A shock announcement today from the GGF as they broke the news that relatively new GGF President Alan Burgess of Masterframe has stepped down with immediate effect.

This was the official statement published on the GGF website earlier in the day:

It is with regret that we must announce Alan Burgess of Masterframe Windows Ltd, has resigned his position of President with the Glass and Glazing Federation with immediate effect.

Alan has been involved with the GGF for over 20 years and as well as having two terms on the GGF Board, he has also been Chair of the GGF Window and Door Group and Home Improvement Executive.

On leaving the position, Alan commented, “It is with real regret that I feel unable to continue in this role and to step down prematurely.”

GGF Vice President, John Agnew of Independent Glass has now been elected by the GGF Board as the new GGF President with immediate effect.

John has been on the GGF Board for many years and is the Chair of the GGF’s Glazing Executive. On taking on the role John commented, “I would like to thank Alan for his contribution to the Federation and I look forward to serving as President and working on behalf of all the GGF Members.”

View the original article here

It was only in early February that Alan Burgess was inaugurated as the federation’s 23rd President, so to leave this early into his tenure comes as a surprise.

This isn’t the only early resignation in recent times however. So is there an underlying theme to this?

DGB Business

Pressures of the job

It wasn’t a long press release from the organisation, merely stating the facts and leaving it at that. A replacement has already been found, so operations there should continue in fluid motion.

But, this isn’t the only sudden resignation in recent times. It was around this time last year that Andrew Glover announced that he was to step down from the role of President, again only months after taking on the job. You can read my post on that here.

In that announcement, it was said that he stepped down from the role due to the structural changes being made at the group, and that it would provide more time to focus on his company’s activities. Although nothing official has been said as to the reason Alan decided to step down, I do sense that it is for very similar reasons.

(UPDATE THURSDAY 10:30AM: in a comment left by Alan Burgess below, he has confirmed that his current role at Masterframe was not the reason for his stepping down: Your piece alludes to the “pressures of the role itself”, “the need for closer management of my own company” and draws the natural assumption that in my decision may have been made for “very similar reasons” to those of the previous President. I am very happy to say that none of these are true; however speculation was raised initially because the GGF first put out the “standard pressures of work” release, by mistake and a member of GGF staff was quoted as saying “Alan was forced to step down”. Both are categorically untrue and have been withdrawn.)

Masterframe is one of the biggest producers of PVCu sash windows in the country, and with vertical sliders enjoying a steep rise in popularity, I am sure that things are very busy at Masterframe right now. It may well be that the demands of the day job have caused Alan to re-think his tenure as President. If you’re reading Alan and have a spare minute, you’re more than welcome to add to this via the comments section below!

That is two Presidents in a row now that have left the job early. The industry is currently undergoing some serious levels of change, and in many areas growth remains strong, and diversification is still the flavour of the month. What that means is that it’s all hands on deck when it comes to running any sort of company in UK fenestration right now.

So, might it be an idea that future Presidents of the GGF, and indeed other organisations in our industry too, are persons who have perhaps served their time at company level, but has more free time to put that experience and expertise to good use as a President, in the knowledge that they don’t have a company to run at the same time.

Just a thought.

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