Industry Summit Announced

A new conference for the glass and glazing industry has been confirmed

The industry’s top business leaders, directors and senior management will converge near Birmingham for a major industry conference and debate in May.

The 2018 Glazing Summit will be a powerful forum for fabricators, installers, glass companies, distributors and material suppliers to come together and discuss key industry issues and trends.

A line-up of experts will debate the ‘new landscape’ as opportunities and threats emerge across the industry; from the impact of Brexit and the housing crisis, the latest marketing trends, new developments in products and materials and disruptive technologies.

The Summit promises to tackle current issues head-on, including fire regulations and safety, implications of employed and self-employed rulings for salespeople and fitters, and new legislation such as GDPR.

Those attending will discover how the industry is evolving following a string of mergers and acquisitions, and get the inside track on why some of the established ‘big players’ in the industry could disappear in the years ahead.

The Glazing Summit is a packed morning conference followed by a buffet lunch and networking with industry leaders, and is a must-attend event for senior people across all sectors of the industry – domestic, trade, commercial, new-build and social housing.

The Summit is organised by Insight Data and Purplex Marketing and speakers will come from all aspects of the industry.

Andrew Scott, Managing Director of Insight Data commented;  “Our industry is worth over £4 billion, has over 15,000 businesses and employs tens of thousands of people. After Insight Data published the latest Window Industry Report we were swamped with industry leaders wanting answers to some big questions. The Glazing Summit aims to answer those questions – and many more besides.”

The Summit will take place at St Johns Hotel and Conference Centre, Solihull, 5 minutes from the M42 motorway, from 9 am to 3 pm on Tuesday 22nd May 2018.

To find out more visit www.glazingsummit.co.uk

Once again raising the bar and extending its range of durable, dependable fire-rated products, pioneering Astraseal has manufactured a 60-minute rated, fixed fire window.

Instead of traditional hardwood or steel, Astraseal’s unique fire window system is based on the proven FireFrame from Winkhaus, combining durable composite and uPVC materials for advanced fire resistance. Add to this Astraseal’s fire-retardant sealed units and the new window system can provide a long-lasting barrier for both internal and external uses.

“Through upgrading our FD60 fire door solution, we saw the incredible potential FireFrame could offer as a fixed fire window system,” comments Zac Nedimovic, Sales and Marketing Manager at Astraseal. “Six months on from Grenfell and the spotlight is still heavily focused on fire-rated products and their performance. With our fire window system, installers can deliver a new level of fire protection along with a full suite of quality, certified fire-rated products that can provide a great assurance and peace of mind to their customers.”

The new fire window system is available in a range of sizes in both single and double fixed pane configurations. Designed for use in any residential or commercial application, the window offers incredibly slim, internal sightlines along with dependable durability and strength thanks to its, innovative hybrid frame.

The 60-minute fire window strengthens Astraseal’s fire-rated product line, joining their range of uPVC and composite FD30 and FD60 fire door systems. As well as offering its brand-new 60-minute solution, Astraseal also offers the RAUFERNO uPVC fire-window system. Based on REHAU’s Total 70 profile and the popular S706 window, the RAUFERNO is a high-performance 30-minute alternative.

“It’s great to see our fire-rated product range is proving popular across the UK, providing a first-class solution whether it’s social housing, commercial developments or new-build residential projects,” adds Zac. “Astraseal are the go-to supplier when it comes to fire products and we only see this continuing with our new 60-minute fire-window – an exciting development to drive forward fire-rated products and fire safety.”

For more information call Astraseal on 01933 227233or visit www.astraseal.co.uk

South-East fabricator GJB Window Systems has announced a major addition to their product offering. Looking to help their customers win new business and break into new markets, the team has added The Residence Collection, one of the UK’s leading range of timber-effect windows.

Made available through GJB’s strategic partnership with new sister company Listers, The Residence Collection combines three authentic, high-performance window systems. Each accurately captures the charm and the traditional aesthetics of timber in an ultra-modern PVC-u window.

