Precision Millworks, Chelsea Building Products Partner on Upgraded Line

Veka has announced plans to invest £5m in facilities, plant and technology at its Burnley-based site in 2018.

Veka Group MD, Dave Jones, explained: “We have an exciting programme of developments planned for 2018, in order to continue providing our customers with the very highest levels of service.

“The main focus of investment will be our lamination department. This is an area of the business that we have seen continue to grow year on year, in response to consumer demand. Currently, over 33% of Veka Group sales are foiled product, and we are focussed on preparing for continued expansion in this area.

“We’re in the process of acquiring a building adjacent to the existing Veka HQ which would allow the current 380,000ft² site to expand by a further 40,000ft² and will enable us to potentially increase lamination capacity by a further 50%.

“As well as the new building, we are investing in a new, flexible lamination line, allowing us to offer the most efficient service on the inevitable small runs and quirkier colour choices. Not only that, but the department will see the addition of another standard lamination line, a new colour changing head and a heat tunnel, alongside all our existing high spec foiling equipment.

“The aim with this investment – as always – is to ensure that our customers are best placed to meet the demands of a challenging market. In such a competitive industry, we strive to ensure that our client base has access to all the ‘tools’ they need to set themselves apart from the competition. It’s not only about increasing the potential volume of our output, but supporting customers with flexibility and efficient service. This, of course, will reflect on their own business and the level of service they are able to offer to their customers, whether that be homeowners or commercial specifiers etc.

“2018 will also see Veka Group planning improvements to our specialist maintenance and tooling department. Expanding our in-house maintenance department means that we can respond immediately and capably to any possible problems with our machinery (however unlikely) to ensure there is no disruption to the supply chain.

“2018’s planned spend of £5m continues a pattern of investment, including – for example – £400k last year allocated to energy efficiency upgrades for the plant.

“Improved lighting, heating and high bay racking meant that our warehouse facility achieved a 25% reduction in electricity consumption in 2017.

“While we’re busy with our investment plans here in Burnley, our sister company, Veka Recycling, has also announced the fantastic news that it will be investing £8m into constructing one of the most advanced PVC-U recycling plants in Europe, right here in the UK!

“In the face of a relatively flat market, I am very proud to be part of a group that will continue to invest in order to see our partners succeed. Customer feedback has always, and will always, directly influence product and service development here at Veka.”

www.vekauk.com

The post Future is bright appeared first on Glass & Glazing Products Magazine (GGP).

The Glazing Summit, the new conference for business owners and leaders from across the industry, has announced revolutionary aluminium lantern brand Korniche as the newest sponsor of this year’s landmark event.

Launched at The FIT Show 2016, Korniche quickly rose to prominence through its innovative construction, providing installers with a highly-durable lantern solution that is faster and easier to install. Designed and developed by Managing Director Bradley Gaunt and his brother Ashley, Korniche joins a number of leading brands from across the industry in supporting the event.

“We’re thrilled to be sponsoring this year’s Glazing Summit,” comments Bradley. “The event presents a great opportunity for us to further promote the Korniche brand to the industry’s biggest and most respected names, as well join the conversation on what we are seeing in the aluminium lantern market and more broadly across the industry.”

Taking place on May 22^nd at St. John’s Exhibition Centre in Solihull, The Glazing Summit will bring together directors, founders and senior management from the industry’s biggest and best system houses, fabricators, installers and suppliers. The event which is hosted by industry data specialists Insight Data and sister company Purplex Marketing, features a full day of talks and debates on the hot topics of the industry, as well as an exclusive Leaders Dinner in the evening.

Event Organiser and Insight Data Managing Director, Andrew Scott adds: “We’re absolutely delighted to welcome Korniche as a sponsor of The Glazing Summit. Korniche is a fantastic example of a disruptor brand, bringing a pioneering new product to market which has changed the expectations of the industry and reimagined an entire product area.”

“The success of brands like Korniche will be one of the many topics of discussion during the one-day summit, as we dissect the current industry landscape, investigate the increasing trend of growth by acquisition and look ahead to the future challenges and opportunities for the industry. The support of brands like Korniche only further legitimises the relevance and importance of this must-attend industry conference.”

To find out more about The Glazing Summit or to book tickets visit www.glazingsummit.co.uk.

Windows Etc has become the latest Solidor trade partner to be awarded with the Showroom of the Month accolade, this time for February, by offering an unrivalled composite door environment in Colchester, Essex.

The company is approaching a 9-year anniversary with Solidor and their impressive new brand-laden showroom features 19 different Solidor door designs, reflecting various styles, colours and hardware options. Windows Etc also boast an impressive website at www.windowsetc.co.uk, which not only carries a number of professional photographs of Solidor composite doors, but there’s also integration into the proven Design A Door engine.

