Does Our Industry Have It’s Work-Life Balance Sorted?

Many of us in this industry work very hard indeed. Whether it’s business leaders working to diversify and grow their companies, fabricators on the shop floor staying late to fulfil order delivery deadlines, office staff pricing late to make sure installers get their prices to home owners. Many go above and beyond what they’re contracted to do to help push their companies and our industry onwards.

It’s an admirable thing. I know first hand how many hours I put in in all the things I do, be it in my online ventures or at the family run installations business. But, I have questioned in recent years whether my work-life balance is in fact balanced. And after my recent visit to the FIT Show this year, and observing the conversations that I did, I don’t think we do.

Too much work, not enough down time

In my time in this industry, as I am sure is the same in other industries, there is a lot of personal sacrifice from many who work in our sector. Be it on the factory floor up to the boardroom and all other positions in between. It is to be respected and admired, but there should be a limit to what we do in our work lives.

During my time and conversations over the three days at this year’s FIT Show it became apparent how many of us spent our quality time with loved ones at the desk or on screens instead. On the Friday I was having a conversation with a couple of industry friends of mine where we were discussing this very topic and they agreed (I think) with my thoughts on this.

Even on Twitter there are plenty of my industry friends on there who regularly share that they are working, even on a Saturday or a Sunday. It’s great that they’re busy, but could there be someone else in their lives wanting some of that weekend attention instead?

I remember about three years ago where I nearly worked myself into the ground. We were slammed at our family installations business, my actual day job, as well as putting big hours into DGB and the NFAs. By the end of the year I remember feeling absolutely horrendous. I had hardly had any holiday time. We moved in just months before so money for a holiday abroad wasn’t an option. But day after day after day was spent in front of screens and pricing notes. I didn’t spend anywhere near the time I should have done with Soph, family and friends. At the end of that year, feeling utterly run down and exhausted, I promised to Soph and myself that I wouldn’t do this to myself again. It’s just work, it will all get done at some point, not everything needs to be done right away and that I need to give myself some downtime with my loved ones.

Since then, I would like to think I have got my work-life balance back to some sort of normality. As a side note, if you’re reading this at your desk and it’s Saturday or Sunday afternoon and you don’t actually need to be there, GO HOME!

It’s just a job

I think we need to remember that this is all indeed just a job. Whether you’re in the industry media, an installer, a surveyor, a business owner or anything else, this really is just a job. I get that business owners will have emotional connections to the things they have built. I do with all the things I have built. But why do we do what we do? It’s to make money yes. But what for? For security and the wellbeing of our loved ones. To go out and explore the world. To go travelling. To eat. To drink. To socialise. To watch films. To drive exciting cars. To be comfortable. If you already have that via your job, then you’re in a better position than most and should make the most of it.

At the end of the day we should be working to live, not be living to work. There is so much in this world to enjoy, be it on our own or with others. Work, jobs, business should not be the thing that dictates how we live, or at least our time off.

So, remember people, it’s just a job. The really important things are the people you go home to everyday. Sometimes I think we all too easily forget that.

When Whipps Cross Hospital in East London required replacement windows as part of a wider refurbishment of its wards, they needed a solution which would offer all the benefits of new PVC-U windows, but wouldn’t look out of place in the Grade II listed building. The contractor for the job, SEH Commercial, recommended REHAU’s HERITAGE range, which perfectly combines traditional sash window designs with the latest PVC-U technology.

Built just before the turn of the twentieth century as an infirmary, Whipps Cross Hospital in Leytonstone is one of the most iconic hospitals in the UK with its Renaissance-inspired main entrance, majestic towers and tiered covered walkways.

Managed by Barts Health NHS Trust, Whipps Cross Hospital is committed to providing a modern environment for its growing patient population and recently undertook a major project to refurbish its Bracken, Birch and Conifer wards, as well as the Ultrasound and Breast Screening Unit. As part of the project, the windows needed replacing in each ward.

REHAU’s HERITAGE window system was developed in consultation with conservation bodies and housing associations to offer the most authentic design and styling on the market, while also delivering on energy efficiency, security whilst considerabley reducing ongoing costs for maintainance.