“We are really pleased to add The Residence Collection to our offering at GJB, providing our customers in the South-East and across the UK with a powerful new route to market,” comments Roy Frost, Managing Director of GJB Window Systems. “Residence joins the range at a time when installers are needing to diversify and explore new ways of gaining greater margins – tapping into consumer demand for premium products. With a full range of valuable, high-end products, Residence will undoubtedly help installers do just that.”

The Residence Collection is headlined by Residence 9, which painstakingly recreates a traditional 19^th-century timber flush sash window. Mechanically jointed with agonising detail given to every dimension, R9 has forged ahead in the heritage market complying with the stringent Article 4 guidelines. Available in one of many woodgrain foils and with a plethora of vintage hardware including monkey tail handles and peg stays, R9 is indistinguishable as PVC-u, providing an optimal solution for conservation areas or modern properties looking for a heritage touch.

Also in the range is Residence 7, a flush sash window consisting of seven chambers and a frame depth of 75mm, and R² which is a squarer and more contemporary nine-chambered window, with a frame depth of 100mm. Along with impressive U-Values of 0.7W/m2K, each system is available either 28mm double-glazed or 44mm triple-glazed.

“Adding the Residence Collection is just one of many ways we are driving GJB forward as we look to strengthen its position as a national trade partner,” adds Roy. “When we acquired GJB we saw the incredible scope for future growth it offered. We firmly believe this will be achieved by offering our customers everything they need to stand out from their competitors. We will be announcing more investment and new additions to our line-up throughout the year so stay tuned!”

For more information please visit www.gjbdevelopments.co.uk or call 01268 775566.

Image Above: Iain McIlwee

Iain McIlwee, CEO of the British Woodworking Federation statement following the release of the interim Hackitt Review report:

“The British Woodworking Federation, whose members manufacture approaching three million fire doors in the UK each year, welcomed Dame Judith Hackitt’s interim recommendations on the regulatory structure, however, cautioned that the regulatory framework is only part of the jigsaw. The elephant in the room is still who is going to pay for these essential works.

Dame Judith urges building owners not to wait until the review is complete. However, as it stands vitally important work is being delayed due to financial considerations. We are calling for the Treasury to make an allocation for long term and potentially life-critical works by creating a Building Safety Fund (similar to the Pension Protection Fund). This will offer a solution to the current predicament of Housing Associations and Local Authorities, providing them with a scheme to apply to for compensation to support replacement and repair cost. The Fund would alleviate concerns from building managers and most importantly, tenants, while helping consolidate legal matters through a centrally controlled process. Although the cost of this may need to be born through insurance premiums, when we consider the true cost of Grenfell, it is not one that we can responsibly ignore.

Dame Hackitt has, through this report, made a phenomenal start in pulling all of the complex interrelations together and by defining the roles and responsibilities of duty holders, and competence of individuals, is ensuring people look beyond “their bit” and instead focus on how we deliver successful projects together. We very much look forward to supporting Dame Judith and her team in the next stages and hope that in the meantime, the Chancellor will recognise that we need Treasury to act too to help clear the log jam.”

www.bwf.org.uk

Double R Glass & Roofing Systems, supplier of quality IGUs and conservatory roofs, is pleased to reveal the latest addition to its suite of customer support – a new brochure.

“Double R is a significantly sized IGU and conservatory roof manufacturer but we’re so busy doing what we do and focusing on customers, we’re not very good at letting people know that,” explains Ian Sims, Managing Director of Double R. “Hopefully this new brochure will help us spread the word and help our customers get the most out of Double R as a supplier. Even some of our customers don’t know the extent of our product range, so our new brochure, available in print or online at www.glassandroofs.com will be a useful tool for future and existing customers alike.

