Towards the back end of 2020 and all the way through 2021, the cost of global shipping costs went through the roof. Whether it was from China to Europe, the US to Europe or China to the US, container costs spiralled out of control. The lifting of COVID restrictions around the world released consumer [...]
First and foremost, a very happy New Year to you all! I hope that you enjoyed some well-earned downtime over the Christmas and New Year period and that you suitably indulged as I did. Needless to say, the healthier food is back in the fridge and the beer is out of sight for a [...]
The tougher economic environment appears to be beginning to bite as documents on Companies House show that Fineline Aluminium, part of the original Customade Group, has fallen into administration. See Companies House documents here: https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/12672039 Since the collapse of the original Customade Group at the start of the pandemic, it appears that there has [...]
In February 2022, a study of 2000 UK homeowners showed that although they cared about sustainable windows and doors, it wasn’t enough to pay more. Nine months on in, the midst of an energy fuel crisis and imminent recession, the Double Glazing Blogger requested that VEKA repeated the OnePoll research to see if opinions [...]
Mike Morris, GQA’s Chairman since its inception in 2002 has passed away after a short illness. With a background as a trained engineer working in the industry and then for a large part of his career working in education, Mike was perfectly placed to understand the huge value of training and qualifications in raising [...]
Another Government brings with it another new initiative to try and spur work in insulating the leakiest of Britain's homes. This time, there is a fresh wave of £1bn being thrown at homes which are classed as the most poorly insulated. Within the range of products that homeowners will be able to earmark that [...]
Craig Robertson, Managing Director of Granada Secondary Glazing, the UK’s largest secondary glazing manufacturer, gives his reaction to yesterday’s Autumn Statement. “Whilst we appreciate the government’s decision to cap the Energy Price Guarantee to £3,000 from April 2023 for 12 months, and the targeted support for low-income households, its rise means that it is [...]
Let’s be frank. Life is hard. Very hard for many right now. Like many other, I myself feel the same pressure most of us do. We have an energy and cost of living crisis eating away at our money. Mortgage rates are going up. We’re about to enter a recession set to last for [...]
In a statement published today via its social channels and website, Window Ware has announced that it is under new ownership via a management buyout. Here is the statement that Window Ware provided: Having been owned by Arran Isle Group (formerly Heywood Williams Group) for more than 20 years and then more recently by [...]
It was at this time last year that I began to see a change in the marketplace. After nearly two years of total boom following the end of the first lockdown, the rampant spending from consumers was coming to an end. Inflation was becoming a much more talked about problem, vacations were much more [...]
In a brand new poll on DGB, I want to explore how much Insurance Backed Guarantees play in your business. As many of you will already know, being part of a self-certification scheme, like Certass or others, part of the requirement is providing clients with an IBG. This makes sure the homeowner is protected [...]
Trade fabricator Listers scooped the prestigious ‘PVC Fabricator of the Year’ at this year’s National Fenestration Awards. Beating off stiff competition, the multi-site national fabricator was selected by industry peers as the most deserving recipient of the award at a gala dinner held at the Hilton Doncaster Racecourse hotel at the beginning of November. [...]
A friend of mine over on Linkedin was voicing frustration that there was no specific industry choice for fenestration. We were being lumped in with the wider construction sector or "home and garden". It's a fair point. We're a multi-billion pound industry that employs hundreds of thousands in this country. As I was agreeing [...]
Some scary predictions today on Halloween. In a recent Linkedin post, Ryan Green, MD of Clayton Glass, explained the situation with float glass production both in the UK and Europe. Spoilers, the outlook doesn't look great: Glass prices up on pressures Think about what is being predicted in that post. We know a [...]
One of the single most important elements to any business, not just in fenestration, is good customer service. It's one of the fundamental pillars to success within a company, and often the reason a business struggles to survive if customer service goes south. But when you think about it, the foundations of good customer [...]
Throughout the year, as we have seen the approaching recession and pressures on the economy, we have been talking to ourselves out loud that we must not go back to the tried and always failed methods of a race to the bottom on price. Against a backdrop of rising material and labour costs, reduced [...]
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