? If so, great. If not, why not? All waste needs to be collected and fed back into the manufacturing system. Less waste means reduced virgin material requirements. We can get really minute if we want to. For example, the protective tape that comes on profile. Is that made from recycled material? If not, could it be? What about packers? Screws? Old silicone tubes? As an industry, we

have a moral responsibility to look at every aspect of what we do and look at ways of reducing what we use, recycling more and using less to achieve more. Whilst this is easy to say, doing it is much harder. There are areas that can readily be addressed now, such as the increase of glass and profile recycling. The machinery and tech to make that happen already exists. We just need to get off our asses and get on with it. There are other areas that are not so simple. For example the recycling of old silicone tubes and other contaminated materials. That doesn’t mean it’s not worth the effort. It has to be done. In the years ahead all businesses and sectors of the economy will be judged by society on what they are doing to help become better for the climate. The generations that follow us will expect us to be doing all we can to ensure the impact of our industry has as little an impact on the climate as possible. This really is the new normal, and it’s imperative that we embrace it. #LessIsMore

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Second Best Quarter On Record But Signs Of A Slowdown In Sight The latest total value sales data from Britain’s Builders’ Merchants show a continuation of the strong growth seen throughout 2021, as Q3 recorded the second-highest quarterly BMBI sales ever, just 2.4% behind Q2’s record-breaking figures. However, there are signs of a slowdown as volume growth gives way to value growth, driven by price increases. Total value sales in Q3 2021 were 17.2% higher than Q3 2020, with one less trading day this year. Eleven out of the 12 product categories sold more over the period. Timber & Joinery Products led the field (+43.9%) with its highest-ever quarterly BMBI sales, contributing significantly to overall growth. Excluding Timber, total merchant sales still grew by 9.6%. Like-for-like sales increased by 19.1%. Comparing Q3 2021 with Q3 2019, a more normal pre-Covid year, overall value sales were up 18.4% with one less trading day this year. Six categories sold more, led by Timber & Joinery Products (+48.9%) and Landscaping (+30.2%). Like-for-like sales were up 20.2%. Quarter-on-quarter, sales were down 2.4% in Q3 compared to Q2, despite the three extra trading days in Q3. Five of the 12 product categories sold more in Q3. Kitchens & Bathrooms (+7.4%) and Timber & Joinery (+4.8%) performed best, while Landscaping was weakest (-22.5%). Like-for-like sales were 7.0% lower than in Q2. A robust September performance contributed to Q3’s performance, with total merchant sales 6.2% higher than August, with one more trading day. All bar one category sold more. Compared to September 2020, total sales were up 14.9% in September 2021. Timber & Joinery Products (+38.7%) did best and continues to outperform other categories. However, Kitchens & Bathrooms (+11.8%) also recorded its highest-ever BMBI monthly sales. Total value sales in September 2021 were 24.5% higher than the same month two years ago, with one more trading day this year. Much of this growth is owed to Timber & Joinery Products (+54.1%) and Landscaping (+40.2%). Without these two categories in the calculations, the two-year growth is still strong at +13.3%. The Q3 BMBI index was 146.1, with nine of the 14

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12 product categories exceeding 100. Timber & Joinery (191.9) and Landscaping (184.0) continue to outperform other categories by some margin. However, Heavy Building Materials (133.3), Ironmongery (126.2) and Kitchens & Bathrooms (125.3) also did well. Renewables was the weakest category (71.2). Commenting on the results, Mike Rigby, CEO of MRA Research that produces the report, says: “This year has been just as unexpected as 2020 for merchants, but for more positive reasons, with the most recent quarter showing a continuation of the strong growth experienced throughout 2021. Year-to-date, the sector is up by 36.2% in value over 2020, and 15.1% ahead of the same period in 2019! That’s way ahead of growth forecasts made at the beginning of the year. However, the sector is now starting to see the first signs of easing as price increases take over from volume sales to drive value growth. “Housebuilding and infrastructure projects continue to boost sales, with heavy-side activity – such as the astounding growth of timber and landscaping sales and the strong performance of heavy building materials – driving growth. “The final quarter of the year is likely to see a slowdown in demand, as merchants’ sales return to more manageable levels after an exceptionally busy year. Supply chain problems seem to be easing, but a consensus in the market suggests these could persist until 2023 so we are not out of the woods. But it’s safe to say, that end of year figures will be noticeably ahead of initial forecasts in an exceptional year.” Developed and run by MRA Research, the BMBI – a brand of the Builders Merchant Federation – is a monthly index of builders’ merchant sales, and the most reliable, up-to-date measure of Repair, Maintenance, and Improvement (RMI) activity in the UK. The index is based on actual sales from GfK’s Builders’ Merchant Point of Sale Tracking Data, which captures value sales out to builders from generalist builders’ merchants, accounting for over 80% of total sales from builders’ merchants throughout Great Britain. An in-depth review, which includes commentary by sector experts, is provided each quarter. The Q3 2021 BMBI report is available to download at www.bmbi.co.uk. Sponsored Content BMBI

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This Is Why Prices A You can feel the frustration growing. Prices in the fenestration sector have been rising sharply all year, and the New Year looks set to herald a new wave of very steep price increases across a number of different materials. The sector is frequently taking to social media to vent their frustration at the constant increases. With growing accusations of profiteering, taking advantage of the situation, and the whole thing just being generally ridiculous. Whilst I totally understand it, and remember we have our own family-run installations business which has been hit just like everyone else, if you take a look at what is actually happening in the marketplace in terms of the cost of raw materials and transport, you’ll know why prices are behaving like they are.

Unprecedented rises across the board There’s that U-word again. But it is the best one to describe what has been happening over the last year or so in terms of price inflation. Remember pre-Covid when you might get one, perhaps two price increases per year, and they would be in the small single-digits? I remember people used to kick off that! Those days are long gone. The world has opened up (mostly, if you don’t look at Europe locking back down again) and demand for pretty much everything shot through the roof. Indeed, the level of demand took everyone by surprise, and as a result, the supply chains around the world were unable to service that level of demand. The simple fact is this, more demand with supply not able to meet that demand means higher prices. And that is exactly what has happened. As a result, the prices of raw materials, the stuff right at the start of any supply chain, has gone to the moon, to use a crypto phrase. ◌ Everything that goes into the making of windows and doors has shot up in price: ◌ Aluminium – up more than 58% at nearrecord highs, now at over +33% year-to-date

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◌ Steel – the grade that is used in window and door products has seen a rise of around 100% ◌ PVC – this had risen more than 40% according to the last update I had seen in October, it’s likely it has risen significantly YTD from then ◌ Glass – nearly every increase this year has been double-digit Now add in other periphery factors, such as the cost of gas and electricity, transport, shipping, petrol and diesel. Lets put this into some context. Prior to the pandemic you would normally see only a smattering of price increase during a year. Maybe a couple. Those prices increases would be in the low single-digits. What we have experienced is astronomical raw material price increases, which when filtered down through the supply chain translate of increases that look like something in the region of 10-15%, depending on the raw material. It is unrealistic to think that this can be absorbed by those at the top. Especially when those pumping out profiles are doing so at a few quid per metre. So, these costs get passed down the supply chain. Systems companies pass it on to fabricators, fabricators pass it on to installers. The same process happens in the glass part of our sector. The advice all year has been for any price increase to be passed on to the client. The one benefit we have had this year is that there has been a huge amount of spare cash sloshing around with the public after months of furlough and the inability to spend normally. They have been able to pay these higher prices quite comfortably. It means that there should be no reason for installers to have to absorb these price increases which would ultimately hurt their profitability. The other bit of advice that has been given all of this year is to add an extra percentage to the cost of contracts to the end-user. In previous articles, I have advised adding 5-10% to materials prices to shield installers from any unexpected price increase. In most cases that should be enough and will

Are Rising So Much ensure that on contracts already signed with homeowners, the installer shouldn’t lose out. If companies haven’t been doing this and haven’t been putting in contingencies then it’s on them. We have been in this situation all year, we know what we needed to do to protect ourselves.

