Bright Future for Norwich Double Glazing Firm
19th June 2012

Norwich-based Uniglaze can look forward to a healthy future, one year on from being rescued from the brink of collapse.

In the spring of 2011, a fortnight away from going into administration a re-financing package brokered with a local partner and existing shareholders kept the firm afloat and saved about 300 jobs in the process.

Now, a year on from entering that CVA (creditors’ voluntary arrangement) the firm continues to trade from its premises alongside the A47.

Philip Davis took over as managing director of Uniglaze on February 1, 2011, to save the ailing business and led it into the last-ditch CVA on May 6 last year. He remains optimistic about the future of the firm and the job security of the company’s workforce, despite the continuing difficult economic environment.

He said: “It has not been an easy year and there have been difficult decisions to make, but we have survived for a year after the CVA and are looking ahead to the future.

“The key challenges have been trying to turn around a company in an environment where the economy is going backwards.

“Within the company, specific challenges have been to reorganise the production process; have more effective utilisation of glass, raw materials and labour; and to change the culture of an organisation that had been run in such a way as to produce a £2m loss.”

Staffing figures at Uniglaze, which remains the largest independently-owned unit manufacturer in the country and has a £20m-plus turnover, have been relatively stable over the last 12 months.

The company has lost some workers through departmental restructuring but has managed to retain about 280 of the original 300 jobs and is now hoping to recruit more staff within the next few weeks.

Mr Davis added: “May 6 was an important anniversary for us and we are delighted to still be here in what is a tough economic environment generally and where work for all glass companies is down.

“Not many companies that enter into a CVA are trading one year later, so that in itself is a considerable achievement, but we are now looking to grow and develop as a business with a long-term future.

“CVAs are fairly new but most firms that enter into one fail within the first 6-9 months. What is different with us is that we have an entirely new management team in place, whereas many companies try to struggle on with the existing management team.”

The CVA arose after HMRC refused to enter into a repayment agreement with Uniglaze, which when it went into the arrangement owed £4.6m.

But it worked out a deal to pay its creditors - mainly suppliers - 71p in the £ to stay in business. Customers, and warranties on their products, were not affected.

As Mr Davis pointed out at the time, creditors received 71p in the £, but if the business had been wound up they would have got little or nothing and 300 workers would have lost their jobs at a time of rising unemployment and fewer opportunities to secure further work.

Uniglaze had been losing about £2m a year prior to the CVA but has now stabilised its financial position. The company is planning to invest in new plant at its factory, take on apprentices and has already implemented significant levels of training within all departments across the business.

Mr Davis said: “Since the CVA, we have acquired new customers and I am already talking to more. I am very confident that there is a bright future for Uniglaze.

www.uniglaze2.co.uk