In one of the year's biggest casualties so far, The CMS Group in Scotland (CMS ENVIRO SYSTEMS LTD) has fallen into administration as of May 10th 2022. This is one of the largest fenestration sector companies in Scotland. As our sector begins to contemplate a much more difficult trading environment, it calls to question [...]
The entrance door market is a very different place from what it was when I joined the industry 17 years ago. Then composite doors exploded, and that changed everything. Composite doors changed the game I joined the industry when I was 16 years old, learning about the product and how to deal with clients. [...]
Around two years ago, during the first wave of the pandemic and the subsequent first lockdown, one the of year’s biggest fenestration sector stories away from the pandemic was taking place: the collapse of Customade Group. The collapse and the reaction that followed would set a brand new precedent in how the industry would [...]
In another sign of the ongoing major squeeze on available skilled labour, new data shows that in three areas of the UK, the average weekly wage of tradespeople has broken the £1000 barrier. The demand for skilled workers will only rise further as all areas of construction struggle to recruit fast enough to meet [...]
After a break from the end of last year, we're proud to say that the regular FENEX virtual pub live streams are back as of this coming Friday! The live streams became popular after myself and Lee Clarke (Fenestration Digital/FENEX) began at the start of lockdown in 2020 when Periscope (owned by Twitter) was [...]
The war in Ukraine continues to cause heartbreaking death and destruction across the country. It is also causing mayhem and disruption for businesses of all kinds across a variety of different sectors. Fenestration is not immune from that disruption. Since the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, a number of companies in the fenestration space [...]
The nominations phase of the 2022 National Fenestration Awards closes on May 8th so time is running out to get your nominations in for this year's competition. Record nominations After cementing their place last year as the fenestration sector's premier awards platform, the NFAs this year report that there have already been well over [...]
The change in fortunes within UK fenestration has been well telegraphed, with a number of warnings by a number of companies across the supply chain that things have changed. So, in this changing climate, where living costs are spiralling and inflation is the main story at the moment, what can installation companies in the [...]
This is quite a major moment for glass production in the UK. Pilkington has become the first glass company in the world to fire a furnace on 100% biofuel. Considering the vast amount of energy to keep these machines running at all times, to be able to now demonstrate that this process can now [...]
Earnings season continues as the biggest publicly traded companies in UK fenestration announce their full 2021 financial results. Safestyle is the latest to announce theirs and as expected, they show a very profitable 2021 as the entire industry benefitted from pent up demand from homeowners and a cash glut thanks to furlough payments and [...]
In the Chancellor's Spring Statement in March, Rishi Sunak announced a handful of measures in an attempt to continue to steer the UK in the right direction on the green climate front. It wasn't enough, but that is by the by. We saw VAT reduced from 5% to 0% on solar panels, heat pumps [...]
In just under two months, a raft of newly updated Building Regulations will come into effect, with new rules on ventilation and minimum u-values having direct impacts on the fenestration sector in England. Last week I ran a poll on Twitter to try and gauge whether the sector felt ready or not in view [...]
In a sure sign that the outlook in UK fenestration has changed once again, many will have noticed that marketing emails from suppliers and fabricators are flooding back into inboxes. This is a clear shift in approach from the last couple of years and is another indicator that fortunes are changing. Resist the race [...]
As expected, inflation in the UK continues to rise. In March, inflation rose to a 30-year high of 7%, up from 6.2% in February. Crucially, this still doesn't take into full account the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and the energy price cap rise which came into force at the beginning of April. Therefore, [...]
In just a couple of months, the fenestration sector in England will be required to comply with newly updated Building Regulations. Amongst the various changes, the two that are of most scrutiny have been ventilation (Part F) and conservation of fuel and power (Part L). Yet, as our sector scrambles to understand what the [...]
In my time during paternity leave, between the naps and the nappies, I have had a chance to sit back and ponder our industry in a wider context. Think about it in different ways. As I sat there, with a little one on my chest, it dawned on me that we have been viewing [...]
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