Back to pre-pandemic levels? It’s almost impossible to think that prices will return to pre-pandemic levels. Inflation, once thought to be transitory (laughable), is here to stay for a lot longer. Even if demand drops back slightly in the next year, this is almost certain not to be enough to bring prices back to where they were in 2019. We have to get used to price being roughly where they are for a significant period of time.

aware of any time where we have been able to resist using cheap pricing as a way to sell, rather than on quality and service. I do fear that in some parts of the market we will see a return to a race to the bottom. It would be disappointing if we did, as there really is no need right now. The public, although having to grapple with inflation and higher prices across the board, still seem able to pay good prices for home improvements. The question is can our industry hold its nerve and progress from this in a profitable and professional way?

Take that opinion as you wish, but the fact is that the longer this situation goes on, the more used to it we get. We become more comfortable with prices higher than they were a couple of years ago. We get used to selling at higher prices to end-users, and end-users acclimatise themselves with higher prices too. This is the thing, everyone knows everything is more expensive now, which means we should not be afraid to charge the prices we have to to ensure the profitability of our business. That also means there cannot be another race to the bottom. We have to learn our lessons about undercutting and ripping the profit out of a sale just to beat the other guy. We know what happens. We know how this works. You sell too cheap, win a few orders, then wonder where the profit has gone when things go quiet and the bills get hard to pay. In an environment where material costs keep rising, as do labour costs, the absolute last thing anyone should be doing is undercutting on price to win business. This is the perfect time for a quality-first business model. Win business based on the quality of the product and service, command a better profit margin and put in place more stable growth plans in the years to come. This though is UK fenestration, and I am not DGB MAGAZINE

We’re looking at 2021 in the rea and starting to look forward to hopes that for the UK fenestr things might be a little bit smoo

It’s fair to say this year has bee difficult to navigate. The ongoin mixed with a crippled supply ch inflation that appears to be ou No one is going to forget this ye

And whilst there is no sign at a will get much better in 2022, I d supply chain and pricing woes a problem for next year.

Labour squeeze will hit

Why am I not saying that the problems won’t be the biggest fenestration year? Well, we ha of this year and some of 2020 it. Nearly two years into a pand causing all sorts of problems o fronts, I feel like although we’r about it, we’re coping with it a bit end of this year than the start. We to become more flexible, commu with customers, keep schedulin and pass on price increases dow chain to the end-users. So long doing that we can continue to situation. Yes, it’s not ideal, bu out of our control until spending

The acute shortage of lab workers and youth is what is our major battle for 2022. This problem for our sector. We kn have known it for longer than I the sector. But the ramifications able to turn things around on th issue is now beginning to bite h

Installers this year have told m ability to grow, or even plan to gr held back by the inability to fi tradespeople to make it happen have told me something simila the course of this year.

Being held back in a period high demand means that we ha out on a significant amount

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This Will Be The Biggest Issue UK Fenestration Has In 2022

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of extremely ave likely lost of potential

growth. We will look back on this period and wish that we had more of the right people to make the most of this growth opportunity. Whether 2022 will see demand as high as this year remains to be seen. Many believe the drop is coming at some point in the first half of the year. Still, even before the pandemic boom we have experienced, we were still short of plenty of the right people, and until that situation is resolved, we are going to be held back.

Act, or don’t complain If you’re waiting for the Government, the education system or society to start looking at trades, including fenestration, differently, then you’ll be waiting a very long time. The fact is, if we want something done, we’re going to have to do it ourselves.

But the fact of the matter is that the fenestration sector is the only place where a change in fortunes on the labour shortages will start. Unless we can all genuinely come together with a joined-up approach, with one voice, behind one coordinated effort, nothing will change. We have this insane inability to be able to work together crossparty on some of the most important issues. The only time I saw some genuine cohesion was during the start of the pandemic when fear was high and the sector was desperately finding a way to continue. And only then did that spirit of togetherness last only a matter of months. For 2022, we have to recognise that this is a huge threat to us all and that we have to work together on ideas and strategies and actually implement them so that we can start to hope for better times ahead on the skills front.

As I have mentioned in previous posts, we’re very good at talking to ourselves about the problem. We know the causes. We know the effects labour shortages are having on all parts of the supply chain in this industry. We know it’s going to get worse. Yet, despite that, our industry, hobbled by internal politics, apathy and an unwillingness to truly commit, has done very little about it. There are some bright spots. For example, a handful of companies such as VEKA make regular trips to schools and host job fairs to try and attract the right people to their company. I know a few others do something very similar. This is a good approach. Companies should be looking to engage with their local communities. Build deep roots in the area and be seen as a good employer and somewhere where people can craft a career. We need a lot more of the industry to do things like this on a regular basis. We have tried various schemes and groups within the fenestration to try and build some kind of momentum towards changing attitudes and enthusing the industry to do more. I can’t say they have really worked. Ideas come, they spark some interest and then they fizzle out, which of course is disappointing.

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Panoramic Gr Liquid The Panoramic Products, consisting of Panoramic Group and Panoramic Door have appointed a liquidator according to documents that are publicly available in The Gazette. Troubles at the company have been well documented on social media for a number of weeks and months now, but this is the first official documentation in the public domain that confirms it.

Panoramic in liquidation

According to the documents posted in The Gazette, this is the current state of affairs for the three companies within the group:

A number of accounts on social media have been purporting various activities of the business, none of which I can independently verify. Hence any reporting on the matter will be based on information that is publicly available. One thing that sticks out with me however is the lack of general anger around the situation. It wasn’t

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roup Appoints dators that long ago that Customade Group went to the wall amid a firestorm of criticism about the handling of the business, the conduct of certain people at the head of the company and the effects the company going bust will have on other companies. I had never seen anything like it during my time in this industry. A large number of well-known names and voices within the sector, including major companies, came out and distanced themselves from the company. As far as I was aware nothing like this had ever happened. My worry at the time though was that this would be a one-off event. That the industry only spoke out because it affected certain people and companies. As is such, the anger which we saw around the

Customade affair has not materialised with Panoramic. What we’re seeing is selective anger and comment depending on who the company is and who it affects. This is the problem when a precedent is set. You either have to follow through with it and make it the new standard or you don’t. If you don’t then it devalues and makes a mockery of the reaction of that precedent. Attention will now turn to those who are owed money by the company, the suppliers to the company and what form any new business might take. It’s important to remember that whilst the industry is going through a very healthy patch, we will still see some casualties. As of now, the company website no longer works and the company Twitter account now posts a prescheduled tweet at the end of every month. DGB MAGAZINE

United Front, a group of what was 19 companies and has now swelled to 28, has issued a new statement to the industry amid continuing supply chain problems and very high price inflation.

130% within 6 weeks of reopening – initially a huge relief of course, but with that relief came a number of subsequent serious issues.