The HERITAGE sash windows have all the sight-lines of a traditional timber box sash window – in 42mm, 52mm and 62mm sashes – with a deep heritage bottom rail. The exteriors of the windows have putty-line aesthetics to further enhance the authentic design, and the windows are available in a range of finishes. This includes classic white, and woodgrain finishes like Rosewood, Golden Oak, Clotted Cream and Simply White grain to replicate a traditional timber look if required.

As well as looking the part, the HERITAGE windows range offers superior thermal insulation properties thanks to its triple chambered profiles which achieve an ‘A’ Window Energy Rating (WER) using standard components and without the need for thermal inserts. The windows have triple brush seals for superior draught proofing too. These features help to create a comfortable environment for patients and reduce heating costs for the Trust as heat loss is minimised.

HERITAGE windows also provide excellent sound insulation, which can positively contribute to quieter, more restful spaces for patients.

One of the major challenges of the refurbishment project at Whipps Cross Hospital was that it was taking place in a 24/7 environment, where work needed to be carefully scheduled to minimise the impact on patients and their care. As such, SEH Commercial were often required to work at night and at weekends to reduce disruption. The HERITAGE window system allows for easy installation, ensuring the contractors could fit the new windows quickly and efficiently within the limited access times available.

Kevin O’Neill, Commercial Manager at REHAU said: “Our HERITAGE range is very popular for installations like Whipps Cross Hospital where customers want to improve the performance of their windows but don’t want to compromise on the aesthetics of their building. HERITAGE really offers the best of both worlds, allowing sash windows to be replaced affordably and efficiently without impacting protected period features.”

Aluminium systems company, Reynaers, has benefited from a brand new warehouse facility at its new premises in Birmingham.

More than £6 million has been invested by Reynaers into the new HQ in Hollymoor Way, Northfield, reportedly thanks to ‘ongoing success in the UK market’.

Hugh Moss, head of marketing at Reynaers, said: “The new warehouse has meant that our stock holding capacity has increased by almost 150%. This has allowed us to stock a more comprehensive range of systems and colours, reducing lead times to customers and increased our offerings in terms of stock.”

A dedicated showroom featuring Reynaers’ commercial, trade and high-end domestic products is now being built, as well as a brand new training centre and new installation rig designed for development, training and testing.

Further reinforcing its presence in the trade sector, Reynaers also exhibited its products for the first time at last month’s FIT Show.

www.reynaers.co.uk

The post New warehouse for Reynaers appeared first on Glass & Glazing Products Magazine (GGP).

Liniar’s new foiling and lamination facility

HL Plastics, the company behind the Liniar brand, has opened its new state-of-the-art foiling and lamination plant as part of ongoing expansion plans.

The division was previously located a few miles away from the rest of the operation at premises in Somercotes, but a smooth move to the main site at Denby was completed in just eight days, with no loss of production time.

A brand new WPR machine has also been installed as part of the new set-up in order to increase the facility’s capacity.

The plant is now located in the former warehouse building at HL’s Derbyshire headquarters, which became vacant after the existing operation moved into the impressive new 178,000 ft² Liniar House building, adjacent to the factory and mixing plant.

“This move makes perfect commercial sense,” said HL’s managing director, Martin Thurley.

“The new warehouse building allows us to have the majority of our manufacturing divisions all on one site. This removes the cost of additional transport and man hours spent shunting materials between the two locations and keeps in line with our philosophy of being efficient and eco-friendly.

“The layout of the lamination plant has been specifically designed to maximise throughput of our foiled profiles for maximum efficiency and the additional WPR machine has been necessitated by the growing demand for coloured Liniar products.

“Due to this increase in demand for a wider choice of colours, we’ve now dedicated one of the machines for specials, which is great news for customers.”

Liniar House, incorporating new showrooms for both Liniar and Avantek Machinery, will be officially opened in September.

The post Liniar opens new lamination facility appeared first on Glass & Glazing Products Magazine (GGP).

Leading door panel and composite door manufacturer Hurst Plastics has bolstered its operations with the appointment of Steph Van Heerden within its sales team.

