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“Derby is the UK’s capital of manufacturing. It’s home to Rolls Royce, Toyota and Bombardier – or as locals like to say – planes, trains and automobiles,” says Nigel Leviers, Director of window and door fabricators Frame Fast UK. “That’s why being shortlisted for manufacturing in our home town is an incredible achievement and that’s exactly what Frame Fast has done. We are finalists in the Chamber of Commerce Awards for Manufacturer of the Year. What makes it even more special in 2017, is that it’s our 20^th anniversary.”

2017 has seen Frame Fast expand its Derby manufacturing facility adding a Glass Shop. It’s also created more space for fabricating aluminium windows and doors as well as increasing space for storage and distribution. On top of this, Frame Fast has also added more products to its range to give customers a bigger choice of products. The latest product is aluminium entrance doors designed for modern, upmarket properties.

“It’s been a big task,” adds Nigel. “But very rewarding. Today we have a complete range of products to suit all our customers whether they’re window installers, builders or house developers. We have a brilliant team at Frame Fast that delivers excellence at every level of the business and we pride ourselves on being friendly and helpful.

“Being finalists for the Manufacturer of the Year award is a superb achievement and we are keeping our fingers crossed that we pick up the trophy!”

Frame Fast is also a finalist in the Small Business of the Year Award category. Winners will be announced at Pride Park Stadium home of Derby County FC at a glittering award ceremony on 8 September.

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) today (12 July) launches a new debt management product for small businesses and the self-employed in a bid to help them avoid the devastating effects of late payments. In the majority of cases, small businesses that use it can expect to recover 100 per cent of the debt owed whilst not being charged any fees or commission.

About a third of payments to small businesses in the UK are late. Eradicating this would avoid 50,000 business deaths a year, growing the UK economy by £2.5 billion. The average value of a late payment owed to a small business is £6,142. 

Dave Stallon, commercial director at FSB, says: “Late payment has been a huge and debilitating problem for smaller businesses for too long. Whilst we persist in asking the Government to tackle the worst payment practices, we’ve now introduced this new product to empower small businesses to recover their debts in the most simple and effective way possible so they can focus on running their businesses.”

Users of the tool simply need to register online, load the debtor information and amount owed. A solicitor’s letter will then be sent on their behalf, giving a seven day deadline for receipt of payment. 

In the vast majority of cases like these, a solicitor’s letter is all it takes to receive payment. In the unusual event that this doesn’t happen there are further steps that can be taken.

The impact of late payments on small businesses can be shattering. An FSB report shows that 37 per cent have run into cash flow difficulties, 30 per cent have been forced to use an overdraft and 20 per cent say late payment has hit profits. At the extreme end, cash flow difficulties have caused businesses to fail.

www.fsb.org.uk

After an extraordinary three days at the National Exhibition Centre the 2017 FIT Show has been hailed as another momentous event in the series that first took place just four years ago. The event was universally praised as being an unequivocal success with exhibitors taking healthy numbers of sales leads from visitors keen to engage and explore the hundreds of new products on show.  The organisers have revealed that 9,935 unique visitors attended this year’s FIT Show, a number that rises to 13,285 when their revisits were counted across the three days of the event (multiple daily entries are automatically de-duplicated). This is an increase of almost 17% (16.85%) more unique visitors compared to the previous FIT Show in 2016 (8502), offering a massive boost of 62% more visitors in just two events. Daily numbers were Tuesday – 4808; Wednesday 5136; and Thursday 3341, figures that reflected the subjective comments of exhibitors at the show and typical for many business-to-business events, with the middle day showing the highest numbers.

This year saw a significant presence of aluminium for the first time at any fenestration industry B2B event for more than three decades and visitors flocked to some of the most exciting stands as the surge in interest in aluminium framing continues. The majority of PVC-U systems producers were in attendance and they also enjoyed crowds as they rode the wave of interest in coloured and heritage framing. The machinery suppliers were also busy throughout as new technology drove interest from fabricators at all levels though especially in seamless welding. With sales leads taken in abundance and the general feeling that quality and genuine interest was high many exhibitors were keen to stake their place at the next FIT Show, which was confirmed as taking place in two years time on 21^st, 22^nd and 23^rd May 2019. Almost half of the available stand space for the next event was contracted or reserved before the doors closed, with this figure expected to grow significantly during the weeks following this years show as companies consider their performances and look ahead to 2019.

