OnLevel’s ‘green’ commitment

OnLevel says it has made a commitment to ‘environmental sensitivity’ by investing in hybrid cars for its sales staff.

Gary Dean, MD, said: “It’s easy to say things and claim things; what’s important is to say what you believe in and then do what you say you believe in.”

OnLevel has purchased the new Kia Niro hybrid cars and says it will invest in more hybrid and EV solutions as the team grows.

Gary added: “We look to reduce our environmental impact in all aspects of the business from the office and warehouse environments to the production methods and carbon footprint of our raw materials – one key aspect of this is the localisation of production which means that over 85% of our purchase spend is within Europe and the UK. We can’t reconcile shipping products half way around the world when high quality production with less damaging impact is on our doorstep. The quick buck is quick to earn but it’s cost has a long tale…. if at OnLevel we don’t have a concern about the future, then we lose the right for customers to be concerned about our success. Business can be fair and good for everyone and still grow, this is our fundamental view.”

The post OnLevel’s ‘green’ commitment appeared first on Glass & Glazing Products Magazine (GGP).

Image Above: John Declerck, Group Chief Executive of Stevenswood

Stevenswood is pleased to announce the successful acquisition of Sameday Holdings Limited (Sameday), continuing its goal to become the leading trade counter distributor in the UK.

Established in 2006, Sameday operates a network of seven branches in the west of England, from Bristol to Reading, distributing windows, doors and conservatory roofs to the installer market. Headquarted in Cheltenham, the company employs 20 people.

Sameday’s trade counters are highly geographically complementary; they provide Stevenswood with the perfect opportunity for further expansion and to strengthen its presence in the West.  The new combined group will continue to be headquarted in Livingston and will have over 37 branches across the UK, generating revenues of over £45m and employing over 180 people. Sameday’s Managing Director, Mike Woodend, will join the Stevenswood senior management team to contribute the combined company’s growth strategy, which includes plans to open several new branches later this year.

John Declerck, Group Chief Executive of Stevenswood said, “Our goal is to increase our network of trade centres over the next five years, to become the leading trade counter distributor in the UK. We aim to achieve this through a mix of acquisition, new sites and organic growth. Sameday Trade Frames completes a gap in our offering and takes us one step closer to achieving this, while providing the widest product range and highest levels of customer service in the industry.”

Justin Matravers, founder of Sameday added, “The coming together of Sameday and Stevenswood is the logical progression for the strong business that Mike and I have developed over many years. The alignment of our goals, values and vision, offers significant benefits for both organisations. I am confident that Sameday is in good hands and wish the enlarged group every success going forward.”

Stevenswood and Cairngorm Capital were advised on this transaction by PwC (financial and tax) and Bond Dickinson (legal). Sameday was advised by Napthens (legal). Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank Group provided working capital facilities to support the combined group.

www.stevenswood.co.uk

www.samedaytradeframes.com

www.cairngormcapital.com

Cambridgeshire based timber window and door hardware specialist, Mighton Products, has extended its partnership with Anker Stuy Verven BV to include a larger range of the Dutch paint and coatings manufacturer’s products. Mighton will now add the full range of specialist timber treatments, including interior finishes, to its established range of paints and coatings that are finding increasing favour with joinery manufacturers. Plans also include the addition of paints and coatings for other, non-timber, applications.

Mighton has been distributing Anker Stuy products to its specialist joinery customers with next day delivery and a simple pricing structure which, with the development of products specifically developed for the UK, has drawn excellent response from customers resulting in significant sales growth. Mighton Chairman Mike Derham has now committed the company to develop additional markets such as for timber architectural façades, for which Anker Stuy products have been specified with great success. These include protection of the extensive timber façade of Cheshire’s Lymm Fire Station, which has won praise for its avant-garde design and execution.

“We have very quickly developed an excellent working rapport with Anker Stuy which has enabled us to develop our coatings division with confidence,” said Mike Derham. “This has led to us extending the relationship earlier and further than we had anticipated. The company has an excellent research and development facility that is both technically brilliant and highly responsive to the specific needs of our UK customers.”

For Anker Stuy, Emile Stuy said that the partnership has matured very quickly and added: “Mighton has shown a very real understanding of the needs of its customers in terms of coatings and paints. The company is working with our technical departments to develop new and innovative products for the UK that extend high performance whilst also offering ease of application. We will introduce a number of new products with Mighton in coming months.”

 www.mightonproducts.com

Picture above: Hazlemere Installation Manager Alan Layton & Operations Director Jason Bradshaw with DIY SOS Team.

Hazlmere Window Company Ltd made its prime-time TV debut this month, appearing on Big Build DIY SOS to support a local project just around the corner from the company’s Welwyn Garden City showroom.

The BBC 1 DIY SOS show aired at 9pm on Thursday 15th June 2017, featuring the home transformation project for Sascha Koutrouza, a severely ill former midwife. The challenge was to create sufficient room to enable special medical equipment to be installed and permit proper treatment for Sascha’s illness in the comfort of her home.

The specialist window and door team from Hazlemere, which is part of the Conservatory Outlet Network of retailers, comprised of Senior Installer John Layton, Installation Manager Alan Layton, Operations Director Jason Bradshaw and Fitter Michal Kowalczyk. The team worked tremendously hard from 23rd August to 1st September 2016, offering their highly experienced craftsmanship and fitting knowledge to supply and fit all the new replacement windows and doors needed for the project.

Supported by the generosity of their uPVC manufacturing partner Conservatory Outlet (Wakefield) and double glazed sealed unit manufacturer Nicholls and Clarke (Fareham), the team at Hazlemere were able to donate both the products and their labour free of charge to help the local family.