Basic building materials, such as cement, timber, steel and paints, “An open letter” quickly became and continue to be heavily restricted, along with We write this letter as a collective composite door slabs, uPVC profile, of twenty-eight independent glass and other components. fenestration companies, spanning all shapes, sizes, and different Manufacturers have quite rightly specialisms within the supply chain. shrunk back to focus on delivering Each of us has our own unique their core products in volume, and products and clients, but what so the huge choices our consumers unites us are the unprecedented and retail customers have enjoyed and unrelenting challenges in recent years, are suddenly we’ve faced since the first day of limited. lockdown back in March 2020. These factors have made it We would now like to put on much harder for manufacturers, record and address several issues processors and fabricators to regarding the current state of play manage continuity of supply, often in our collective supply chain. having to deal with last-minute shortages and delays beyond our The purpose of this letter is to control. explain and rationalise where we are, and to call for everyone in our We fully acknowledge the impact industry to show a #unitedfront in this has had on the ability of our order to weather a common storm. customers to forward plan their own scheduling requirements, Continued Supply and we are constantly working to improve forecasting and Challenges communication. Overwhelming demand for construction products since the Price Rises easing of lockdown restrictions has left many resources in short supply, Global shipping costs have risen with much longer than usual lead sharply due to a shortage of empty containers caused by Covid-19. times. This, coupled with massive demand An industry web forum attended by and competition from Europe, many of us during the first closure has meant most raw materials predicted that post lockdown and components involved in demand would drift back up to construction have been subject to perhaps 70% of normal levels by overwhelming price rises. late September. In reality, most of our industry peers saw demand of For the time being at least, the days where price could be leveraged 24

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with the scale of purchasing and volume buying are over, with all levels of the supply chain opting or needing to prioritise margin on a scarce resource over their top line. This ultimately makes all our products more costly to manufacture and leaves us with no choice but to pass on surcharges and rises to our customers if we want to keep trading. Energy costs are also looming large on the horizon and may prove to be the toughest nut to crack long-term. Please be assured, only those costs that can’t be fully absorbed are passed on, and, in all cases, limited to the lowest extent possible. This must be an approach taken by every level of the supply chain, with the focus moving away from undercutting rivals to focusing on long-term sustainable business planning.

Labour Shortages Brexit has impacted heavily on recruitment in our industry, especially in our ability to recruit and retain logistics and manufacturing staff. This has been further compounded by the ongoing challenges of Covid-19 isolation requirements, which has seen some of our signatories lose 30% of their workforce overnight. The historic stability of our industry workforce that allowed for high levels of reliability has been replaced with the need to manage a more transient and volatile landscape. At the heart of this will be a commitment to investing in our people, their wellbeing and job

#UnitedFront Publishes An Open Letter To The Industry security, and we will continue to focus on training and development If any industry can adapt and across all sectors. emerge from this year stronger than ever, it’s ours.

A Positive Future

So where does this take us? The complexity of the fenestration supply chain today means there have been, and will continue to be, occasions where all suppliers and fabricators are forced to make unprecedented last-minute changes to their production schedules, commercial terms and delivery dates. We accept the knock-on effect at the consumer level can cause unjust damage to the long-standing reputation of strong, resilient businesses who are fighting tooth and nail for their customers and livelihoods. Consumers, on occasion, are also not receiving the service they have been accustomed to. Our eyes are wide open to this, and on behalf of the wider supply chain in which we all operate, we would ask for your continued patience and understanding whilst we continue to work round the clock to deliver a product and service that you are happy with. It is categorical that each of the above issues will self-correct and stabilise, only the timing of when this will happen is unknown. Collectively, we hope this letter goes some way towards explaining the current challenges we are facing, and please be rest assured that we are all doing our utmost to support customers against the odds. DGB MAGAZINE

GLAS

Triple Glazing Versus Vacuum Insulated Glazing - A New Battleground

Change is in the air. Because you know, we haven’t had quite enough change over the past two years. The change this time is coming with Building Regulations. The bit I want to focus on with this one is u-values, or rather, what is going to be the best route to achieve the new lower u-values that will come into force.

Triple Glazing…Or Something Else? So where are the new regulations likely to leave us on the u-value front? Current regulations for new homes set a minimum u-value of 1.4 and 1.6 for existing homes. It’s expected that the revisions are going to knock 0.2 from each. That’s not necessarily the major point here. The bigger picture for me is how we are going to achieve these new targets. It is going to require some rejigging of our existing product line to do so in some cases. Up until now, there has been a growing narrative that triple glazing was going to be the answer. Triple glazing of a certain specification is able to achieve lower u-values which would satisfy the updated Building Regulations. If you’re making glass or spacer bars you’re naturally going to want the industry to settle on this particular solution. Spacer bar sales would rocket, as would glass. If you forget we don’t have enough of the stuff right now.

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But could there be something else that could tick the new boxes that would mean we wouldn’t need to go to triple glazing? Yes, in a word, or three: vacuum insulated glazing. Vacuum insulated glazing is a fairly new technology but one that is now finally breaking through. I am going to cover this innovation in more detail in another post, but in short, vacuum insulated glazing is two pieces of glass sandwiched into a sealed unit with a cavity as slim as 0.1mm. The panes of glass can be around what they are right now, but crucially the technology achieves a 0.7 u-value. This would be comfortably lower than what the new Building Regulations would demand. Right now, vacuum insulated glazing isn’t the cheapest product on the market. It’s not made anywhere, much of it has to be imported into the UK. I have seen figures for the stuff quoted between £140m2 to above £200m2. That is obviously not cheap. But as more companies take on the technology, or develop their own kind of vacuum insulated glazing, that price would come down over time.

The Environmental Perspective In a post COP26, we have to look at everything we do through the prism of the environment. Going forwards, our impact on the climate has to be taken into effect. So when I look at the two options, triple glazing versus vacuum insulated glazing, I have to say that I come down on the side of vacuum insulated glazing. This option clearly uses less in terms of materials. In an age where we need to seek to reduce consumption rather than increase it, this scores a clear win. Triple glazing, whilst it may be more readily available today, would be worse for the environment and would also pose a range of logistical problems for an industry that currently sells very little but would have to suddenly ramp up production. Imagine that, ramping up production of something that we’re already short of and with supply chain disruption forecast to last perhaps another couple of years. With both options, profiles would need to be adapted to allow for extra wide triple glazing or super-think vacuum insulated glazing to fit, but my guess is that profile suppliers would prefer the thinner option. For heritage applications, however, going into timber frames or adapted PVCu frames, this is an immediate solution that could well open up new opportunities to installers and manufacturers in the heritage market. Either way, I think the revisions to Building Regulations may well herald a new battleground between triple glazing and vacuum insulated glazing.

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Saint-Gobain Comple Line Up In positive news for UK fenestration, Saint-Gobain has announced that their project to upgrade their float line facility at Eggborough is now complete. They have released an article on their website in the last few weeks reporting on the completion of the float line upgrades, alongside a video. Here is what their statement says:

We’re back and better than ever. We finally completed the major re-build and installation of our new state-of-the-art float glass furnace at our SaintGobain Glass site in Eggborough, East Yorkshire. The former furnace had reached the end of its design life and we needed to install one with an enlarged capacity to reduce energy usage and boost our manufacturing efficiency and production capacity. We are pleased to announce that our Eggborough facility resumed production in August 2021. It’s a very proud moment for Saint-Gobain as this upgrade will provide greater automation and enhanced control systems, with the use of the very latest equipment and integrated digital technologies. It is a major milestone in the history of our business as we plugged £30m into this project – the largest industrial investment in the UK by Saint-Gobain since the Eggborough plant was built in 2000.

