With so much going on, it is no wonder that the GGF and FENSA’s stand was a vibrant and buzzing central hub of the show. As well as the activities of the GGF and FENSA themselves (including the launch of marketing reports and publications), and an introduction to ACDM members, representatives from the organisation’s other companies – BFRC, RISA and Installsure – were bringing visitors up to date with the latest changes and developments.
Key to FENSA’s focus this year was the opportunity to demonstrate how companies could complete compliancy with MTC requirements, quickly, easily and cost effectively. With CSCS ending Grandfather Rights and a tightening of MTC requirements, there has been a lot of confusion, and indeed fear, about how installation teams were going to be affected. FENSA and the GGF wanted to ensure that the industry left the show knowing exactly what was needed and how easily it could be resolved.
This was achieved in two key ways. Firstly, through on stand demonstrations of the GGF’s comprehensive training platform and the specific courses available online to members which can be accessed by employees needing to update their competency accreditations.
Secondly, as sponsors of the FIT Show seminar programme, the GGF and FENSA led a couple of workshops specifically around training and competency. Sam Davies, FENSA technical manager, brought visitors up to date about MTC and Grandfather Rights, and John Mannell, technical officer and training manager, spoke about the Future of Training and Competency in the Glass & Glazing Sector as a whole.
“We were keen to highlight the importance of competency, but at the same time demonstrate that achieving it is quicker and simpler than maybe initially thought. Once visitors to our stand had seen the user friendliness of our training platform it was simple to envisage how online learning can help not just those new to the sector but to help keep experienced workers up to date with current regulatory requirements,” said GGF technical and training manager John Mannell.
RISA’s new Expert Determination service proved of particular interest, particularly when visitors heard about the eye watering costs that a dispute could incur if it ever ended up in court.
“RISA recently provided expert evidence in a case where homeowners were refusing to pay the final balance to an installer due to claimed technical defects”, said RISA’s director of inspection and assessment, Dave Mechem. “The installer chose to issue legal proceedings. The case took two years to come to court and the homeowners presented a counter claim many times the value of the original dispute. The Court ruled in favour of the homeowners and also awarded their costs. ADR in the form of Expert Determination could have settled this case in a matter of weeks, the counter claim would have been unlikely to arise, and the five figure legal costs would not have accrued.”
Highlight of the show was the PiGs event that took place on the GGF and FENSA stand on the Wednesday evening, co-hosted with Business Pilot’s Elton Boocock. The evening proved to be a magnet for the good and great of the industry to gather, network and generally relax after two frantic days at the show.
“The FIT Show played a crucial part to our 2025 marketing activities, giving us the opportunity to showcase the many changes we have already made during the first quarter of 2025,” said GGF managing director Ben Wallace. “Our role in the industry is central to ensuring high standards in terms of quality and workmanship, and we are focused on driving those standards up even more.”
www.ggf.org.uk
