And the winner is…

No prizes for guessing the subject on the lips of all this week, as we are dusting down our best bib and tucker ready for the G17 Awards, especially as that trophy table will be bigger than ever this year thanks to the GGF and FENSA sharing our platform with new awards of their own. As you might expect, the full report of the glittering occasion will be in The Glazine next week.

Also, this week, we hear that Assure, one of the jewels in the crown of the original Network Veka organisation, has now gone private in an MBO by its long-standing manager Austin Greene, who is aiming, among other things, to shout louder about the scheme being open to all systems users as well as Veka.
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And just a couple of weeks after one major door supplier underlined the ongoing trend in residential doors by announcing it was pulling out of PVC-U panel manufacture,
a major composite door distributor and prepped door supplier says it is to begin manufacturing its own units in the UK.
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Meanwhile, as we wait with bated breath until Friday, it remains only to wish all the finalists the best of luck when the envelopes are opened.

Chris Church Editor

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

This Week's News

Greene buys Assure scheme from Veka

Austin Greene, former manager at Network Veka’s Assure competent persons scheme announced this week that he has acquired the scheme from the Veka Group to form what he says is ‘the only independently run scheme within the sector’.

Now managing director of Assure Certification, he told The Glazine that while the scheme has always been open to users of all systems, this would now be emphasised more strongly to potential customers in future. He added that Assure Certification is also more independent because it has no connection with any IBG provider. He explained: “Our competitors are owned by groups which have IBG companies attached to them, therefore they will always try to move their members onto their insurance. As we are not part of an insurance company we accept all the IBGs on the market allowing our members to choose the one that suits them.”

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Doorco to start UK manufacture with
all-sysco subframe

Doorco has revealed plans for a fourth phase of its growth that will see the company begin manufacturing bespoke double-rebated composite doors at its UK factory, perhaps as early as Q1 next year.

Details are still at the development stage but MD Dan Sullivan told The Glazine the doors will be 68-70mm, with GRP skins from its sister company in Korea and a subframe built from a full range of any of the major PVC-U systems.

“This will be Doorco’s biggest investment since we lunched out factory in Korea,” he said during a press day at the Macclesfield factory this week.

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A Golden Apple

CMS Window Systems is celebrating after picking up the Gold award in the International Green Apple Awards for Environmental Best Practice 2017 at a special presentation ceremony held at the Houses of Parliament in London.

CMS uses a ‘closed-loop’ approach, which ensures it recycles post-use windows and doors and replaces them with fully recyclable, products designed to help increase the energy efficiency of buildings and reduce their carbon footprint.

Collecting the award at the Houses of Parliament were two newly appointed directors, Gerald McSkimming, operations director, and Craig Reid, PVC contracts director.

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Ready to shine

The wait is nearly over, the judges have completed their deliberations and the champagne is on ice ready for the best of the best in our industry to be called into the spotlight as winners of the G17 Awards.

All the sealed envelopes are under wraps until this Friday when the winners will be announced, but judges say we can expect the same high standard of achievement by individuals and companies that has been the hallmark of these awards.

Organiser Tony Higgin said: “It’s promising to be another great year, not only because of the standard of entries and another near-record attendance list for the gala dinner but also because two other organisations, the GGF and FENSA have swelled the trophy table to its biggest ever by using our platform for their two new awards.”

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Glass buying group doubles

The National Glass Group buying organisation says its members’ collective turnover has doubled to £90million following the announcement this week of new members Crystal Units and Ecoglass as well as the Nova Group earlier this year.

Crystal Units was established in 1994 and operates from its facility in North West London, serving the South East of England in both commercial and domestic markets. The heritage of Ecoglass stretches back to 1949 from its base in Norwich, where it has grown to be the supplier of choice in East Anglia and beyond.

NGG is a wholly member-owned group that represents glass processors in the UK including existing members Clayton Glass, Custom Glass and Northern Express Glass, Nova Group, Romag and Supaseal Glass. Collectively the members employ over 800 people across 12 sites, with annual purchases exceeding £30million, it also claims to be for the largest independent buyer of sheet glass in the UK.

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