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etes Eggborough Float pgrades The project has been several years in development and planning to ensure our customers received the same level of supply during the construction process. This involved stock build-up in advance and imports of glass from our SaintGobain sister plants in Europe which helped us to fulfil orders during the process. The new facility is designed to manufacture high-performance products developed in the UK to meet the specific needs of the UK window industry. Better reliability, higher yield and a better product is the result of our upgrade. There has never been a greater need to protect the planet and invent a more sustainable future – the new design will result in a 20 per cent energy reduction. Increased supply of sustainable carbon-saving glass to the UK is really important for future homes and buildings as they move to become more energy efficient. Steven Severs, Managing Director at Saint-Gobain Glass, described his overriding emotion as “pride” upon completing this mammoth project safely, on time and on budget. He said: “It’s a major step forward in Saint-Gobain’s net-zero journey and delivering our global strategic purpose to Make the World a Better Home.” In a year dominated by constant and crippling supply chain problems, this will come as welcome news. As we head into 2022 the UK fenestration sector will be hoping that glass shortages will be at least one of the products we don’t have to worry so much about. This news comes alongside Guardian Glass also confirming that their own upgrades to their float line facility in Goole were due to be completed in October of this year. It means that two of the largest glass making facilities in the UK are back online after a period offline at perhaps one of the most precarious periods for UK fenestration in decades.

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Glasshouse Intalls Three Decalu88 Bi-Folds In A Day Deceuninck Aluminium customer, Glasshouse, has successfully fitted three sets of Decalu88 bi-folds in one day, on a single project.

Cardiff based Glasshouse, which supplies premium fenestration products to high-end residential projects across South Wales, switched to manufacturing and Glasshouse Managing Director, installing Deceuninck Aluminium’s Shaun Armstrong, said that the Decalu bi-folds at the start of 2021. installation – which included two sets of three-pane doors, plus a “It’s easier to install, but it’s also dual-pane – was made possible faster to fabricator,” continued thanks to Decalu’s co-extruded Shaun. “It’s a modular system, which gasket, a feature that has been means there are fewer components designed to reduce glazing times and because the gasket is coto a matter of minutes. extruded, we don’t have to manually

“Switching to Decalu has made a massive difference,” commented Shaun. “In the past, we may have just about managed to fit two, three-pane doors in a day, but on this particular job, we were able to install an additional two pane door as well.

insert it during manufacture.

Compared to competitor systems, which are compromised by traditional PA66 compound thermal breaks, Decalu incorporates thermal inserts made from recycled PET bottles and can achieve U values as low as 0.68W/m2k – comfortably meeting the proposed, stricter energy efficiency requirements for Part L. “Demand for home improvements and premium products such as bifolds has increased significantly

during the pandemic, we have increased our turnover by 50% from where we were pre-Covid,” concluded Shaun. “The strength of the Decalu88 system, combined with the quality of finish and the ease at which it can be manufactured and installed – it’s played a big part in that success.”

“Decalu outperforms our previous aluminium bi-fold system in so many ways. That includes the U values it is capable of, but also the size at which it can be manufactured. Homeowners and architects want as much glass as they can get, so “That’s purely down to the ease the fact that we can confidently For more information call 01249 of fitment with Decalu, the co- supply doors as tall as 3m without 816 969, email extruded gasket saved us so much any problems is a key factor for us.” deceuninck.ltd@deceuninck.com time,” he continued. “We were or visit www.deceuninck.co.uk. able to complete the installation in The Decalu88 bi-fold, which can Sponsored Content Deceuninck UK one go and fitting that extra dual- accommodate individual sash panel door meant we could put an weights of up to 200kg, successfully additional £2.5k on the invoice for passed PAS24 testing on a 3m high that day!’ door – at its first attempt – in July 2021.

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Sheerline Hits TV Screens Sheerline’s innovative aluminium window and door system is appearing in a popular home improvement TV programme. The newest episode of George Clarke’s Old House, New Home features homeowner Leighla Davenport and her Grade II listed home, Callowell House, nestled in Stroud’s idyllic countryside. The refurbishment project saw the construction of a modern extension that was integrated in a meaningful way with the rest of the property. Sheerline, with its slim sightlines and perfectly mitred corners, was a sympathetic enhancement to the original building. Leighla’s newly-refurbished home features a mix of Sheerline products, including 12 Sheerline Classic windows in cream with Sheerline Prestige fixed frames in black, and two Sheerline Prestige doors, also in cream. Leighla says: “I found Sheerline through internet research of premium aluminium systems companies and I thought that it was a really nice product. We needed some unusual glazing and Sheerline had the capacity to do all of the windows we required. At a time where lead times were anything but normal, Sheerline offered the shortest delivery times, meaning we could keep the project on track. “We have a Grade II listed building and Sheerline, and the Classic beadless range with its slim sightlines, http://www.sheerline.com in particular, works across the entire building – both in our 150-year-old mullion windows and in our new extension – it’s so versatile and really brings in light. It’s high performance, maintaining modern functionality as well as being in keeping with the look and feel of our home. Plus, the low U-Values mean we don’t have to compromise between energy efficiency and the way it looks. “A huge selling point for me was the fact that Sheerline is Made in Britain and all the benefits that bring. There aren’t many companies investing in manufacturing in the UK, and it’s really great to see that happening in Derbyshire.” The episode of George Clarke’s Old House, New Home featuring Sheerline will be broadcast on 10th November at 8pm on Channel 4. Roger Hartshorn, CEO of Garnalex, says: “We were delighted to be involved in such a significant project and were pleased to see just how well Sheerline integrated into Leighla’s home, offering top-level thermal performance and faultless aesthetics while remaining in keeping with the rest of the building. “The agility of Sheerline’s supply chain meant that we could offer dual colours in just a fraction of the time that our competitors were offering, ensuring that the project remained on schedule. The customer was pleased with the support and service she received from our passionate team – one of our team even visited the property to help with the fitting of the windows and doors.”

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To learn more about Sheerline, visit www.sheerline.com or www.sheerlinevideo.com. You can also call 01332 978000 or email info@sheerline.com. Follow @SheerlineSystem and @GarnalexSystems for the latest news and updates. Sponsored Content Garnalex

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Brisant Launch Home Truths Book Brisant-Secure has launched a new publication “The Book of Home Truths” which helps locksmiths and door installers explain to homeowners why Ultion will ensure their doors stay locked. The book demonstrates the opportunities Ultion offers for the trade, with case studies of people’s homes who have been protected. Key crime statistics are laid out, which Ultion was developed to combat; for example, a staggering two-thirds of burglaries occur when the homeowner is present. The £2000 security guarantee is explained. It highlights technical points explaining the inner core being made from molybdenum, an element 25% tougher than iron. A QR code activates the augmented reality model to bring the lock’s technology to life. There’s the convenience of one key working all doors in the house, including the shed padlock, and that these can be delivered the following day. Nick Dutton, CEO Brisant-Secure said: “We have spent many hours compiling an authoritative handbook of all the marketing tools that have been created over the last ten years to help people sell more locks and doors. Now it can all be accessed in one place, making it easier and quicker to sell more.” Ultion was created ten years ago in 2011, in the founder’s garage. Steve Stewart’s knowledge of the workings of front door locks was the best in the UK. Fed up with barrels which he could break through in nine seconds, he designed one that he knew would foil even the most skilled burglar. The challenge was for homeowners to understand what he had created and understand why they needed it. That’s when Nick joined the team. In 2016 the partners created a video that bluntly showed the world that millions of people’s homes in the UK could be entered within 9 seconds. The “Book of Home Truths” explains why and how Ultion stays locked well after the burglars have given up. Sponsored Content Brisant Secure

