Thick and thin

Anyone with a taste for the finer points of specifications and standards may have been transfixed this week by a particular can of worms opened by Saveheat director and former Veka stalwart Colin Torley on the issue of the thickness – or lack of it – of IGU spacer bars in timber heritage frames.

As well as his first letter, Colin has now written a second with his reaction to the industry’s reaction – or lack of it – to the first (Read Letter), then shortly after that came the detailed response from the GGF (Read Letter).

Those of us less technically adept – and your editor must confess to being among them – may feel more than a little mesmerised by all the minutiae but it may sharpen our attention a little if a few people’s windows start to go wrong. The good reputation of this industry is built on the standards of quality and longevity that it sets so it is important that we give these experts the time and space to solve the issue to the satisfaction of all sides.

Elsewhere, there is more good news for retrofit with the latest figures from estate agents that more houses are going up for sale, which inevitably means more potential buyers eyeing up what improvements need to be done. Read Story

We hope you enjoy – and perhaps even understand – this week’s issue.

Chris Church Editor

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

This Week's News

GGF answers low
sightline debate

The GGF has responded to the controversy over reduced sightline IGUs, including a repeated warning from Chief Executive Phil Pluck that any member persistently breaking the law or its own rules will be expelled.

The Federation also says it has reported one manufacturer to Trading Standards authorities.

The response follows a letter to trade media from Saveheat Group director Colin Torley calling into question the use of the lower profile spacer bars in heritage applications.

Read More Here...

House selling hits
two-year high

Hopeful house sellers reached a two-year high last month with all UK new listings with estate agents up by 20% over August – and over 44% in London, according to the latest Property Supply Index by online estate agent Housesimple.com.

Two thirds (65.6%) of towns and cities saw an increase in the number of new properties taken on by estate agents in September over August, with the biggest local increases in Oxford with 71.0% and Torquay, 59.8%. The biggest fall was in Luton, down by 48.0%, followed by West Bromwich at 29.2%.

Read More Here...

Industry figures take part in Parliamentary Review

Senior industry figures joined Chancellor Philip Hammond, Business Secretary Greg Clark and other MPs and economic commentators in the House of Commons last week to take part in The Parliamentary Review.

The review is organised annually by government to assess the state of parliament and the economy; and a select handful of representatives from industry are invited to attend, to provide their input.

Read More Here...

Veka hosts George Osborne’s Northern Powerhouse report launch

Former Chancellor George Osborne and Northern Powerhouse Partnership Chairman chose the Veka Group’s Burnley HQ recently to launch its latest report; 'Powerhouse 2050: The North's Routemap for Productivity'.

Speaking to over 100 staff and guests, he said: “One of the major aims is to improve connectivity. Northern villages, towns and cities are proud of their local identities and steeped with history but are perhaps not big enough to make a global impact by themselves. They are close enough geographically however to team up; the distance between Manchester and Leeds, for example, is shorter than the Central Line of the London Underground.

Read More Here...

We Have Email

From: Colin Torley,
Sales and Operations Director,
Saveheat Group

I have sent out a letter, ref the illegal use of “Heritage Glass”. This was sent out a week ago and has been picked up by a number of publications. Since then there has been silence from a number of areas I would have thought would have picked up on this and maybe take issue with my comments, in particular,

The GGF are the Industry trade body and a number of their members are actively producing these units, so I would have thought that they would want to reassure the industry that manufacturing this type of “illegal” unit just doesn’t happen.

Read More

From: Michael Holmes,
The Northern Homebuilding
& Renovating Show
(3-5 November 2017, HCC, Harrogate)

The cause of the housing crisis in the UK is simple enough for any GCSE economics student to understand: there are too many people chasing too few homes to either buy or rent.

The reason behind this is twofold: regional policy has failed to prevent employment and wealth from clustering around Greater London and the South East of England, and we have built far too few new homes for generations.

Read More

From: Leon Friend,
Managing Director, Hueck UK

In early May 2017 six city regions in the UK elected metro mayors, or ‘combined authority mayors’. This election had the potential to dramatically alter the political structure of the UK and decision-making powers are already being devolved to different regions.

Amongst the most high-profile people to be elected as a metro mayor was former Labour leader candidate Andy Burnham, for the Greater Manchester region.

Read More