The Color of Success

SafeGuard has been confirmed as glass supplier for the second phase of refurbishment work being carried out on the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.

Having already successfully partnered with Roofglaze on the supply of over 700m² of glass for the first phase of the refurbishment project, Steve Vowles, Flatglass Commercial Manager at Roofglaze, explains why SafeGuard was the obvious choice to continue with the project: “We have worked with SafeGuard for the past 14 years and have always received great products and service and have built up a strong relationship with them.  Obviously a project like the Victoria & Albert Museum is high profile, so when we were awarded the contract for Phase One, we knew exactly who we could rely on to deliver what we needed, when we needed it – and we weren’t disappointed.  Things went really well and as we embark on Phase Two we’re delighted it will include another 700m² of 6mm toughened and heat soak tested Guardian Sunguard High Selective Super Neutral 70/37, backed with 6.8mm laminated clear glass, supplied by SafeGuard.

“SafeGuard is a great company to work with.  Over the years we have built a strong relationship and we know we can rely on them to deliver, which is why they are our preferred glass supplier, who we would always use where the project specifications allow.”

Nick Welsh, Managing Director of SafeGuard concludes: “We are delighted to partner with Roofglaze for the second phase at the Victoria & Albert Museum.  They are a great customer of ours who supply superb products and whether that be to a domestic customer or main contractor they always take the same amount of care and attention to detail.  There are a lot of parallels in the way we work and what we want to achieve for our customers, which is why I believe we’ve built such a strong relationship over the years – and we look forward to many more ahead.”

For more information on the work carried out by Roofglaze at the Victoria & Albert Museum project, log on to https://www.roofglaze.co.uk/portfolio/rooflight-solutions-in-museums/

For more information on SafeGuard or its product offering call 01780 751442 or visit www.safe-guard.co.uk

Epwin Window Systems has announced that over 100 businesses had signed up to its new Excellence as Standard (EAS) installer programme by the end of the recent FIT Show, with even more ‘taking the pledge’ since.

Sharn Samra, Epwin Window Systems’ marketing director, said: “Excellence as Standard is so much more than a conventional registered installer programme and the reaction from both installers and fabricators shows that it is just what the industry needs.”

The programme encompasses Epwin Window Systems’ brands Spectus, Profile 22 and Swish and advocates ‘excellence’ at every stage of the project from manufacturing through to installation in a consumer’s home.

In order to obtain and preserve EAS Chartered Installer status, Epwin says that installers will need to demonstrate that they adhere to a 12 point charter that shows they are committed to raising standards across the industry and delivering an outstanding customer experience.

In return, they will have access to support and benefits including; effective lead generation, quality products, the EAS Academy, marketing support, partner benefits and the support team, that are designed to drive quality and sales.

The programme is being run in partnership with Fensa and members will receive a card branded with both Fensa and Excellence as Standard that demonstrates the connection.

Sharn concluded: “We believe Excellence as Standard will re-define the benchmark in the home improvement industry and the sign up rate to date proves there’s a real appetite for quality. I would urge any installer who shares our commitment to driving standards and success to take the pledge and join us today for the start of a very exciting journey.”

The post Installers sign up for EAS programme appeared first on Glass & Glazing Products Magazine (GGP).

Belfast’s UCS Design Group is celebrating 10 years of partnership with Spectus Systems. UCS’s Managing Director Mark Scullion was presented with an award to mark the anniversary at the FIT Show by Epwin Windows Systems’ Managing Director Clare O’Hara and Sales Director Paul Lindsay. Mark said: “We are delighted to have reached such a milestone. We simply love working with Spectus and their product quality and support is superb.” Paul commented: “We are thrilled to be marking a ten year partnership with UCS, they are a wonderful example of how a company can grow and develop in their market for more than ten years. They have always strived to be customer focused, continually looking for ways to improve their service levels and backup support to customers, and we are very lucky to have them as a Spectus customer.”

When asked what has made the partnership so enduring, Mark highlights two factors.

The first is the quality and integrity of the Spectus brand and product range. “The Spectus name is trusted by our customers and the products sell themselves.” he says.

The second factor is the quality of the back up and marketing support offered by the systems house. “We have a strong customer service ethic at UCS which is matched by Spectus’,” comments Mark. “We get excellent support from the Spectus team and their strong marketing support has helped us secure many sales over the years.”

Established over ten years ago, UCS operates from a 25,000 sq ft factory with a conservatory village, showroom and trade counter on a three acre site in Belfast. It also has a depot and showroom in Dublin. It is a trade supplier and works with window companies, trade window and conservatory installers, builders, local councils, education and health authorities and housing associations. The company’s core business was originally conservatories, but soon found that the Spectus brand offered more for their customers. It has now become their flagship product, accounting for 80% of the business. The company manufactures around 500 frames a week using Spectus’ Elite 63, Elite 70 and Flush Tilt and Turn systems.

Spectus places an emphasis on making its trade partners’ lives easier. From the flexibility of its systems and ancillaries to its manufacturing standards, efficient, on-time, in-full deliveries, marketing and training support and back up engineering support, it’s a company that knows what fabricators need. And as UCS Design Group’s ten year partnership shows, it’s an approach that helps businesses to grow and inspires long term trust and loyalty too.

www.spectus.co.uk

Prefix has announced that it came away from this year’s FIT Show with a ‘large number’ of qualified leads and ‘considerable interest’ in its new products, which include developments for the outdoor living market and residential glazing systems, and the formal launch of its hybrid Warmroof.

According to Prefix, which invested in its largest ever stand for the FIT Show this year, the introduction of its outdoor living range in 2016 has been a ‘major plus’ and there was considerable interest shown in both its Verandah solution and new Kommerling Pergola at the exhibition. The company said that the FIT Show was also the perfect platform to launch its Warmroof, which was previewed at Telford last year, and which has undergone extensive ‘in the field’ testing over the last 12 months.