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Annabel Mantel Joins BrisantSecure As Finance Director Annabel Mantel has joined Brisant-Secure as the Finance Director. Brisant gained investment from the British Growth Fund earlier in 2021, which was to support ambitious long-term growth plans and enable further innovations. Nick Dutton, CEO of Brisant-Secure said, “Annabel is the perfect person to enable Brisant to forge ahead with measured growth, ensuring customers and suppliers continue to receive exceptional service. Her mixture of finance and commercial skills are a perfect match for the business at this point in time.” Annabel comes to Brisant from a varied background in finance. She started at Ernst and Young and trained in audit, before moving to work in Financial Services, spending ten years with GE Capital and Santander. In 2016 she left to set up her own consultancy working for small and medium-sized enterprises. She comes to Brisant from Casselllie. Annabel said she was attracted to work with Brisant because: “It’s a good bunch of people; Steve and Nick have built a team that wants to stay with the business long term. That’s an attraction. It’s the people that you work with and spend every day with that are the most important, and everyone here is pulling in the same direction.” Brisant is keen to continue to grow, adding additional innovative products that will work well for their customer base. Annabel added, “Brisant is doing phenomenally well and managed to secure investment from BGF. It feels like I am on familiar ground. It’s a nice culture and a business that fundamentally works and has lots of opportunities to grow.” The team at Brisant are delighted to welcome Annabel. Sponsored Content Brisant Secure

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Great Pride As Kolorseal Wins #NFA For Third Year Running Kolorseal Ltd is celebrating another victory as NFA Colour Specialist 2021. The company was awarded the accolade in recognition of its colour coating services to the fenestration sector in the #NFA20 and #NFA21 Independent Industry Awards. The gala event held at Doncaster races on Saturday 6th November, was the first of its kind this year, with trophy presentations for last year’s winners as well the announcement and presentation of the NFA 21 awards. Deborah Hendry, Managing Director, takes great pride in celebrating this achievement which she considers is very much a team effort. With the awards requiring both nominations and voting for by peers in the industry, she believes that there is evidently great belief in the services, products and customer support. With the National Fenestration Awards being industry-led, this win reflects the high standards and the reputation of Kolorseal, in a fair and open way. Deborah comments, “As awards go, for us, this is the best – we are nominated by our customers and suppliers for the dedication given by everyone at Kolorseal. This award makes us all very proud and grateful indeed. We really appreciate every single

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vote that has been given to us, particularly in such a tough year.” The company is recognised by customers for helping to support their business with quality colour coated products. Advice is offered on the Kolorseal website to give ideas and colour trends that can help fabricators and installers to grow their businesses. Equally, for commercial contracts where architects and specifiers look to create a striking appearance to both contemporary and traditional building projects, the Kolorseal colour palettes offer a complete choice in both UPVC and aluminium products. For Deborah Hendry, the NFA Colour Specialist of the Year Award has been a morale booster for the whole team. She comments, “In a tough market, this is a wonderful achievement. No doubt our success story can be attributed not just to the quality standards we provide but also the drive and commitment of the whole team. It is a great reflection on everyone at Kolorseal and a job very well done!” For more information on Kolorseal Ltd please visit www.kolorseal.co.uk or to discuss a project, please call 01924 454826.

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HAFFNER WINS MACHINERY COMPANY AT THE NFA AWARDS 2021 Leading machinery experts Haffner are celebrating a back-to-back win at the NFA Awards 2021. The company, which took the title in the Machinery Company category at the 2020 awards, was again confirmed the winner of the 2021 award. The Haffner team collected their awards at the gala event held at Doncaster racecourse on Saturday 6th November. The event was the first of its kind, with award presentations being made to the 2020 winners and live announcements and presentations of the NFA 2021 awards. Dave Thomas, Managing Director of Haffner, said: “We are delighted to win this award for the second year, particularly as it’s voted for by our industry peers, so it’s a real vote of confidence. I’d like to thank everyone who voted for Haffner as it means so much to the whole team.” The win rounds off another successful year for the Staffordshire-based business. Dave says: “2021 has been an extremely busy and somewhat challenging year for the industry but we have continued to invest in our business to keep pace with the demand for our automated machines. This has included several largescale investments being made across the business and an increase in staff to support our growth. The investments have kept us ahead of the curve and allowed us to deliver the much-needed automated machines to our customers as quickly as possible.” The National Fenestration Awards recognises all areas of the UK fenestration industry. As Dave says, there is no judging panel and voting is purely down to individuals across the industry to vote and decide their overall winner. This year saw the highest number of votes across all categories, reflecting the growing popularity of the awards. Haffner is a team of industry and technical machine experts who really understand the fabrication industry and the company offers the largest and most comprehensive PVC-U and aluminium fabrication machinery portfolio in the industry. It has an exclusive supply partnership with Italian machine innovators, Graf Synergy, which is well-known for its world-class seamless welding technology and patented welding techniques. Haffner is also the sole UK agent of Haffner Machinery, which designs innovative and high-quality engineered products at competitive industry prices and supplies a range of aluminium fabrication machines from worldwide machinegiants, Fom Industries. Italy’s Fom Industrie is part of the worldwide FomGroup and has an outstanding product range offering the widest choice of quality machines with competitive lead times. The company works closely with fabricators of all sizes to offer the best in machinery quality and reliability – something that’s just been proved with this second industry award win.

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High Five For NFA Award Winning Morley Glass

Uni-Blinds® integral blinds manuf five categories.

The company was once again crow latest exclusive integrated blind inno these new products are manufactu performance in carefully tailored sh

Morley Glass was also recognised b window and door installers large an lockdown periods, and they continu services online at the early stage

In addition to the the outstand

Gilbert, who has become an integral part of the team since joining just 15 months ago, was presented with a

Ian Short, MD of Morley Glass said: “I’m absolutely thrilled that we’ve won three 2021 NFA awards for the co who voted for Morley Glass and who took time to get involved with the NFAs in whatever capacity they chos

“In what has been another pandemic-affected year, Lee Clarke and the NFA team deserve a lot of credit for get together in person to celebrate the very best in our sector and we are already looking forward to the 202

Morley Glass is the leading manufacturer of integral blinds in the UK door and window industry through it facility of its kind for Screenline blind systems, from which it serves installers across the UK with the most co Find out more at www.morleyglass.co.uk.

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facturer Morley Glass has triumphed at the 2021 National Fenestration Awards (NFAs) by picking up awards in

wned the industry’s best ‘Integral Blind Company’ and named the winner in the ‘New Product’ category for its ovations, the symmetrical SV+ sliding venetian blind system and the pleated blackout blind. Like all Uni-Blinds, ured using only ScreenLine® blind systems to offer high quality, great visual appeal and reliable long term hading and privacy solutions.

by the industry for the way it has used video over the last 12 months, both in its own marketing and to support nd small by helping them create virtual showroom tours. These videos proved invaluable during the pandemic ue to be an incredibly useful asset to installers as homeowners and developers research new products and of their search.

ese three corporate awards, one member of the Morley Glass team was a double award winner too, reflecting ding contribution she has made to the company’s success. Sales adviser and marketing coordinator Charlotte

awards for ‘Social Networker’ and ‘Young Person’.

ompany, and over the moon for Charlotte for her well-deserved individual awards. A big thank you to everyone se to – as a sponsor, nominee, voter or attendee.

r successfully delivering the NFA awards programme. It is really important for the industry to get the chance to 22 programme!”

ts Uni-Blinds branded range. Its 50,000 sq. ft state-of-the-art factory in Leeds is the world’s largest production ompetitive lead times and complimentary delivery.