South African born Steph is a well-known and experienced figure in the glazing industry. His recruitment as Regional Business Manager, covering Scotland and the North West, is part of Hurst Plastics’ ambitious growth plans to serve a greater network of customers nationally.

Steph joins Hurst Plastics’ established sales team during an intensive period of investment within the business. The investment programme is enabling Hurst to consistently deliver a superior quality product and high levels of service, whilst extending its geographical reach throughout the UK.

Mark Atkinson, Sales Director at Hurst Plastics, commented: “We are delighted to welcome Steph to Hurst Plastics. He is a highly regarded sales professional and will be a great asset to our team as we strive to secure new business and develop stronger connections with more customers nationally. We value everyone who works for Hurst and we’re pleased to draw high calibre people to the business with attractive benefits and the opportunity for greater career development.”

“Now in our 20^th year, we’re incredibly proud to have experienced significant growth in every area of our business over the last 12 months. This is, in no small measure, down to the efforts of our growing sales and customer service teams, who are dedicated to delivering an industry-leading service.

“Recently, we have also made a substantial investment in to new vehicles for our national sales team and our transport department. By delivering more than 95% of our doors on our own fleet, we will be able to maintain our on-time in-full record of above 98.5%. With this boost to the sales team and more investments planned, it’s sure to be another successful year for Hurst!”

Steph said: “Hurst Plastics is one of the industry’s most established composite door and door panel manufacturers and I am really enthusiastic about this role. Hurst has a fantastic product range and a terrific team of people and I’m looking forward to developing more business opportunities in the north for the company. Hurst is the best firm that I have worked for since I moved to the UK from South Africa in 2005 – the company looks after staff, innovates and invests in its products and provides a great level of support, which sets it apart within the industry. I’m genuinely excited to be involved.”

www.hurst-plastics.co.uk

Universal Trade Frames is the first Solidor customer to feature in Solidor’s new #SolidorStyleWall campaign, which aims to showcase the outstanding projects Solidor installers are completing every day all over the country.

Solidor followers share a lot of project images on Twitter. Now Solidor is showcasing the best on #SolidorStyleWall and featuring the very best in its advertising and marketing. They will be professionally photographed, and the company that submitted the image will be credited wherever the image appears. Installers also gain by having excellent professional photography of their project.

Universal is the first to appear in Solidor’s advertising, with a stunning Chartwell Green stable door installed in a Welsh cottage. Universal is a long standing trade supplier in Shrewsbury whose seven year relationship with Solidor is going from strength to strength.

Universal Sales & Marketing Manager Kevin Jennings says: “Solidor is the best door on the market. The range is outstanding, with a great selection of styles, colours and glass designs to choose from.

“Solidor is really easy to deal with and the service we get is second to none,” adds Kevin. “They’re a great partner for us and our installer customers too.”

Solidor Head of Group Marketing Gareth Busson says: “We wouldn’t be where we are today without our band of passionate customers, and we want to show the industry exactly what they can do with our doors. What we’re seeing already is phenomenal – Universal’s project is really stunning – so we’re excited to see what else our customers come up with!”

For more about Universal Trade Frames call 01743 442244, or visit www.utfl.co.uk.

To find out more about Solidor visit www.solidor.co.uk, call 01782 950 941, or follow @SolidorLtd on Twitter.

Warm edge experts Edgetech joined delegates from around the world at China Glass, one of the biggest dates in the global glass industry’s calendar.

Held each year in Beijing or Shanghai, the massive trade show reliably draws visitors in excess of thirty thousand, and this year featured 800 exhibiting companies from over thirty countries.

Edgetech, which trades under the name of parent company Quanex in China, attracted attention from new prospects and existing customers alike with its impressive warm edge offerings, including its TruPlas, Dura, and flagship Super Spacer products.

Of particular interest was an eye-catching curved IGU display, made with Super Spacer TriSeal.

Chris Alderson, Managing Director for the UK and Asia Pacific, commented: “The fact this was our seventh appearance at China Glass speaks volumes about how valuable the show is for our business.

“It gives us the opportunity to meet thousands of new prospects from every continent on the planet – and if thirty years of talking to people about Super Spacer and our other best-in-class products has taught us anything, it’s that seeing their phenomenal performance in person is often enough to persuade potential customers to make the switch.

