Caging the phoenix

It may or may not be true that the proposed legislation to limit the practice of ‘phoenixing’ a business as an escape route from debt will have any meaningful effect. It is beyond doubt however that every business that goes bust – legitimately or otherwise – drags at least half a dozen others nearer to the rim of their own collapse, so any attempt at all to curtail any abuse can only be encouraged. Read Story

Meanwhile, in another government department, the hardware industry is being urged to have its say in the revision of fire door regulations in the wake of failures exposed following the Grenfell disaster. It is very likely that the contributions from the GAI and its members will go beyond the substance of doors and their components to its long-held assertion that correct specification and installation have an equally important role to play. Read Story

Also, on the same subject, we have a letter from Yale’s Paul Atkinson which among other things supports the DHF’s call for third-party certification of all companies manufacturing, installing and repairing fire resistant doorsets. Read Letter

We hope there is ample food for thought on this and much else in this week’s issue.

Chris Church Editor

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

This Week's News

Hardware industry urged to contribute to building regs reform

Door hardware experts are being urged to use their experience in helping to shape future building regulations following the recent failure of a number of fire doors in the current FD30 test.

The call comes from their trade body, the Guild of Architectural Ironmongers which is urging all industry professionals to join it in contributing to proposed amendments to the relevant Approved Document B.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) began investigating the fire door industry after it was found that a glazed, composite fire door from Grenfell Tower had failed a 30 minute fire resistance test after approximately 15 minutes.

Read More Here

Insolvency Service closes in on phoenixing directors

A Government crackdown on directors ducking out of their debts to suppliers, workforce or pensions by ‘phoenixing’ their businesses has been welcomed as the most significant step forward for over 15 years.

The reforms will put bosses under investigation if they try to escape paying a dissolved company’s debts to their own staff and creditors as well as giving new powers to the Insolvency Service to fine directors or even have them disqualified.

Business Minister Kelly Tolhurst said: “The UK is a great place to do business with some of the highest standards of corporate governance. While the vast majority of UK companies are run responsibly, some recent large-scale business failures have shown that a minority of directors are recklessly profiting from dissolved companies.

Read More Here

‘Alarm bells’ from fall in migration - FMB

The drop in EU net migration has sounded alarm bells for the UK construction industry, the Federation of Master Builders has said in response to new figures from the Office of National Statistics. 

Director of External Affairs Sarah McMonagle said: “EU net migration is at its lowest level since 2012 and this is deeply worrying for those sectors that rely on workers from the EU. Despite the fact that we are still operating under the free movement of people, we’re already seeing far fewer EU workers coming to the UK and a greater number leaving our shores. This could be due to financial reasons since the depreciation of sterling following the EU referendum, which means that if these workers are sending money home, or saving up, their UK wages are now worth less. It could also, quite simply, be that some EU workers no longer feel welcome.

“The drop in EU net migration is a particular problem for industries like construction. At present, 9 per cent of our construction workers are from the EU and therefore we are more reliant than most on EU workers.

Read More Here

We Have Email

From: Dean Hodges,
Managing Director, BM Aluminium

Not before time perhaps, the wider industry seems to have woken up to the realities of the skills shortage and the need to train the next generation of employees.

We all know the main reasons of course – from uncertainty around Brexit to poor perceptions of the industry amongst young people; but I don’t think any of them are insurmountable obstacles.

Certainly, our experience of employing school leavers and investing in training them ourselves has been nothing but positive. We have five support technicians here at BM Aluminium who we have recruited over recent years either direct from school at 18 or from short term, unskilled jobs in their early 20s. They are all now well on the way to establishing successful careers with us and, just as importantly, are doing a brilliant job for customers.

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From: Paul Atkinson,
Sales and Commercial Director,
Yale Door and Window Solutions

Yale recognises that many of the recommendations made within the review, advocated by Dame Judith Hackitt, are necessary for improving building safety and addressing the lack of testing, standards and product performance. We believe this is a step in the right direction and support the underlying principles of the report.

In the future, we would like to see the scope of these recommendations extended. Fire safety should be regarded with critical importance across all building types. The review mentions the possibility of widening the scope of the framework “in due course” to encompass a wider set of residential buildings. This is where it feels proportionate to do so and the recommendation will clearly benefit building standards more broadly.

Read More

From: Michele Wietscher,
Director, Newview Windows

Regenerating underused parts of cities and towns by building mixed-use developments could provide a golden bullet to help both the ailing high-street and the construction sector.

The latest figures around housebuilding and construction show a ‘pick-up’ after the impact of the ‘beast from the east’. The high street has also taken a hit recently with major names tumbling like dominoes.

Read More