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JOINT SAINT-GOBAIN GLASS INITIATIVE WINS SUSTAINABIL A pioneering glass recycling scheme that enables post-consumer glass units from window and door replacements to be collected and crushed to make new glass has been recognised by the UK glass industry’s representative trade body, British Glass. The initiative was named winner of the ‘Sustainable Practice’ award at the Glass Focus Awards 2021 in a prestigious ceremony attended by more than 100 people recently in central Manchester. Saint-Gobain Glass and Morley Glass triumphed in a highly competitive field that draws entrants from across the glass industry, from food and drink packaging and medical equipment to all aspects of glass used in construction. The scheme saves energy and raw materials as well as benefitting the broader community in four key stages. Firstly, Morley Glass collects the old glass units that installers of its Uni-Blinds® integral blind units remove during window and door replacement projects – this waste glass is taken to its Leeds HQ and manufacturing centre on the return legs of its daily deliveries. Stages two and three involve crushing the post-consumer glass units on-site at Morley Glass to create high-quality glass cullet. This is then collected by SaintGobain Glass for use as a raw material in the manufacture of new float glass at their Yorkshire factory, helping to reduce the need for ‘virgin’ raw materials. The final stage is putting the revenue raised from the production of glass cullet to good use in the community through the GreenVision fund. This enables environmental micro-initiatives and charities across West Yorkshire to apply for grants of £500 to support their activities, which has so far provided money to pay

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N GLASS AND MORLEY S TOP GLASS INDUSTRY LITY AWARD for everything from raised vegetable planting beds to the redevelopment of a primary school’s garden. The benefits of the initiative are far-reaching according to Ian Short, Managing Director of Morley Glass, who said: “We are absolutely thrilled to win at the Glass Focus Awards 2021! The initiative has been a huge success since we started in 2019, so much so that we have recently had to replace our original machinery with a fully automated plant that triples our glass processing capacity. “To date the scheme has collected over 1,200 bags of glass cullet weighing more than 680 tonnes. This has reduced the need for virgin sand which is used in glass manufacturing by more than half a million kilos. But as every tonne of cullet saves 300kg of CO2 emissions, and the amount of energy needed to power the average home for six months, we have been able to make energy savings to date equivalent to 341 ‘energy years’ for the typical UK home.” Morley Glass is the leading manufacturer of integral blinds in the UK door and window industry through its Uni-Blinds branded range. Its 50,000 sq. ft stateof-the-art factory in Leeds is the world’s largest production facility of its kind for Screenline blind systems, from which it serves installers across the UK with the most competitive lead times and complimentary delivery. Find out more at www.morleyglass.co.uk. Sponsored Content Morley Glass & Glazing

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MRA MARKETING WINS ‘O FOR CPA INDUSTR MRA Marketing has won the award for Best Built Environment Member Organisation Marketing Campaign at the Construction Marketing Awards (CMAs). The full-service agency was recognised by judges for its outstanding work on Building Safely. The high-profile awareness and consultation campaign for the Construction Products Association (CPA) encouraged the construction industry to comment and suggest improvements to a new Code for Construction Product Information (CCPI). The new Code was produced in response to the issues raised in Dame Judith Hackitt’s report ‘Building A Safer Future’, following the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017. Specifically, the CCPI tackles shortcomings in product testing, information, and marketing, identified in Chapter 7 of the report. The CPA set up the Marketing Integrity Group (MIG) in 2018 to address the issues raised in the Hackitt report. Two years of work with open debates, discussions and focus groups across the construction supply chain led to a ‘Call for Evidence’ survey in 2018. The new Code (CCPI) was published in a report in January 2021. The MIG was keen to consult the industry as widely as possible before finalising the Code and transferring it to an independent body to implement and manage. The consultation, launched in February 2021, invited trade associations, manufacturers, distributors, specifiers, and users of product information to comment on the new Code and its 11 Clauses with suggestions as to how it could be improved. A key requirement of the consultation, therefore, was 44

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that respondents read the new Code before commenting, so the consultation had to raise awareness of the Code and its importance and make it easy for respondents to comment and suggest changes. Given the time constraints and the importance of the consultation, MRA Marketing created a high profile, dedicated awareness campaign. The campaign had its own logo and name – Building Safely; a new tagline – Better Data, Safer Building; and a new campaign website. A launch press release explained the Code and the consultation. The trade media’s support was crucial in giving great exposure to thought leadership articles, comments, letters, and blogs. A period of intensive PR, social media, webinars and direct marketing rapidly built awareness and understanding. Despite a limited budget, the campaign reached widely and the consultation, which was managed by MRA Research, attracted indepth responses representing the bulk of the industry. This enabled the MIG to review and finalise the new Code with confidence before transferring it to Construction Product Information Ltd (CPI Ltd) in August to set up and administer. Awarding the win, the CMA judges said it was: “An outstanding entry dealing with one of the most critical issues in the construction industry. The extensive effort in such a short timeframe is commendable, with the agency going above and beyond to execute the campaign, bringing great results at the end. Mission accomplished, not only for the client (CPA) but for the

industry.” Mike Rigby, MRA Marketing’s CEO says: “Grenfell will change the way Britain builds and looks after its buildings. Driven by the Hackitt report our building practices are being reset. The Code is a crucial step in the right direction and the depth and breadth of response in the consultation is recognition from the industry that change is needed to ensure tragedies like Grenfell do not happen again. We loved working with the CPA on this important campaign for construction.” Chief Executive of the CPA, Peter Caplehorn, adds: “We are immensely proud of the work undertaken with the Code, as we feel it signifies that our industry has not only faced up to some critical failings in practices and culture but crucially how best to correct those as well. There are many committed industry colleagues who have contributed to that end, but we particularly appreciate seeing the CMA judges recognise the MRA team for their outstanding work. MRA’s guidance and professionalism throughout have been essential to this milestone.” The prestigious awards took place on the 2nd December attracting the best and brightest in construction. MRA is a winner of 20 previous CMA awards and twice the winner of the CMA’s Agency of the Year. Visit www. mra-marketing.co.uk. For more details on the new Code or to download a copy of the results from the industry consultation, visit www.cpicode.org.uk. Sponsored Content MRA Marketing

OUTSTANDING’ ACCOLADE RY CONSULTATION

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Deceuninck UK Award Silver Acc

Rob McGlennon. Sales Director. Deceuninck. Gloucestershire. United Kingdom.

Deceuninck UK has been awarded Investors In People (IIP) Silver accreditation in recognition of the measures it has implemented to further reward and support its workforce. Investors in People is an internationally recognised standard, designed to advance an organisation’s performance through its employees. Awarded with a Bronze IIP accreditation in 2019, Deceuninck has since taken steps to create a culture of continuous improvement, introduce greater opportunities for learning and development and create an environment that encourages innovation as well as inspiring leadership and trust. Rob McGlennon, Managing Director, Deceuninck UK, commented: “We’ve worked hard to support our team throughout what has been an incredibly challenging period. “That is reflected in our Silver 46

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ded Investors In People creditation

IIP accreditation and in the feedback we received as part of our latest assessment. Employees at Deceuninck feel that they are empowered and encouraged to use their initiative. “Importantly, they also feel like they are part of a ‘family’, they share the same values and they are committed to the success of the business,” he continued. As part of its IIP appraisal, Deceuninck was commended for improving staff capability, including recognising potential and creating transparency and trust. The leading systems company has also introduced a comprehensive package of employee benefits including bonus schemes, permanent health insurance, an Employee Assistance Programme, free counselling, and independent financial advice. Deceuninck has also committed to an ongoing annual survey, to measure its progress and to ensure that it stays on the ‘right path’ for continuous improvement. “We have come a long way, but we recognise that we could also be doing even more to motivate our workforce,” concluded Rob. “We’ve set a clear strategy to achieve that, to continue to inspire and reward staff at all levels of the business, raising our standards and ultimately, the quality of our product and service.” For more information, call Deceuninck on 01249 816 969, email deceuninck.ltd@deceuninck.com or visit www.deceuninck.co.uk. Sponsored Content Deceuninck UK

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Considering video marketing? From design to online distribution, we can help.

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MERRY CHRISTMAS! FROM THE FENEX TEAM

THIS YEAR wE’RE SuppORTINg

DERbYSHIRE wISH

There’s been schemes, groups, initiatives and all manner of other efforts. But the skills and youth gap is worse than ever. Our industry has done a great deal of talking within itself about the problem. We know with incredible detail the range of issues that have caused the problem we find ourselves in. However, if we are to really get serious about trying to attract youth to the fenestration sector, then we have to get out of our seats and into the education sector.