The sold and reserved advanced stand sales figure was all the more impressive with the further 25% increase in space that was announced for 2019. This represents a doubling of the FIT Show in just two events.  The FIT Show’s Matthew Glover says that once again so much of the success of this year’s FIT Show is down to the efforts of exhibitors: “As our marketing campaigns emphasise the FIT Show is all about the people and companies that exhibit. Exhibitors have once again worked hard to promote the event and those efforts, combined with the biggest FIT Show campaign ever, succeeded in boosting visitor numbers once again. And when the show opened visitors were greeted with the most creative and beautiful stands; everyone involved with the building of this event commented how impressed they were with the efforts made by exhibitors.”

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The GGF was deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Rick Caen of R.E.C. Glazing on 16 June 2017 after a long battle with cancer.

Rick had been a GGF Member since 2001 and a regular attendee and contributor to the GGF’s Kent, Surrey and Sussex Region together with the Federation’s Insulating Glass Manufacturers Group and Glazing Components Group.

Peter Stuttard, GGF Regional Manager commented, “Rick was a committed and passionate GGF Member and will be sorely missed. My thoughts are with his family and friends at this time.”

The GGF will be represented at Rick’s funeral and any GGF Members wishing to attend the funeral to pay their final respects are advised that it will take place on 13 July 2017 at 1.30 pm at Croydon Crematorium, East Chapel, Mitcham Road, Croydon, CR9 3AT.

The Wake is being held at CMOBO Bowls Club, Waddon Well, Waddon Way, Croydon, CR0 4HY.

The family have asked for no flowers, but will accept donations to Rick’s favourite charity. Cheques can be made payable to Anerley Across and be sent to R.E.C. Glazing, 50a Willow Lane, Mitcham, Surrey CR9 4NA, who will make sure the charity receives the donations.

Devoted to Progress – Everglade’s 2017 Customer Conference proved a massive success at its London HQ and Showroom on Friday 7 July.

Everglade customers and prospects gathered for the annual event, to hear about the latest trends in glazing from architect Emily Osler from London-based Granit Architects, what Brexit could mean for business from PwC’s Anna Wallace and the benefits of being a part of the GGF from James Lee.

Sales & Marketing Director, Jay Patel also launched three brand new products: Ecotherm 70HI, high insulation aluminium windows; aïr MOD-Series, new generation entrance doors and aïr 20SL, minimal frame sliding doors.

Jay said: “The Everglade Trade Customer Conference has become a real highlight of our year and we love inviting customers and prospects to get the first-look at new products, learn about what’s going on in the wider industry and join us for our legendary hospitality.

“This year, we’ve gone the extra mile with some fantastic guest speakers. Emily gave us a great insight into what architects and homeowners are looking for in glazing. Most trends she identified overlapped with an Everglade product so our customers know that they can go out there and win that business right now.

“Anna from PwC talked to guests about Brexit. It’s the word on everyone’s lips at the moment and I think her talk has provided some much-needed information and reassurance for all of us. We also heard from GGF’s James Lee, who talked to our customers about how they could make the most of a GGF membership and its consumer schemes.”

Jay added: “It’s our customers who join us year after year that make these events really special, so we always want to make sure that they get a lot out of joining us for the afternoon.”

As well as all of the information from the conference presentations, guests were treated to lunch, dinner and signature aïr cocktails from a professional mixologist at the event.

On 20 August 2017 Clare O’ Hara, Divisional Managing Director of Epwin, and 11 other ladies from the fenestration industry will start the Paddle2Pedal Challenge to try to raise over £50,000 for Hope House Children’s Hospice. The first ever GM Fundraising all-female event is sponsored by the Epwin Group and will see the team canoe 100 miles of the River Wye, abseil the rock face at Symonds Yat, then cycle 120 miles to Oswestry.