“It was fantastic meeting so many glazing professionals from all around the world, and we look forward to developing the new contacts we made into lasting, mutually profitable relationships.”

Edgetech’s Super Spacer is the leading foam warm edge spacer product on the market, offering easy application, 100% memory and exceptional thermal efficiency and condensation resistance. The firm also manufactures an extensive range of other flexible components, including its commercial-focused TriSeal and T-Spacer and conservation-friendly Heritage product, as well as a number of rigid products.

In 2011, Edgetech was acquired by billion-dollar building products giant Quanex. Soon after, Edgetech was merged with Truseal to create the world’s largest warm edge manufacturing site. Edgetech now has three spacer manufacturing facilities located in the USA, UK and Germany and between the sites in excess of 300 million metres of spacer is produced every year.

For more information on Edgetech please visit: www.edgetechig.co.uk

London Architectural Glass (LAG) supplies a full range of glass products and services to the commercial, residential, educational and heritage architectural markets throughout the UK. Recognising the importance of both thermal performance and great looks, the company uses SWISSPACER ULTIMATE 32mm warm edge spacer bars in its IGUs.

LAG Sales and Estimating Manager, Dylan Henderson confirms they use ULTIMATE because of its clean lines, minimalistic look, unmatched colour range and long-lasting energy efficiency. Dylan explains: “In the UK’s changeable climate, it makes sense to maximise thermal performance. We supply the highest energy rated products so SWISSPACER is the obvious choice. Their state of the art composite material dramatically reduces heat loss and condensation issues, and offers long lasting performance. It also looks modern and sophisticated, and makes the internal face warmer to touch.”

LAG also appreciates SWISSPACER’s market-leading choice of 19 widths, which means they can specify exactly what they need for each job. “We usually order the 32mm in black,” continues Dylan, “as it is perfect for our specialist door systems and hidden framework. It looks great and the production line loves it, as it saves time (and money) previously spent joining narrower bars. ULTIMATE should be branded the ‘designer’ spacer bar!”

To learn more about London Architectural Glass visit www.lag.glass.

For more on SWISSPACER’s range of warm edge spacer bars call its new HQ on 01908 335190, visit www.swisspacer.com or follow @Ultimate_Spacer.

Image Above: Zac Nedimovic – Astraseal Sales and Marketing Manager

Astraseal, one of the UK’s leading manufacturers and suppliers of uPVC and aluminium has become the first fabricator to use STEM, the brand-new, integrated email marketing platform for Salestracker from Insight Data.

STEM replaces Astraseal’s existing platform Campaign Monitor and allows the fabricator to design, build and send email campaigns from directly inside Salestracker, using Insight Data’s prospect data for the fenestration and wider construction industries.

“Email marketing is a very powerful tool for us at Astraseal as it allows us to promote new products and product updates, value-added services and promotions directly to both active and potential clients,” comments Zac Nedimovic, Sales and Marketing Manager at Astraseal. “STEM has transformed our email strategy, as we have much more control to design bespoke campaigns, using a targeted and accurate data list and then capture any enquiries or leads all directly in Salestracker. The design time saved and linked monitoring capability with Salestracker is invaluable, it has produced some impressive results.”

Insight Data Operations Manager, Jade Greenhow comments: “We’re delighted Astraseal has become the first to adopt STEM and is already seeing its benefits. As a Salestracker user, Astraseal previously had the laborious task of exporting their data lists from Salestracker to then import them into a separate email platform. STEM eliminates this by offering a powerful email platform directly in Salestracker, allowing users to create campaigns, manage responses and distribute any leads to their sales team, keeping track of every enquiry.”

Astraseal is just one of the well-respected names who trust Salestracker for their industry-specific prospect data. Using pioneering ‘live data’ which is built from a variety of verification methods to ensure its accuracy, Salestracker is claimed to vastly improve marketing responses. With the addition of STEM, Salestracker now offers an online database, a powerful CRM system and an integrated email marketing platform.

For a demo of Salestracker and STEM, contact Insight Data on 01934 808293or via email at hello@insightdata.co.uk.