Morley MD’s a blinding dancer

Ian Short and his dance partner, Olivia Choi, who won the Variety Strictly Ballroom competition and raised more than £10,000 for the children’s charity

Integral blinds manufacturer Morley Glass & Glazing’s managing director, Ian Short, has been crowned the winner in the Variety’s Strictly Ballroom competition and raised more than £10,000 for the children’s charity.

Ian was one of 10 amateur dancers who, alongside their professional dance partners, trained for three months before competing in front of a star-studded judging panel, featuring the X Factor’s Ray Quinn, choreographer Ian Banham and professional dancer, Jemma Girling. The charity event, which was hosted by TV presenter Gethin Jones, raised a total of £39,500, which is enough to buy a new Sunshine Coach.

Commenting on his achievement, Ian said: “This has been a life changing experience; I’ve lost four stone in weight, stopped smoking, and helped to raise more than £10,000 for a fabulous cause. It’s been completely humbling and I am so grateful to everyone who sponsored and supported me and my dance partner, Olivia Choi, from the North Leeds Dance Academy. We were absolutely thrilled to win both the judges’ and audience trophies.”

Ian and Olivia danced the samba and have already committed to entering more dance competitions and will “keeeep dancing”.

Variety provides practical, tangible help to children in the UK coping with sickness, disability or disadvantage.

To sponsor Ian visit https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/ian-short5.

The post Morley MD’s a blinding dancer appeared first on Glass & Glazing Products Magazine (GGP).

GAP Preston following ‘mini makeover’

Following GAP’s acquisition of SIG Building Plastics & Windows in August, the company says it has been ‘working non-stop’ to welcome all its new team members and customers on board, with the GAP directors visiting all 66 new depots, ‘from Inverness to the Isle of Wight and everywhere in-between’.

Simon Bird, GAP’s joint founder commented: “We’ve been hugely impressed so far by the knowledge and talent of our new team, together with their desire to grasp this unique chance. We’ve also been taken aback by the size of opportunity this deal has presented GAP. The quality of the team that has joined, together with the strategic locations of the new depots, has provided GAP a game changing opportunity to become the number one manufacturer and distributor of PVC-U building products for quality, service and choice.”

Whilst planning and preparation started well in advance of the deal, further investment has continued in logistics and manufacturing to ensure the new combined network of 112 depots can provide customers with what they need when they need it, from small traders to national house builders.

Phase one of the integration involves the new depots benefitting from a ‘mini makeover’, new signage and team workwear. The scale of the change is illustrated by the huge workwear order placed by GAP for 805 t-shirts, 805 polo shirts, 270 jackets, 532 jumpers, 330 hoodies, 810 pairs of trousers and 390 pairs of shorts. Stock is also being switched at the depots to offer customers the wide range of colours and styles available through GAP’s own brand of roofline products; Homeline.

Charles Greensmith, GAP’s joint founder added: “This continues to be a very busy yet exciting time for all involved. We’ve got big challenges ahead, but we’re making great strides together. Over the coming months we’ll do everything we can to make our new team members and customers feel part of GAP.”

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Image Above: Mila’s Oliver Burgess (centre) accepts a certificate from Izabela Payne and Mark Frain from Synseal

Mila has demonstrated once again that its supply chain and logistics organisation is world class by delivering six months of 100% OTIF to Synseal.

In what the systems company itself has described as a ‘remarkable achievement’, Mila has delivered every order to Synseal on time and in full for the past six months.

It is all the more remarkable given that Synseal is one of Mila’s biggest customers, buying more than 300 different lines from Mila and typically placing more than 40 orders per month. This includes Mila’s own brand ProSecure high security door handle, ProLinea twin cam espag and espag handle, NightSecure keep and ProLinea TBT handle, as well as third party Siegenia AF security hardware.

Synseal’s Hardware Category team of Mark Frain and Izabela Payne visited Mila recently to present Mila’s Supply Chain Director Oliver Burgess with a certificate to congratulate the whole team on their achievement.

At the presentation, Oliver commented: “We are very proud of what really is an outstanding performance, delivered on the back of many years’ hard work and partnership building with Synseal. We have direct relationship with their warehouse team of course, but we also have relationships across the business, coordinated by our Key Account Manager Julie Holmes, which enable us to accurately forecast their requirements and respond to any changes.”

One key reason why Mila has been able to record a perfect OTIF for Synseal is that the two companies have worked together to create a tailored supply chain solution which works for both of them, ensuring that there are no interruptions to supply even during periods of peak or unexpected demand.

Mark Frain, Synseal’s Hardware Category manager added: “When a supplier is as consistently good as Mila, it’s easy to take their performance for granted; but when they achieve something as outstanding as 6 months without missing a single item off an order, then we think it deserves some real recognition. Mila tells us that it consistently benchmarks its performance against big Blue Chip names and I’m delighted that Synseal, and in turn our customers, are directly benefiting from that.”

www.mila.co.uk

Spectus has launched a fully mechanically jointed option of its vertical slider.

Carmen Velilla, brand manager at Spectus, said: “The tried and tested authentic period looks of the Spectus vertical slider means it is renowned as the window that changes planning officers’ minds about PVC-U. The mechanically jointed version takes authenticity to another level because the 45º PVC-U welds on the frame and sash are replaced with 90º mechanical joints, creating a wealth of new opportunities to work on heritage and conservation properties.”