Joe Solomons, managing director of Windows Etc commented: ‘We’re delighted to receive the Showroom of the Month award for February as we’ve spent considerable time and effort in developing what we believe is the best composite door showroom in Essex. We’re a long-standing customer of Solidor and they’ve proven to be our ideal composite door partner in many ways.’

Gareth Busson, head of sales and marketing at Solidor concluded: ‘It’s a great Solidor environment that Joe and the team have created at Windows Etc. They are yet another example of how to create a wonderful retail experience for prospective customers and we look forward to building our great relationship with them further.’

For information on Windows Etc visit windowsetc.co.uk. For further information about the benefits of becoming a Solidor partner, call 01782 847300 or e-mail enquiries@solidor.co.uk. You can also find out further information at www.solidor.co.uk and add to their considerable following on Twitter @solidor.

With the changes and increase in home improvement trends, Sash UK – the clear and open window people has launched a new brochure to help trade customers offer a perfect and simple solution when selling composite doors.

The Barnsley-based manufacturer, who has been manufacturing windows and doors for over 50-years, developed the brochure after recognising a change in consumers purchasing behaviours for choosing composite doors.

Darren Woolf, trade sales director at Sash UK, commented: “We have gained a vast amount of knowledge working with our trade customers over the years, gathering feedback about what their customers would like to see. This information has enabled us to create a new Composite Door brochure which we believe will gain them a competitive advantage. The brochure has been designed to include our entire range of standard and specialised composite doors, giving the consumer a simple and easy to understand guide to the options available to them.”

The layout of the brochure includes a clear and uncomplicated introduction to the entire range, with each page elegantly arranged to show glass, colour and hardware options available for each style of composite door.

Darren continues: “We recognise the importance of supplying our trade customers with support materials, helping them to cater for today’s changing consumer demands, and part of our thinking in introducing the brochure is to ensure we eliminate any obstacles which might prevent them from making a sale.”

The brochure incorporates a matrix to the rear, showcasing the vast amount of door options available and giving our trade customers the opportunity to offer consumers more choice.

For more information visit www.sashuk.com or call 01226 715619

As part of a large scale renovation programme, The Glazerite UK Group Limited and its Stockport-based customer, Arctic Seal MCR Ltd, have supplied and installed 1000 windows for a state-of-the-art 260,000 square foot business community.

Universal Square is a unique office campus based on the Piccadilly fringe of Manchester City Centre, offering a professional service to more than 50 companies. As part of the demanding refurbishment project, five new interlinked buildings are all congregated around an impressive courtyard, with 24-hour security, car parking facilities, a restaurant, fitness centre and more.

The old building has been completely transformed and, as well as external cladding to the complete building, 1000 VEKA M70 windows were supplied to Arctic Seal for installation. The new structurally coupled windows are finished in Anthracite to replicate aluminium in alignment with the modern, 21^st century look and feel of the building. All ground floor windows are Secured By Design accredited and all glazing is grey tinted.

Arctic Seal’s Director Shahzad Ashraf commented: “Having visited The Glazerite UK Group stand at the 2017 FIT Show, we were very impressed with the quality of their windows, and in addition to that their windows met our requirements in terms of what size frame they could supply. Since then we have worked with them on the Universal Square project, as well as two office-to-flat conversions in both Derby and Cannock, totalling around 1000 windows. Each of these were standard frames but with different levels of glass spec due to soundproofing and depending on elevation. All projects have run to schedule thanks to great communication from Glazerite and all deliveries arriving as planned.”

Glazerite’s Sales Manager Pete Smith said: “This project is one of three across the country that we have worked on together with Arctic Seal within the last year after meeting at last year’s FIT Show. The 2017 Show was a platform for Glazerite to showcase further new products and support services, and we are pleased this has led to working with Arctic Seal on such projects.”

Pete added: “Now almost complete, the Universal Square project no longer bears any resemblance at all to the building that was historically built to house Great Universal Stores. Arctic Seal have achieved a fantastic result with an inviting and modern space for businesses of all sectors, from SMEs to some major blue chip companies. This was a great project to be involved with and the newly transformed building will play an iconic role in the Manchester commuter belt, with its location on the main rail track into the city.”

The Glazerite UK Group is one of VEKA’s leading trade fabricators in the UK and a long-standing Network VEKA and Independent Network member. It offers a fully nationwide service based on manufacturing units in Northants, Peterborough and Greater Manchester.   South Wales and the West of England are served through the South West distribution hub in Bristol. Visit www.glazeritewindows.co.uk or call 01933 443222.

