Steel right now is expensive. Very expensive. To give you an idea as to how much the cost of steel has risen over the past year or so... April 2020: $372.5 PT May 2021: $794 PT In percentage terms, the cost of steel per ton in [...]
The almost inevitable news came on Monday that the FIT Show, already postponed once due to the pandemic, has been pushed back again to May 2022. Against a backdrop of high case numbers, a supply chain that is crippled in most parts and the surreal situation that no one really wants or needs new [...]
This is a press release from Smart Ready® and SAC Hardware: Smart Ready® and SAC Hardware have just confirmed that they will be bowing out of FIT 2021 in September. With the promise of unveiling the greatest innovation the industry has ever seen, Smart Ready® was one of the two large stands at FIT [...]
Whenever the subject of attracting youth to the fenestration industry comes up, I always hear this: "what can we do to get young people to come to the sector?" At the moment, the push to attract new talent has been focused on talking about our industry. And I don't even think we're getting that [...]
Deliveries delayed? Missing items? It's probably because of glass. There is an acute glass shortage right now, and it's really beginning to bite. It's not as if this is a surprise, it has been forecast by pretty much anyone in glass for months. But that doesn't make it less disruptive. So the question is, [...]
Saint-Gobain's new glass furnace, currently being built in Eggborough, North Yorkshire, has reached the halfway point. This is an important milestone for the company and the supply of glass in the UK against a backdrop of shortages that are getting worse and causing disruption throughout the supply chain. This is the statement that has [...]
In a period of time where we're all searching for true leadership figures, Gareth Southgate and his England team have lead the way over the past few weeks. England's journey in Euro 2020 ended in defeat to Italy, but from that defeat has risen a group of players and a manager that we should [...]
This is a press release from Glazerite: Leading trade fabricator, The Glazerite UK Group has been acquired in a management buyout. Led by Group Managing Director, Robert Brearley, the management team includes Mark Johnston, Group Finance Director, Jeff Dunn, Group Sales & Marketing Director, Darren Rhodes, Managing Director (North West) and Matthew Thomas, Managing [...]
The start of July also began the start of the end of the highly successful furlough scheme, also known as the Job Retention Scheme. It has been one of the most expensive parts of the UK Government's support programme during the pandemic and has kept millions in employment that would have been at risk [...]
After a tense, emotional rollercoaster of a night at Wembley, England overcame a defiant Denmark to secure a place in the Euro 2020 final on Sunday. I appreciate this is not fenestration related in the slightest, but given the magnitude of the achievement, and joy it will bring to millions, who cares! Euro 2020 [...]
Every week, every month the prices of all our raw materials continue to rise. Resin, steel, glass, hardware, composite door slabs. You name it, they're all going up, as is the cost of transport and labour. Oil is at a six-year high. Steel is going to the moon in an almost vertical fashion. Iron [...]
There was devastating news last week as a rare tornado in the Czech Republic struck the town of Hodonin. Unfortunately, five lives were lost in the extreme weather incident, with more than 100 injured. The tornado also hit the CZ Pellini factory, causing massive damage. It is also reported that a number of workers [...]
Press Glass have announced that they have secured new £227m bank financing (PLN1.2bn) in order to refinance debt, as well as build two new production plants, one in Lithuania and the other here in the UK. Press Glass statement This is their press release: On June 9, 2021, the Press Glass Group obtained bank [...]
The pandemic has caused a complete change in how the public spends their money, and in the fenestration sector we have seen the benefits of that change. Indeed, much of the construction and the home improvement sectors have been overwhelmed by the strength of the bounce-back which began at the end of the first [...]
Just as the fenestration and construction sectors continue to battle chronic supply issues, a new report out in the last few weeks has said that UK construction needs a whopping 217,000 new workers by just 2025. As the country seeks to boost infrastructure projects and house building, the skills gap in the entire construction [...]
Estimates drawn up by the Construction Leadership Council (CLC) show that it would cost the UK Government £5bn over the next four years to renovate and upgrade some of the UK's most inefficient and draughty homes. This report comes as the dust has now settled after the latest Green Homes Grant scheme whimpered away. [...]
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