“We know fabricators and installers are busy, so the brochure is only 8 pages long but contains everything you need to know. It details what’s different about Double R, the range of sealed units we produce including double and triple glazed, the different projects our decorative department can help with and the range of solid and traditional conservatory roofs we supply. The brochure also offers an introduction to GINA – the first vertical Super Spacer Hot Melt IGU line of its kind in the world!

“Fabricators and installers can view the brochure as a flip book on our website, download it as a pdf or call us on 01933 443658 for a hard copy. We hope this latest addition to our customer support which already includes a re-designed website with information centre and published promise to customers in our customer charter, will give future and existing customers an insight into our business, our products and our approachable and quality focused philosophy.”

For more information visit www.glassandroofs.com or call 01933 443658

The fully thermally broken Stratus lantern roof system from Synseal Group is now available with a grey interior colour following high demand from customers.

With a hardwearing aluminium exterior and innovative thermal break technology, Stratus has been designed to combine desires for aluminium aesthetics and excellent thermal efficiency.

Following a successful first year of sales from fully fabricated products and a surge in roof fabricators signing up to offer Stratus, the aluminium lantern roof system was chosen as a finalist in the New Product of the Year category at the G17 Awards – giving Synseal Group high expectations for this product in 2018.

Now Stratus offers customers even more choice with an internal Anthracite Grey option.

Andy Jones, Group Sales and Marketing Director, said: “Anthracite grey has taken the market by storm over the past couple of years and is a very popular choice among homeowners both as an internal and external colour. Our grey exterior option has been well received by our customers and end users and following their requests, we have made grey an option for the internal colour too.

“More homeowners are starting to incorporate colour on their windows, doors and roof products internally now and RAL 7016, better known as Anthracite Grey, is the top choice at the moment. In addition to the minimal sightlines and discreet cappings that Stratus offers, the benefit of a grey internal colour will give the seamless impression of a panoramic view of the night sky which many homeowners are looking for.”

The grey interior colour will be available to customers from January. To add Stratus to your roof product offering, call 01623 444390 or email info@synseal.com.

 A time to be positive

Warm edge experts Edgetech have returned from China’s biggest glazing expo with over a hundred promising leads.

Held at Shanghai’s New China International Exhibition Centre in early November, FENESTRATION BAU China drew 100,000 visitors from across mainland China, East Asia and the world to see 635 firms showcase their wares.

The Chinese construction sector has seen phenomenal growth over the past decade – and while new-build is beginning to slow, domestic and commercial refurbishment is still in huge demand.

What’s more, both homeowners and the Chinese business community are becoming increasingly interested in thermally efficient products – and, by extension, warm edge spacer technology.

Edgetech, which trades under the name of parent company Quanex in China, attracted attention from new prospects and existing customers alike with its impressive warm edge offerings, including its TruPlas, Duralite, and flagship Super Spacer products.

Chris Alderson, Managing Director for the UK and the Asia Pacific, commented: “FENESTRATION BAU China exceeded all expectations this year. Meeting glass manufacturers from as far afield as Taiwan, Korea, Mongolia, the Middle East and the USA, we were able to walk away with over a hundred extremely promising leads.

“It’s clear that not just in China but all over the world, there’s huge demand for the sort of speed, efficiency, and outstanding all-around performance than Super Spacer can provide – particularly as more and more glass manufacturers move towards automation.”

Edgetech’s Super Spacer is the leading foam warm edge spacer product on the market, offering easy application, 100% memory and exceptional thermal efficiency and condensation resistance. The firm also manufactures an extensive range of other flexible components, including its commercial-focused TriSeal and T-Spacer, as well as a number of rigid products.

In 2011, Edgetech was acquired by billion-dollar building products giant Quanex. Soon after, Edgetech was merged with Truseal to create the world’s largest warm edge manufacturing site. In 2017, Edgetech celebrated a decade of manufacturing in the UK, and ten years of partnership with over forty valued customers.

For more information about Edgetech please call 02476 639931 or visit: www.edgetechig.co.uk