Opus aluminium and timber composite full height glazing also formed part of the hybrid Warmroof that was showcased at the exhibition, along with bi-folding doors from the same suite. Other glazing systems included the Alitherm 47 heritage window and the VS600 vertical sliding window from Smart Systems, which formed part of a traditional orangery, harnessing the iX250 orangery deck. This was glazed with two Ultrasky lanterns with two different finishes internally, one in contemporary aluminium, the other in the Opus luxurious hardwood.

The trend towards aluminium was also highlighted with the launch of Urbanroom, said to be a contemporary twist on the traditional conservatory, using a dedicated deep section gutter shroud, Ultrasky lantern roof, internal pelmet and full height glazing panels, all in sky blue from the Smart Systems Sensations range. Prefix Systems said that this part of the stand focused heavily on its ‘full kit’ solution, with an extensive range of Smart aluminium products coupled with glazed roofing solutions.

Chris Baron and Chris Cooke, co-directors of Prefix Systems, commented: “The FIT Show has once again proved that customers have a thirst for new products and we’ve certainly satisfied that with developments spanning a number of market segments. We’re now firmly cemented as a business that specialises in the extended living space and aluminium residential sectors, with a number of exclusive products to our name.”

www.prefixsystems.co.uk

The post Prefix reports successful FIT Show appeared first on Glass & Glazing Products Magazine (GGP).

Leading sustainable building envelope specialist, Schueco UK, has announced that as a system supplier two more of its popular sliding door systems – the Schueco ASS 70.HI lift/slide door and the Schueco ASS 70 FD folding/sliding door – have been awarded Q Mark Product Certification by Exova BM Trada.

The Q Mark Product Certification Scheme covers not just product quality – in areas such as weather performance, mechanical strength, operating forces, corrosion resistance of fittings and PAS 24 security – but also the integrity of the fabricator’s manufacturing process.

One particular benefit of Q Mark Certification is that in addition to providing customers with a valuable assurance of quality, it allows Q-Marked firms to bid for work on Secured by Design projects, opening up a whole new market for Schueco’s fabricator partners.

The police’s Secured by Design initiative, in operation now for over ten years, has been credited with helping to substantially reduce break-ins and burglaries. Thus, windows and doors complying with SBD specifications form part of the front line against unlawful entry and can help home-owners to reduce household insurance premiums.

For more information on the whole range of sliding and folding doors from Schueco UK, please email mkinfobox@schueco.com

www.schueco.co.uk

The small matter of a long overdue high-speed broadband installation may be seen by some as the conclusion of a year-long transformation of the former City Beads Halo fabricator into part of The Glazerite UK Group but in many ways, it was more like the beginning.

“Up to then, everything had been paper-based for the 32 years of our existence,” Mark Smith, former MD of the Peterborough company and now director designate of the new division, Glazerite East, explained: “Only when that changed could we really begin to move forward. It was an immensely frustrating time for all but the progress since then has been massive.”

Of course, Glazerite was progressing the transformation on many other fronts during the wait, not least in machinery upgrades, and over £125,000 was spent on new quad and crucifix welders from Winmac as soon as the ink was dry on the acquisition deal. Beyond that, another £50,000 went on bringing the IT in line with the existing Glazerite systems and more was spent on signage, vehicle livery and new windows and doors to bring the site inline with the new group brand.

Group Director Jason Thompson said the lack of broadband strength, and the delay in the provider remedying the problem were a major setback: “This meant we were not able to introduce our Evonet management and other systems for the better part of a year. However, we made the best use of that time, not only implementing the ‘hard’ changes like upgrading the building and machinery, but also introducing the Glazerite culture among the workforce.

“We began with familiarising all the staff with Glazerite and assuring them of our long-term commitment to the business as well as outlining our short and medium term plans. We have also been able to improve both their working conditions and terms of employment. The other side of the equation is of course the existing customer base and, even before the IT issue was solved, the feedback from them was very encouraging and has gone on getting better since then.”

Now, just as at Glazerite’s other production sites, everything is bar-coded across the whole of production and dispatch so that, along with Evonet, there is full transparency and accountability throughout.

Mark Smith continued: “Now that all the systems are in place, we and our customers are beginning to see the real benefits of the acquisition. Lead times have been brought down in line with the rest of the group, full online quoting and ordering is available to all customers and, most importantly, they all have full access to one of the most comprehensive product ranges in the industry, all via this one single point of contact.  Not to mention the great marketing support that is now available to our installers, being part of the group really does open up so many opportunities to our installers ”

This means the former City Beads customers can now not only offer the full range of mainstream VEKA systems but also its sliding sash and Imagine bi-fold, patio and flush doors, Warmcore windows and bi-folds and all Residence9 and Solidor products. By the same token the rest of the group now has access to the Halo range from Glazerite East’s ongoing operation. Another benefit for Peterboroughcustomers however is that, whether they are working with mainstream VEKA or Halo systems, they can apply to become part of the Independent Network (formerly known as Network VEKA) via Glazerite’s long-standing relationship with the organisation.

Mark Smith concluded: “We see a great future as part of the Glazerite UK Group. The company has already shown that it is prepared to invest time, money and commitment into bringing this new division into line with the standards set by the rest of the group, and we can see that what has happened so far is only the beginning.”

The Glazerite UK Group is VEKA’s largest trade fabricator in the UK and a long-standing Network VEKA member. It offers a fully nationwide service based on manufacturing units in Northants, Peterborough and Greater Manchester as well as its South West distribution hub in Bristol serving South Wales and The West of England.