My customer’s customer

The issue of any business competing with its own customers is a thorny one and one which will probably be with us as long as there are supply chains. In earlier days of online trading, some major consumer brands found out the hard way that it isn’t a good idea to upset your retailers by leapfrogging straight to the end-user, and the issue has caused more than a few cross words in our industry, especially between fabricator and installer.

This week, we read with interest Rob McGlennon’s reply to Martin Nettleton’s letter of last week on this subject (If you didn’t read it, take a look now (Read Letter) before reading Rob’s response. Read Letter

Elsewhere, this year’s Fire Door Safety Week has been extremely well received. Anyone who has ever witnessed the depressing sight of a burnt-out property, let alone the damage to life and limb, can only applaud any activity to enhance safety in this area. Read Story

And, of course, we hardly need remind you that November is here – and that means we’re counting down the days until over 600 of this industry’s great and good gather to recognise the best of the best at the G16 Awards. The judges have now completed their deliberations and all we will say before the night is that they were very impressed with the quality of the winning entries but many of the categories were very close indeed.

What we can say is that the very last tickets are going fast so, if you haven’t booked yours yet, you’d better be quick.

Chris Church Editor

Please send all your news stories to news@the-glazine.com

This Week's News

Fire Door Safety Week ‘best yet’

Organisers of this year’s Fire Door Safety Week have declared it the most successful to date with almost double the reach of last year and four times the supporters it has at its launch in 2013.

The event reached more than 8.8million people through TV, radio and social media and now co-organiser the British Woodworking Federation is calling for 2017 to be made ‘Year of Fire Door Safety. This year’s campaign achieved the active involvement of 174 organisations, including housing and construction companies, fire and rescue services, and a wide range of businesses involved in the fire door supply chain.

Read More Here...

Constructors can cope with Brexit – Plimsoll

Most UK construction companies are in surprisingly good shape to cope with any Brexit fallout, according to a new report from market analysts Plimsoll Publishing.

Having carried out a financial health check on the UK’s 1500 top construction firms, the new report has found that 779 firms are performing well in current market conditions and are well prepared for any uncertainty in the sector.

Read More Here...

Welsh lead the way in tradesmen’s pay league

Self-employed tradesmen in Wales saw earnings rise by 5.3% year-on-year compared with less than 2% across all England, while those in London and North East England actually saw incomes fall, according to a newly launched Construction Pay Trends index.

The biggest drop in average weekly pay in the building industry was experienced in the North East which saw a 2.1% decrease in earnings year-to-date in 2016 compared to 2015. It was closely followed by a 0.4% decrease in London.

Read More Here...

Two more join
buying group

National Glass Group has expanded its membership to five companies, with the introduction of Romag and Supaseal, part of the Saveheat Group of companies.

The two companies join founder members Clayton Glass, Custom Glass and Northern Express Glass to give the buying group a combined turnover of over £50million and annual purchasing exceeding £15million, making it the largest independent buyer of sheet glass in the UK.

Read More Here...

We Have Email

From:
Rob McGlennon
Sales Director
Deceuninck

I read with interest the letter from Euroglaze MD Martin Nettleton, in which he asks for views on whether upstream suppliers are increasingly encroaching downstream into their customers’ territory. Martin refers specifically to fabricators competing with installer customers, but this is a trend we’re seeing across the entire supply chain. Heading up the Sales & Marketing for a system’s company, I come across examples of other profile suppliers competing with customers every day. And it comes down to our industry’s elephant in the room – price pressure.

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From:
Stephen Nadin
Managing Director
Endurance Doors

I’ve embraced with great interest the latest summary findings of the Palmer Report, which shows that high-end products and high value installations are the ‘only glimmer of growth’ in an otherwise flat market.

Some installation companies may disagree, others will concur, but the general consensus is that the loftier elements of the industry are thriving. It’s great news for the industry and this includes the composite door sector, which has seen strong growth and investment for a number of years now.

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From:
Wayne Lysaght-Mason
Managing Director
IronmongeryDirect 

“The recent announcement regarding changes to the Apprentice Levy is welcome news for the construction sector, particularly as it struggles with its biggest skills crisis in almost 20 years.

 “Following the recession, the sector lost around 324,000 skilled workers, and currently there are not enough people entering the profession to meet existing work requirements - or to replace the number of workers soon to hit retirement age. As a result, pressure is mounting on the industry to take immediate action to attract fresh, new talent to bridge the gap. 

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