Mark Austin, Sales and Marketing Director for Hazlemere Window Company said “With the Koutrouza family living just round the corner from our showroom, we knew that we wanted to offer our support as soon as we heard about their situation.

Our team have worked so hard to help finish the project, and although we have offered our services free of charge, the installation has been hugely rewarding. It means a lot to us to be able to help a local family in need.

On behalf of the Hazlemere team, we’d like to sincerely thank both Conservatory Outlet and Nicholls and Clarke for playing no small part in enabling us to complete the project, as well as wishing the Koutrouza family all the best in their new home.”

Conservatory Outlet Managing Director Michael Giscombe added “It’s no surprise to us that the team at Hazlemere have offered their help to this project. The Hazlemere ethos has always been to provide complete care to their customers, and support their local community. We were delighted to assist with their requirements and are really proud of their efforts. It’s truly great to see our Network members making a difference to the lives of people within their local community.”

For more information please visit: www.hazlemere.co.uk

Fast-moving Bristol fabricator The Window Outlet has launched a state-of-the-art patio door builder, an online application that allows installers to design patio door products then submit them for a quote: http://go-build.it/#/the-window-outlet/configure/patio-doors

The system is designed to significantly streamline the quote and product ordering process, making it quicker and easier than ever to buy from a business already renowned for its commitment to customer service.

“The builder is also a huge help at our end,” explains company MD Ben Warren. “Quotes submitted in pencil on the back of an envelope might feel like the simplest way to make enquiries, but often that’s not the case.

“In many of cases, installers leave out key bits of information, which can then cause a lot of time-consuming back-and-forth to get the order right. With the builder, we can make sure we get all the information we need first time, saving time for ourselves and the customer in the long run.”

The patio door builder joins The Window Outlet’s existing bifold builder, which provides the same quick, convenient user experience for installers looking to buy bifold doors.

Rapidly approaching £3M turnover after only two-and-a-half years of trading, The Window Outlet is one of the fastest growing fabricators in the UK. Based in Bristol and supplying to installers nationwide, The Window Outlet is known not only for its high-end range of aluminium windows and doors from AluK, Reynaers, Exlabesa and Schüco but its fast lead times and 24-hour turnarounds on quotes.

For more information visit www.the-window-outlet.co.uk or call 0117 405 8488

Picture above: Heather Cole of Windowbase with Mr and Mrs FIT.

Windowbase, the UK’s only prospect data supplier 100% dedicated to the window market, has once again had a successful and rewarding visit to the FIT Show. The Windowbase stand offered potential customers the chance to try the national window database for themselves, for free. That’s over 14,000 current, accurate-as-possible records of companies. Visitors were able to see for themselves just how simple it is to select just the prospects they need, whether they want to filter information by location, systems or company size.

The new location at the NEC was popular with visitors and Windowbase staff alike. Neil Parsonson, Windowbase Database Manager, comments: “We loved the new location – it was very well organised and everything went smoothly. Visitors loved our ‘Lovehearts’ giveaways too! The stand was constantly busy and we have increased the number of leads on the last FIT Show. We also made several deals at the show, which more than covered our costs. We’re now looking forward to the 2019 show – in fact we’ve already booked our place!”

For more information on how Windowbase can help you select relevant and up-to-date leads visit www.windowbase.info or call on 01453 845717

Picture above: Lock Lock at the FIT Show 2017

The 2017 FIT Show was another spectacularly successful event for Brisant Secure. Brisant’s stand was in a prime spot at the entrance to the VIP area, visible the length of the main aisle in Hall 7. It won the Most Creative Use of Shell Award too, for the design featuring a stunning mega-sized screen which formed the back wall of the stand.

But stunning though the stand was, it was Lock-Lock, Brisant Secure’s new security handle, which had everybody talking. The handle not only looks great, its patented design protects against cylinder picking, bumping, drilling and snapping. It breezed through the two star security test and it’s believed that new security standards will have to be developed to reflect its ‘real life’ security. Flick the switch on the inside handle and you activate Lock-Lock’s unique spindle block, so the door can’t be opened from the outside, even if the cylinder is breached. If the spindle can’t be turned the door won’t open. And it’s also available for doors that are only ever locked from the inside, so no key is required: just the internal switch – which makes it ideal for use on conservatory, patio, bi-fold and double doors.

Lock-Lock was also featured by Solidor, the official launch partner for the FIT Show, and it appeared on several other companies’ stands too. Lock-Lock is available from June in a range of finishes. It fits both PVC-U and composite doors, with reinforced M6 bolt fixing options in both 122mm and 211mm. A Lever Pad option will also be available.

To find out what selling real-life security can do for your business call 01924 410 200, visit www.ultion-lock.co.uk or follow @UltionLock on Twitter.

Guests at this year’s FIT Show Gala Dinner have reached into their pockets to raise a massive £15,233.57 following a heart-wrenching appeal for donations to Macmillan Nurses made during the event by Gary Morton, well known for his own charity work through GM Fundraising.

With a call for donations traditionally being made to raise funds for a cause close to the hearts of people connected with the window and door industry, this year Macmillan Nurses was chosen by Leon Day, former owner and managing director of Universal Arches, who sadly lost his partner Jo to cancer earlier this year.

Acknowledging the generosity of guests Leon said: “It’s difficult to put into words the magnitude of this incredible gesture and with other donations, we’re now over £19,000 raised for Macmillan who did so much to help Jo, particularly in the latter days. On behalf of Jo’s family and myself, I’d like to thank everyone, yet again this industry has shown how generous it can be.”

The JustGiving page (www.justgiving.com/fundraising/leon-day1) for Jo will remain open for a while yet should anyone else like to contribute to this emotive cause.