Clare comments: “I have followed the previous challenges run by GM Fundraising with interest, and thought it would be a great idea for the girls to get involved. It’s great to have the support of Epwin Group too and we’re delighted they’re backing us all the way.”

In total, the ladies will cover 220 miles of roads and rivers and face some tough challenges along the way. Clare says: “Training for P2P has been incredibly gruelling and we’ve all been giving up evenings and weekends to put the hours in. But we’re doing it for the children and their families who are supported by Hope House Hospice and this is what keeps us going when the going gets tough. We will be meeting children and families from Hope House Children’s Hospice when we reach the end of the challenge at Oswestry and I know it will be a very moving and humbling experience for everyone involved.”

You can show your support for Clare and help her raise money for a truly worthy cause by sponsoring her at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/oharap2p

Homeowner favourite Swish has just announced that 10 of the most popular colours in its Impressions range will now be available from stock. Gerald Allen, Swish’s Brand Manager, said: “Coloured profiles are becoming an increasing popular choice for homeowners. The colours now available from stock covers 88% of our total colour sales and feedback from Swish installers is that it will open up new opportunities for their businesses.”

At the same time as making 10 colours available from stock, Swish has also announced that there will be no minimum order quantity on its non-stock colours. Gerald commented: “By removing the minimum order requirement, colour immediately becomes more accessible and appealing to consumers and installers alike.”

The 10 stock colours include two foiled options that are proving particularly popular with style conscious consumers: Black Brown and Anthracite Grey. The other colours include Cream (on a cream base), White, Black Brown / White (on a white base), Rosewood (on a brown base), Rosewood / White (on a white base), Light Oak (on a tan base), Light Oak / White (on a white base) and Anthracite Grey / White (on a white base).

By removing the barriers to colour by introducing stock colours and removing minimum order requirements, Swish is demonstrating its policy of continuous development in response to wider consumer and industry trends. It’s one of the reasons it has earned its place as the go-to brand for so many.

www.swishwindows.co.uk

The Ultraframe Ultra Installer scheme has become the first scheme in the glass and glazing industry to meet the Which? Trusted Traders high standards for an approved service endorsement.  Which?, the largest consumer body in the UK has been testing products and services for nearly 60 years and now all Ultra Installers will undertake a double assessment process from both Ultraframe and Which? Trusted Traders to become part of the Which? Trusted Trader Approved Ultra Installer Service. The Ultraframe part of the assessment concentrates on the onsite abilities of the installers, while the Which? Trusted Traders assessment concentrates on the consumer focused parts of the service such as; customer care, insurances, consumer protection and professional conduct. The Ultra Installer scheme is the first Which? Trusted Trader Approved Service installation scheme in the glass and glazing industry and sends a strong and clear message to homeowners and consumers about the quality and integrity of Ultraframe’s Ultra Installer Scheme.

Julian Slade, Ultraframe CEO comments: “by working with Which? Trusted Traders we are making a powerful statement to home improvers about the quality of service and installation they can expect from an Ultra Installer. This service promise is of course backed up by our market-leading roof systems, which combined deliver an unmatchable level of reassurance and quality for consumers.  Installers that grasp the potency of the Which? Trusted Traders brand when it comes to consumer confidence will see the clear benefits of this partnership. It will enable Ultra Installers to differentiate themselves locally and win a lot more business.”

Tim Wade, from Which? Trusted Traders explains the value of the scheme: “Which? Trusted Traders is an endorsement scheme that recognises reputable traders who successfully pass an assessment process carried out by trading standards professionals. The Which? Trusted trader logo is a sign of reputation and trust, helping consumers choose the right trader for them and giving good traders the recognition they deserve. The Ultra Installer Scheme has achieved the Which? Trusted Traders approved service endorsement, and can provide consumers with the additional confidence the scheme provides when choosing an installer.”

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