Go To Where Youth Is For as long as I have been in this industry we have always been talking about the lack of youth and talent in fenestration. A brain drain of talent leaving our sector to go elsewhere, coupled with people retiring, and a lack of new people coming in to fill those gaps. I have been writing about this for just about the entire length DGB has existing, and have warned that at some point all of this would bite hard. We are at that point where things really are biting hard, with installers, fabricators, systems companies, hardware and glassmakers all short of the staff they need to be able to expand and grow. Our industry has always done a pretty good job of talking to itself about the problem. Analysing the causes, knowing the effects and problems. But one thing it has not done well in is to rectify the problem. We have had various ideas, groups, initiatives and so on. Lots of talk, very little action to back it up in the

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main. Not that everyone remains stagnant. I spoke to VEKA at the NFA Winners Event last Saturday and they explained that they regularly held talks in schools and colleges to put their name in front of young talent and inspire youth to come to our sector.

newspapers. They don They use their phones and they use social me you believe that is a g not is irrelevant. The fa like TikTok, Instagram where they are, so tha must go.

But as a whole, we’re not doing nearly enough. Social media posts aren’t enough. Group therapy sessions about the problem aren’t enough. If the UK fenestration really wants to get serious about trying to solve the problem then we’re all going to have to get off our backsides and get in front of the kids that we’re trying to attract.

Video content is one major tools we have to more with. YouTube ha its shorts platform, wh can post videos of up than one minute long, the same basic princip platforms and is incred with young people.

That means going into schools and colleges and talking to assemblies where the subject is careers. Or going to career fairs at schools or other institutions. My friend online Calum Williams has organised a talk at a school in January through Building Our Skills and Inspiring The Future. He will talk to the next generation of young people we are desperately going to need. We need more of this. We need CEO’s of larger companies to tell their story of how they made their way to the top. We need installers to show young people how rewarding and well paid a career in fenestration can be. We need fabricators to explain that what we do is a craft and nothing like what is portrayed in White Gold.

Use The Platforms Kids Use When it comes to engaging with young people, the fenestration sector has to go to where they are. They don’t read magazines or

I often hear the claim made young people la that at all. We’re tarrin people with the same that is simply not right when we all complain companies being tarre brush due to the actio rogue companies? Let the generation we’re t work for us.

Whether you’re a you middle-aged or older, motivated if you can e them effectively and g interested in the subje fully believe that the fe sector has plenty to of of any age. Career pro above-average earning satisfaction, even exer that go into the world is lots to show off to p need to go to them to it.

That means committ video content on the p

SKILS & TRAININ

n’t watch TV. s and tablets edia. Whether good thing or act is that apps and others are at is where we

e of the other o be doing as brought out here creators to no more , which is ple on other dibly popular

people use. We cannot expect them to come to us. If we wait for that we’ll be waiting forever. The time is now to be as proactive as possible. Get in front of many people as possible and shout loud about the benefits of a career in fenestration.

We Have To Get Genuinely Serious About Attracting Youth And Talent Double Glazing Blogger

m that this has azy. I don’t like ng all young brush when t. Remember about the good ed with the bad ons of some t’s not do it to trying to come

ung person, a person is engage with get them ect matter. I enestration ffer any person ogression, g potential, job rcise for those d of fitting. There people, we just o make them see

ting to making platforms

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Would You Want Your Kids To Follow You Into Fenestration? Double Glazing Blogger

I asked this question on Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin. I got nothing on Linkedin but was swamped on the other two platforms with answers which surprised me a little. We know that our industry is badly in need of youth and new talent, a shortage which has been exacerbated over the last couple of years. But if the sector wants more young people, does that mean that those who currently work in the fenestration sector would want their own kids to be part of it? The feedback gave an insight into how we think about our own industry.

Mostly Positive In the past, when I have heard the question of whether someone would want their kids to be part of the fenestration industry, more often than not I have heard “no” in answer to that question. Yet, we say every day how much we need thousands of new people to come into the sector to replace the talent that is leaving. So if we know we need young people, why are we not prepared to let our own kids be part of an industry that has provided so much for so many? So I asked the same question on social media and was immediately hit with tons of answers, which was great. If you took a moment to reply, I thank you. To be honest, I was expecting a ton of “no” replies, just as I have always experienced. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the high number of “yes” answers to my question. Those who replied explained that this is a sector that there are a number of great opportunities right now and that with the right training and work ethic they could do very well in the same industry they work in. It’s worth saying that the Twitter poll I am running at the moment is showing a rough split down the middle. I suspect that those who were happy to say that they were OK with their kids working in the fenestration sector were comfortable explaining why. Right now via the social poll, there are nearly as many who say they would not want their kids to follow in their footsteps in this industry as there are who would.

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It was put to me, that given how much the industry complains about the lack of skilled youth and talent, you would think they would be happy for their own kids to work in fenestration. However, for some, it appears to be the case that they want more skilled labour, just so long as it’s not their own kids. Well, that kind of attitude isn’t going to change the tide of the crisis. Right now, there are far more people leaving the industry than there are joining it. Unless something radical happens in our approach to attracting the people we need, that won’t change. But our children are part of the next generation that we need. And surely those who work in fenestration right now are some of the best-placed people to train them?

VIEW AND TAKE PART HERE

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CLIMATE CHANGE We live in a post-COP26 and net-zero world now. We can debate the merits of the deal that was struck at the very end of the conference and whether it goes far enough. It doesn’t. But in this post-COP26 world, with climate change at the forefront, everything we do within the UK fenestration sector now has to be seen through the prism of climate change.

floodwaters are at your door

There are no ifs, no buts. Every action has to be weighed up with the environmental impact in mind. Everything.

A Fundamental Shift Whether you like it or not, everything we do in life will now be seen through the prism of climate change. From the food we eat, the media we consume, how we travel, how we make things. Indeed, how we make and install new windows and doors. The situation, nay the planet, demands that of us. If you kept track of COP26 events, and some of the impassioned and moving speeches from affected people around the world, you should know now that only drastic actions taken by everyone will now suffice if we hope to see our children grow up in a habitable environment. UK fenestration is not exempt from that responsibility. There has to be a rapid and fundamental shift within our sector to conduct our business in as green a way as possible. We have made some progress which is well documented. Recycling capacity is rising, some PVCu profiles are on the road to being 100% fully recycled. But there is still a huge amount more we have to do. And we have to start doing it now.

The fact of the matter is that every sector, be it fenestration, automotive, tech, food, sport etc, will all be judged and graded by the general public by how climate-friendly their businesses are. The greener they are, the more successful they will be. Generations above me might not pay much attention to this, but mine and the ones following on behind me will. It is younger people, the ones that actually matter, that place climate change high on their list of priorities, and businesses and economies will feel the impacts of this.

before acting.

We as a sector cannot wait until 2030 or longer before we can shake off the apathy and realise the danger we are in. Actions have to be taken now. Promises have to be turned into effective new policies. Don’t wait until the

I do fear that because climate change doesn’t immediately impact many of us right now, we play down the impacts we

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ANGE

Everything UK Fenestration Does Has To Be Seen Through The Prism Of Climate Change Climate Change Focus Will Change Everything I still don’t think many of us fully understand the impact combatting climate change is going to have on our sector. It really will affect everything. Sales reps at some point will all drive electric or at least hybrid cars. Electric vans will get better and many fabricators and suppliers will switch to electric vans as soon as is practical. More and more companies will go paperless, or at least use as minimal an amount of paper as possible. Industry media will continue to move more online, reducing carbon footprints. PVCu profiles will edge closer to becoming fully recycled systems, cutting out virgin materials. The same will go for IGU products. The supply chain will continue to be digitised throughout. Everyone will recycle, whether you’re an installer, fabricator or systems company. Our industry in ten years time is likely to look nothing like it does now. All of the above will happen, without a doubt. Then we’ll look back on this period of time and wonder why we didn’t transition sooner.

all create on the environment around us. Do I think our industry is trying to correct its course and become better? Yes. Do I think enough of us across the entire supply chain is doing enough right now? No. Far from it. We are not immune in the UK from the effects of climate change.

