NGA and GANA: Combination FAQs, Updated

Rob McGlennon, managing director, Deceuninck UK

As we get back into the new business year, it’s time to get out our crystal balls. Economists have already made their predictions which have come with a handful of health warnings. Perhaps most worryingly, Britain is set to have the worst wage growth of any wealthy nation next year, ranking behind Italy, Greece and Hungary at the bottom of 32 OECD countries as real earnings lag behind inflation. Representing the biggest squeeze on living standards in generations, it’s no surprise that many households are pessimistic about their finances.

For many in our industry, this lack of consumer confidence reared its head in the second half of 2017 when core market growth stalled. I use the word ‘core’ for a reason because all the evidence points to the fact that white, square ‘bread and butter’ windows fell at the first hurdle, while higher value, differentiated product sales excelled.

Trend spotters like Deceuninck predicted this trend over 12 months ago when we spoke to our customers about a market move from distress to discretionary purchases.

For Deceuninck’s customers, having the ability to offer colour on fast lead times, a range of premium heritage products and true aluminium alternatives is already paying off. While overall market sales of the white PVC squares the industry has relied on in the last 3 decades is down by up to 20% in some cases, sales of higher end products has increased by double and even treble digits over the last 18 months. Significantly, this increase is reflected in both sales volume and value.

2018 will no doubt see this gap between the haves and have-nots broaden and like our target customers, there will be winners and losers in our industry. The losers will bury their heads in the sand and carry on doing what they’ve always done.

The post 2018: A game of two halves? appeared first on Glass & Glazing Products Magazine (GGP).

Flush casement windows are one of the products tipped for the biggest growth in coming years and it’s clear that the Optima Flush Casement Window from Profile 22 delivers everything the market is looking for.

Gerald Allen, Marketing Manager at Profile 22, commented: “The Optima Flush Casement Window delivers three major advantages. The design is based on a traditional British timber cottage window and we’ve worked hard to ensure it looks better than anything else on the market. It offers market-leading thermal efficiency. And because it’s part of the Optima range, it’s easy for fabricators and installers to use with its intelligent features such as common ancillaries across the entire range to minimise stockholding.”

The British heritage appearance of the Optima Flush Casement Window offers traditional features such as a putty line sash, a traditional wide bottom sash rail, slim depth sashes plus the option of a partly or fully mechanically jointed finish. Period hardware, period colours and finishes, cill and glazing bar options and a French Flush Casement option complete a truly distinctive window.

While the appearance may be of a heritage period, the construction is anything but. The system offers better thermal performance than its rivals (U-values as low as 1.2W/m²K can be achieved). It surpasses the requirements of UK and EU Building Regulations and PAS24 on all options and is accredited by the British Standards Institute.

Because the Flush Casement Window is part of the Optima system, it’s been designed for the 21^st century from the ground up and is packed with a wealth of benefits for fabricators and installers. Alongside the common ancillaries are advantages such as easy-to-locate hardware, optimised drainage and perfectly positioned seals for long-lasting performance.

It seems that the quality of the Profile 22 Flush Casement Window is being reflected in its sales, which are up 500% year on year. Proof, if any were needed, that the market appreciates Profile 22’s best-in-class product.

www.profile22.co.uk

FIT Events Ltd, organiser of the highly successful FIT Show, has announced changes in its shareholding structure. Angus Montgomery Ltd, which has been organising events globally since 1895, has become the majority shareholder. Co-founders Matthew Glover and Paul Godwin remain shareholders and directors of the company with Matthew as Chairman, as does Event Director Nickie West. John Beaty, an investor in the business since 2015, has relinquished his shareholding and left the business. In most other respects the business remains unchanged.

Matthew Glover explained the decision: “The FIT Show has gone from strength to strength thanks to tremendous support from the industry, whose loyalty we hope we have returned by producing a show that connects the whole of the window, door and related glass and glazing industry.

“Other than the ownership structure of the company there will be few discernible changes: The FIT Show will continue not just as it has done in the past but with the sales, marketing, operations and administration team all remaining in place. However, we are now strengthened through more robust internal systems and structures and through the expertise that will come through working with one of the world’s longest established exhibition organisers.”

Angus Montgomery Ltd is a fifth generation family business. It is responsible for events within the building and construction sector including ‘W’, the UK national show for the joinery and furniture industries, Surface Design Show, Interbuild Africa and Glass Expo Africa, the latter of which take place in Johannesburg biennially. The company has events in a wide range of other sectors including Art and Photography, Food and Drink, Hospitality, Security and many others, operating a total of 55 events worldwide.

For Angus Montgomery Ltd its Managing Director Damion Angus said: “We have been very aware of the FIT Show and the tremendous success that the event has become since its first show in 2013; it is greatly admired in the exhibition industry. Becoming involved with the event and the people behind it will greatly enhance our activities in the sector specifically and our events overall and we believe we can offer a great deal of experience to the FIT Show and its exhibitors – this is very much a two-way arrangement. We are very excited to be working with Matthew, Paul and Nickie and the rest of the team.”

www.fitshow.co.uk