The taxman cometh…

Following the prosecution of Safestyle salesman Adam Barraclough for tax evasion, HMRC have announced that its special task force could turn its spotlight back on the window trade at any time and that “Double glazing is now on our radar”. You can read more here.

UK growth figures for 2014 are better than first thought, according to ONS (Office of National Statistics) following a revision that revealed Gross domestic product between October and December grew by a quarterly 0.6 percent. That compared with 0.5 percent in a previous reading and matched the third quarter when growth was revised down a bit. Read the full story here.

Two organisations have come together to create a new directory to combat the ‘risk of rogues’ that they say over-65s face by not checking a trader’s credentials. Trustmark and Age UK have sited the resource on the Age UK website, which aims to give older people the confidence to find quality trades people and ‘choose from a selection of vetted traders in their area’. Further information here.

I hope you enjoy this week’s issue.

Please send all your news stories to news@the-glazine.com or should you wish to contact me directly
tony@the-glazine.com

Tony Higgin Publisher

We Have Email

Dear Tony

Following some speculation on this very issue, the Approved Document Q was published at the end of last week.

CENSolutions has held off of commenting on this development to date because we wanted to see what exactly would be published and how that would affect our customers first. But the team at CENSolutions are busy digesting this information as I write, to ensure we can cascade it down to our customers, along with what it means to their individual businesses, before the October deadline.

Our company was established in 2004 to take the hassle out of compliance and part of this service means getting to grips with new or updated legislation on behalf of our customers so that they can concentrate on what they do best, which is manufacturing quality and of course compliant, windows, doors and sealed units.

For those that haven’t yet seen it or don’t have a supplier that will cascade the information for you, this will be an important development for the industry that we all need to take note of so we would advise visiting this link a.s.a.p for more information today.

Yours sincerely
Wayne Rogerson
Joint Managing Director, CENSolutions Ltd

This Week's News

Tax-dodging window salesmen “now on our radar,” says HMRC after special task force success

HM Revenue and Customs has told The Glazine that its special task force could turn its spotlight back on the window trade at any time and in any part of the country following the success of an operation in North East England.

Teams of compliance and enforcement officers target specific trade sectors and locations with ‘intensive bursts of activity’ and a spokesperson said: “Double glazing is now on our radar and we could be back any time.”

These activities were outlined at Leeds Crown Court where salesman Adam Barraclough admitted failing to pay tax on £288,000 of earnings over six years while claiming to Safestyle UK that he would take care of his own tax affairs.

He was caught out last year when an HMRC task force was set up to investigate self-employed individuals in the glazing trade, the court heard. Barraclough, 29, who has repaid £26,593 since being charged, was sentenced to 16 months imprisonment suspended for two years, and ordered to carry out 240 hours of unpaid work. He had earlier pleaded guilty to being knowingly concerned in the fraudulent evasion of Income Tax.

Read the Rest Here...

TrustMark and Age UK tackle ‘risk of rogues’ with new directory

A fifth of all older people are so afraid of ending up with rogue traders that they are leaving household jobs undone – or even tackling the work themselves – according to new research by TrustMark and Age UK.

The survey found that nearly a quarter (23%) don’t know where to find the right tradesman and, remarkably, only 2% of those questioned based their choice on whether a tradesman had the right qualifications.

Now, the two organisations have come together to create a new directory to combat the ‘risk of rogues’ that they say over-65s face by not checking a trader’s credentials. The resource, sited on the Age UK website, is aimed to give older people the confidence to find quality tradespeople and ‘choose from a selection of vetted traders in their area’.

TrustMark Chairman Liz Male said: “It’s a national embarrassment that any older person is put in this position, with fear and confusion about who they can let into their homes to do even the simplest of property repairs or home improvement projects. 


Read the Rest Here...

Top Gun Graham saddles up in memory of Lacey-Mae

Super Spacer speed champion Graham Carley is taking on a bigger challenge – cycling from London to Paris ro raise money for the hospital where his daughter spent her short life.

Graham, the Production Manager at Double R Glass & Roofing Systems admits he hasn’t ridden a bike in ten years but, in his own words: “I have so much motivation to finish the challenge as I believe my daughter would have wanted me to do it.”

He now aims to raise£1,500 for Great Ormond Street Hospital where Lacey-Mae was cared for during the two weeks of her life. “The care she received from GOSH was truly brilliant,” he said, “We owe so much to the nurses and doctors there.“
Graham‘s challenge is to complete the 300 mile journey in four days, finishing along the Champs Elysee to the Eiffel Tower.
He first made headlines last year when he won the Edgetech Top Gun challenge as the UK‘s fastest Super Spacer® applicator.

Read the Rest Here...

Exemption rule will boost new house numbers – FMB

Small scale house builders will be helped to build more homes, thanks to the Government’s decision to exempt small sites from off-site carbon mitigation, according to the Federation of Master Builders (FMB).

Its Chief Executive Brian Berry said: “There can be little doubt that if we are to begin to build the number of new homes we need, then we desperately need to see a reinvigorated SME house building sector and the use of more small sites for the delivery of new housing. If we are to achieve this, it is vital that new regulations and standards are sensitive to the impact which they can have on small development projects.”

The move to the zero carbon standard presents particular challenges for small building companies working on small sites with limited access to options for on-site low carbon technologies, he said.

Read the Rest Here...

Scottish builders’ confidence up again as domestic projects face new safety obligations

Confidence within the Scottish construction industry has reached a new record high of Plus 29, up three points on the rating recorded at the end of 2014. This is the headline result of the most recent Scottish Construction Monitor, a quarterly survey of the membership of the Scottish Building Federation.

SBF has issued its latest report just days before the entry into force of new regulations which will impose significant new health and safety responsibilities on domestic building projects.

 The 2015 Construction (Design and Management) regulations (CDM 2015) are due to enter into force on Monday, 6th April and will replace existing regulations that came into force in 2007. In particular, the new regulations will impose certain minimum requirements concerning health and safety management for domestic projects.

Read the Rest Here...

GGF welcomes Rehau

The Glass and Glazing Federation has welcomed Rehau Ltd into full Membership.

Gareth Jones, Rehau Marketing and Technical Director said: “We are pleased to have joined the GGF and are keen to get involved in many areas of shared interest. In the industry the Rehau brand stands for unbeatable performance and technical excellence and being part of the industry’s leading trade body, can only reinforce our position.”

Rehau has already become involved in the GGF infrastructure with the recent election of Irene Smith, Rehau Marketing Communications Manager to the GGF Marketing and Communications Committee (MCC).

Read the Rest Here...

UK economy outgrew expectations in Q4 but business investment down – ONS

Britain's economy expanded at a faster pace than previously thought at the end of last year, helped by strong growth in exports.

George Osborne has seized on data that showed household incomes rising at the fastest annual pace in more than four years. But policymakers hoping for a more balanced economic recovery will be disappointed by a 0.9 percent fall in business investment during the fourth quarter compared with the July-September period. Still, for 2014 as a whole business investment rose 7.5 percent, the best showing since 2007.

Gross Domestic Product between October and December grew by a quarterly 0.6 percent, the Office for National Statistics said. That compared with 0.5 percent in a previous reading and matched the third quarter when growth was revised down slightly.

Sterling rose against the euro after the data, and British government bond prices slipped briefly.

Read the Rest Here...