Interesting times

You could say it’s been a busy week for Safestyle UK. Six days ago its shares slid further in the wake of its third profit warning this year, even auguring a possible loss. Yesterday after yet another share slide, it announced the appointment of its third chairman in three months, and was also hit by a hefty fine for 13 cases of ‘unlawful and improper business practices’. Then came today’s announcement of a partial victory in its court battle with aggressive newcomer Safeglaze UK. Apparently, as part of the court’s judgements, Safestyle UK has prevented Safeglaze UK from using the Safestyle UK name and logo but has failed to stop Safeglaze UK from using the Safeglaze UK brand (feel free to go back and read that last bit again; it takes a few seconds but it does make sense).

As if the Bradford-based company didn’t need any other worries, everyone in glazing, and especially plastic, is keeping a very cautious eye on raw materials prices as both PVC-U and glass are threatening a pincer grip on margins all the way down the line. Read Story

If anyone was looking forward to things quietening down in the industry as we approach the summer holidays, they may well be disappointed.

Meanwhile, we hope this issue has all you need to keep up to speed with it all.

Chris Church Editor

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

This Week's News

Safestyle gains an injunction and a chairman as shares slide further

Safestyle UK today announced it has been granted temporary injunctions preventing Safeglaze UK from using the Safestyle UK name or logo but also failed to stop the aggressive newcomer from using its own Safeglaze UK brand.

News of the partial victory comes in a week when Safestyle named its new chairman – its third in three months – days after issuing its third profits warning this year and seeing shares continue to slide to less than half their peak price of three months ago.

Yesterday, the company announced the appointment of former Dunlop Slazenger and Costain Group PLC chief executive Alan Lovell as its new non-executive chairman, following on from Peter Richardson who stepped down in May just a month after taking over following the resignation of the then chairman Steve Halbert.

Read More Here

... and is fined £120,000
for threats, lies and
other ‘improper
business practices’

Safestyle UK has been fined £120,000 plus £52,000 costs after a Crown Court heard of a catalogue of ‘unlawful and improper business practices’ around the UK including telling an 86-year-old he would be ‘in trouble’ if he cancelled a contract.

In another case, a man feared he may be attacked by a door-to-door salesman after he asked him to leave and in other instances, homeowners were told the company had a contract with the local council and had access to government funds.

The company had admitted 13 counts of breaching consumer protection from unfair trading regulations at an earlier hearing.

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Pressure mounts on
PVC and glass prices

Manufacturers are coming under increased pressure as one major glass producer announced a significant price rise at the same time as PVC prices reached a record high.

Pilkington has warned customers of the increase in float glass from August 1 but historically most or all of the other major names may have announcements of their own very soon.

The increase comes amid talk of shortages of the material in some quarters, leading at least one supplier, Epwin Glass to put out a statement reassuring customers of no such problem with existing stocks of over 550 tonnes in 145 types.

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Nine in ten councils breach late payment rules

Nearly nine out of ten local authorities(89%) are failing in their legal duty to monitor whether contractors are getting paid within 30 days for construction work, according to data obtained by Freedom of Information requests by two trade bodies, it was revealed this week.

The figures further show that almost half (49%) do not have – or don’t know whether they have – a built in contractual requirement for 30-day payment and almost one in five (18%) say they have no intention of building-in such requirements.

This is contrary to the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 which state that 30 day payment down the supply chain is mandatory, and that public bodies should take steps to ensure this takes place. The Building Engineering Services Association and Electrical Contractors’ Association, which made the FoI requests, say this shows that many councils are not meeting their legal requirements. 

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GAI guides respond to new BS revisions

The Guild of Architectural Ironmongers has published three new technical guides in response to a raft of revised British Standards on safety, security and accessibility issues.

GAI technical manager Douglas Masterson said: “Architectural ironmongery companies play a crucial role, working with architects, contractors and others to schedule and specify the hardware for every door and window in a building and to produce a full fixing schedule of hardware items, so it is important that our members are up-to-date with the latest standards.”

BS 3621: 2017 specifies the performance requirements and test methods for a thief-resistant mechanically operated single-point lock assembly. It gives ironmongers clarification on how to conform to BS 3621 and the classification for locks in respect of other British and European standards.

Read More Here