The mechanically jointed version of Spectus vertical slider was introduced at the FIT Show and Carmen says the reaction was extremely positive. “Feedback from both existing and prospective customers was exceptional and everyone appreciated the quality and attention to detail.”

www.spectus.co.uk

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AluK has officially launched its new Luminia Veranda system, designed to give customers an exciting new business strand targeting all those homeowners who want to make more of their outdoor living space. The stylish glazed Veranda perfectly bridges the gap between house and garden, and provides fabricators and installers with a potentially valuable new sales opportunity alongside virtually every bi-fold or sliding door installation.  AluK’s Managing Director, Russell Yates, said: “We previewed this product at the FIT Show and the response was fantastic. It perfectly complements our doors, and gives you the feeling of being outdoors whilst being comfortably sheltered from the elements. It lets our customers sell an aspirational lifestyle to homeowners, with the promise of an outdoor living room which they can use late into Summer evenings, right into Autumn and from the very start of Spring.”

The Luminia Veranda is available in four different models to suit any contemporary or traditionally styled property and in four popular coloured finishes –  white, cream, quartz and volcan, all with the reassurance of the Qualicoat quality label. The Premium model features thermal breaks, allowing it to be combined with low threshold, easy glide glass sliding doors and protective side walls to create a truly year round indoor/outdoor option. The Modern model is a more contemporary option with slimmer sight lines, while the two Enhanced models – available with standard or Victorian style guttering, are the ones designed for larger open spans, with steel reinforcement allowing them to stretch up to 6 metres in width using just two posts.

Alongside the stylish aesthetics, the Luminia Veranda is a great illustration of AluK’s renowned design innovation. It has clever features like invisible fixings, water drainage pipes integrated within the posts, adjustable roof pitches, optimised aluminium reinforcement, and cable-free LED lighting solutions in the rafters. AluK stresses that all of the models and all of the features are easy to fit onsite, with the option of choosing either a polycarbonate or glass roof to suit any customer’s budget.  The Luminia Veranda is almost 100% recyclable so has excellent green credentials and comes with a full 10 year guarantee.

The post AluK announces official launch of its new Luminia Veranda system appeared first on Windows Active Magazine.

Bennett Architectural is delighted to have raised over £9,500 for The Donna Louise over 8 years of support.

The Newcastle under Lyme based aluminium glazing specialists began supporting the Trentham Lakes based hospice in 2009, and has raised funds with various activities such as golf days, dressing up as superheroes, cake sales, raffles and taking part in It’s a Knock Out.

As well as the staff efforts in raising this incredible amount of money, Bennetts owners have also matched fundraising efforts by £2,277.90 for every pound raised from monthly dress down days.

Lionel Grant, Managing Director at Bennett Architectural commented,

“We are delighted to have raised such an amount for the Donna Louise, a local charity close to many of our hearts, and one that offers so much to our local community.

“Bennetts will continue to support the hospice with their Christmas Jumper Day on 8^th December.”

Katie Tams, Regional Fundraiser at The Donna Louise added,

“The support of Bennett Architectural really makes a difference to the children, young adults and families, who rely on The Donna Louise, so on their behalf I’d like to say a big heartfelt thank you to everyone at the company.

“We have to raise £3.5 million each year to support more than 240 families from Staffordshire and Cheshire, with most of this coming from fundraising and donations.

www.baasl.co.uk

The market for conservatory roof replacements is on a high says Prefix Systems and one of the latest jobs carried out by Stevenage-based Conserv-A-Tech, shows that consumers still yearn for the appeal of a glazed roof.

As part of Prefix’s proven Refurbish My Conservatory scheme, Conserv-A-Tech have access to dedicated marketing materials, along with specific products for roof replacements. These products have been specially designed by Prefix for these types of applications and include Retro-Fix posts to carry the additional loading of glass or even solid roofs and Bi-Span to support the structural requirements for large openings.

With around 3million existing conservatories installed in the UK and many first-generation ones glazed in tired polycarbonate, there’s an important market sector emerging. Over the last 10 years the market has also seen the rapid development of specialist solar control glass with U-values now down to 1.0W/(m²K) and so glass is now very much the dominant glazed material.

Eric Knappett, owner and director ofConserv-A-Tech commented: ‘Conservatory roof replacements are becoming more prevalent in terms of our sales opportunities. As a diligent company, it’s re-assuring to know that we have a supporting brand and product range specific to this sector which is boosted by the outstanding customer service levels from Prefix.’

Chris Cooke, co-director of Prefix Systems concluded: ‘Companies of the calibre of Conserv-A-Tech are a shining example of how the conservatory and glazed extension market is evolving. Replacements are becoming a more important part of the revenue stream for the sector, yet we must be mindful of the design considerations and structural loadings for each individual project, it’s a must for the sector to ensure the products installed are fully fit for purpose.’

For further information on Conserv-A-Tech visit www.conservatech.uk. For information on Prefix Systems and their Refurbish My Conservatory scheme visit www.prefixsystems.co.uk, or add to their considerable following on Twitter @prefixsystems.