The changing face of the fenestration industry is reflected in an innovative Multi-Purpose Rack launched by the UK’s number one manufacturer of glass-carrying transport solutions.

Supertrucks designed the latest addition to its market-leading range of vehicle racking in response to the rapid growth in popularity of bigger, heavier products, such as bi-fold doors and windows, and orangeries.

The St Helen’s-based specialist has fitted the first example of its new rack to a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van supplied by East Midlands Dealer Mertrux Truck & Van, with which its parent company, the multi-faceted Bevan Group, enjoys a close relationship. Mertrux is now offering this vehicle for trial by prospective customers.

Fabricated from lightweight aluminium, Supertrucks’ Multi-Purpose Rack is secured to the exterior of the vehicle without the need to drill the sidewall. This is an important factor in helping to ensure that any paint or bodywork warranty provided by the manufacturer remains valid, and that the resale value of the vehicle is protected.

Instead, the new rails are fixed at the top to a roof rack, and at the bottom, depending on the base vehicle, either by making use of pre-existing holes or by drilling one or two new ones on the underside, where they cannot be seen.

Key features of the Multi-Purpose Rack include:

• A choice of folding ledges capable of carrying products with a depth of 150mm or 225mm – the industry standard is 90mm;

• Protective strips in grey, rather than the traditional black, rubber, to prevent marking of aluminium or plastic fixtures;

• New front and rear pillars, the leading edges of which feature a re-profiled radius designed to reduce wind resistance and thereby improve fuel-efficiency;

• An easily-used strap securing system and second-stage trim carrier.

Supertrucks has various fitting locations throughout the UK and Europe, and also offers a collect, fit, and return service at weekends.

Bevan Group Engineering & Production Director Ian Roberts says: “The window industry has witnessed massive change over the last couple of years. There is a lot more architectural work, with bi-folds and orangeries becoming more affordable and popular.

“The upshot is that products are getting bigger, heavier and more difficult to transport. Our Multi-Purpose Rack addresses this issue head on, by enabling customers safely and securely to transport larger products than was previously possible on a standard van.”

Andrew Kerrane, Group Van Sales Manager at Mertrux Truck & Van, adds: “Supertrucks parent the Bevan Group is now well established as our preferred partner for a variety of body types. Its product quality and service levels are second to none, and the relationship between our two businesses goes from strength to strength.

“We already supply Mercedes-Benz vehicles to a number of customers which operate within the glass and associated industries, and are aware of several others for whom Supertrucks’ new rack is likely to offer significant advantages. We were therefore delighted to provide a Sprinter van for demonstration purposes.”

Prospective customers interested in trialling the new vehicle should contact Mertrux Sales Controller – Van, Frank Murray, on 0115 9248 121 or 07779 123525, or by emailing frank.murray@mertrux.co.uk

BS EN 1279 accreditation is the latest cause for celebration at Peterborough’s HiTECH Blinds Ltd, the fast-growing integral blind firm taking the market by storm.

Subjected to rigorous testing at BSi, HiTECH’s best-in-class products passed with flying colours. EN 1279 Part 2 requires glass units to have moisture penetration of less than 16%, but HiTECH’s product was found to have penetration of just 3%. What’s more, a member of test centre staff commented that the product’s fog test performance was the best he’d ever seen.

Founded in 2017 by Nigel Greening along with Mike Yerrell & Michelle Scotney of respected commercial aluminium fabricator AGF Ltd, HiTECH Blinds was established to bring reliable, hassle-free, outstanding-quality integral blinds to fabricators and installers throughout the UK, Ireland & the Channel Isles.

With the help of integrated blinds specialist Ian Woolley, the company has grown rapidly in its first twelve months, as customers switch suppliers in ever-increasing numbers.

Michelle commented: “We’re absolutely delighted to be EN 1279 accredited. We’ve come a very long way in our first year in business – and this is another important milestone on the road to becoming the biggest, best and most respected integrated blind supplier in the UK.”

Sales Director Ian Woolley added: “I’m extremely pleased our products fared so well in testing – but at the same time, I’m not surprised. The materials used and the staff we’ve trained are of the highest quality, and we’ve invested a huge amount of time and effort in developing the best-performing integrated blinds on the market today.

“Our Magnet-operated blinds are extremely easy to use, easy to install, and they come with a ten-year no-nonsense guarantee – twice as long as any of our competitors.

“If you’re interested in learning more about how HiTECH Blinds can help your business grow, get in touch today.”

For more information visit www.hitechblinds.co.uk or call 0330 6780 280