It may even be the case that many companies within UK fenestration also sign up to additional schemes outside the sector to help reduce carbon emissions. I know companies like Clayton Glass are already signed up for tree-planting initiatives. Many more will follow in the same footsteps. There is no time like right now to do more in our industry to become better for the environment. All the tech and ideas already exist. We just need to summon the willpower to act and be better.

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Three COP26 Pledges UK COP26 is finally upon us. The most important UN Climate Conference and the moment we are told that we are out of time. I watched the powerful opening ceremony, with speeches from the UK Prime Minister, poets, Sir David Attenborough, leaders of island nations and more. If you did too, then you’ll now have a flavour as to the immediacy of the crisis at hand. We cannot procrastinate any longer. Real actions, not words are the order of the day. And UK fenestration, as with every other area of the economy and society has its own part to play. COP26 is the perfect time for our industry to debate within itself what more it can do to reduce its impact on the climate.

More needs to be done to ensure that all postconsumer frames, whether it is PVCu, aluminium, timber or steel, all go back into the manufacturing loop. Not a single old frame should be discarded to never be used again. We have the facilities to be able to process them, with new ones being built and capacity and existing ones being raised. The benefits are obvious. No frames wasted means no frames in the ground. A clear win for the environment. But there is also a clear win for us. We have suffered for the last 18 months with a severe crunch on the supply of materials. Had we invested better in a recycling network that could take most postconsumer frames,

I have considered three pledges our industry could make.

1. Commit to reuse all postconsumer waste One of the most obvious pledges during COP26 our industry could make which would have a significant impact would be to commit to ensuring that all post-consumer waste is put back into the circular economy. Most know this as closed-loop manufacturing. It is the process of postconsumer materials being recycled and reused and put back into the manufacturing process. There are parts of fenestration that have closedloop recycling and manufacturing already. I visited Deceuninck’s site in Belgium, pre-pandemic, and was shown their facility which takes post-consumer PVCu frames and turns them into new material to then make fresh profile. At the time of my visit, in 2019, they were in the process of increasing the capacity of the site in Diksmuide. The site in Belgium can process 20,000 tons of post-consumer waste. PVCu systems companies have invested heavily in recycling facilities in recent years. Every major company has at least one site, some have more. As a result, hundreds of thousands of frames are kept from being put in the ground. But not every single frame is salvaged, and some frames do find their way into the ground, contaminating the environment, taking thousands of years to decompose. 56

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to source from.

perhaps we would have had a more reliable supply of materials

All parts of fenestration can pledge to this. Systems companies, fabricators, installers, IGU, hardware, spacer bar suppliers and everyone else in between.

2. Each major IGU company to invest in glass crushers To encourage more of us to reuse our postconsumer waste, we need the infrastructure and services to be able to facilitate it. Whilst PVCu systems companies have been building their recycling plants, nowhere near enough of the sector has been investing in the recycling of glass for the direst purpose of being reused in the sector.

Fenestration Could Make The most obvious and successful example of this is the glass crusher that Morley Glass have on-site at their hub in Leeds. They have had their crusher for three years, collecting post-consumer glass from their customers and putting it to good use. From those three years, the benefits are clear. I wrote a post a few weeks ago about the data they had collected and had verified which proves beyond doubt the benefits of recycling glass. You can read about that here. The data collected is powerful proof that the recycling and reusing of glass have immense benefits. During COP26, it would be a significant

This one is a bold one, but one that can be achieved if we can also agree to ramp up our ability to recycle more. In theory, all the PVCu used for windows that are currently fitted in people’s homes can be recycled and reused again and again for around 10 cycles, giving the material roughly a 300-year lifespan. If we can build the infrastructure required to harvest all post-consumer PVCu frames, then it could be possible for all PVCu systems to be made from 100% recycled content. Now, this is going to require a few things. First, investment at all levels of the supply chain to make sure old frames manage to make their way into the closed-loop system. That means more recycling centres, more ways to deliver and pick up postconsumer frames and job creation. Second, we have to move away from this ridiculous notion that recycled content is somehow a poor alternative to virgin material. It’s not, and the fact of the matter is that we have no time left to debate the issue. We have to start reducing our usage of virgin PVCu, which starts its life off as oil, a fossil fuel, and open our minds to the reality at hand. Third, there is going to need some legislative changes. Currently, BS12608 states that all visible faces of PVC need to be virgin materials. We would need Government to look at this and make the necessary changes to allow systems companies to move a big step forwards.

statement of intent if other major IGU companies were to announce that they too would be investing in glass crushers on their premises. In the case of Morley Glass, they are using the money they raise from selling back the cullet to their own suppliers to build what is called their Green Vision Fund. A growing pot of money that used to invest in local and sustainable projects. It’s a fantastic initiative that benefits the community. What glass companies choose to do with the proceeds from their own glass crushers is up to them, but the key point here is keeping glass in the manufacturing loop and away from causing harm to the environment.

3. All PVCu systems to be made from 100% recycled content

This will also require systems companies to make some big commitments towards this goal. I suspect after the soaring cost of new polymer materials this year many are already looking at ways to use more recycled content to try to stave off rocketing costs. But they, as we all do, have a pressing and immediate responsibility to ensure that their business creates as little impact on the environment as possible. Ending the use of virgin PVCu would be a fantastic starting point. COP26 is going to show us that only the boldest actions will suffice in the battle against climate change. No more words, only changes that will actually make a difference. Whether we like it or not, these actions may mean permanent changes to living our life. Our industry has a role to play in this battle and I hope that COP26 injects some pace and new actions by our sector to do a lot more and quickly. DGB MAGAZINE

TECHNOLOGY

Put Your Business In Control With Onsite 7 Job Management Software As the industry boom continues, it’s never been more important for installers to operate as efficiently as possible. Rhys Hoddinott, CEO at Onsite 7, says: “Job management software is an effective tool in helping installers stay in control of their businesses. We know from customer feedback that Onsite 7 is smart working for busy companies managing multiple jobs with multiple teams and back-end processes.” The Onsite 7 system includes a team calendar where installers can schedule their jobs. It helps ensure a smooth-running schedule and helps them manage their teams’ time efficiently, preventing clashes and gaps in workflows. Installers can allocate actions to a particular team member and track progress so there’s less risk of something being forgotten. Installers can also check every stage of each job from sales and survey to installation and service. It provides an at-a-glance way to see where a job has got to and whether action is needed. The information contained in Onsite 7 helps installers get valuable insight into their business too. There is end-to-end supply chain accountability to help installers keep track of their orders. There are reports, including job costing and profit reports and the software integrates with Xero and QuickBooks accountancy packages to help speed up financial admin processes. Onsite 7 customer Karl Symmonds, Director of Truplas, sums up the difference it makes when he says: “With multiple software systems, paper-based practices and time-consuming tasks we were certainly in the market for that ‘one software package’ to help streamline our activities and also provide us with a link to site activities. Key admin staff and management can now login into the Onsite 7 console from any location to review customers, jobs, active jobs, completed jobs… it is very much software for all… and so easy to use.” Onsite 7 costs £20 + VAT per month per licence, which means it offers exceptional value for money for installers of any size, large or small.

DGB MAGAZINE