Sadleronline

Many organisations from various business sectors are looking to this year’s proposed Green Deal as a key element to boost the home improvement market, which hopefully it will but from what I am learning as I explore this opportunity it is not as straight forward as we might think.

The new meaning for Greenhouse

As a “Double Glazing” man, there is said it out loud, I am one of the many that hope it will give us something to get our teeth into but I think there is a lot more to it than knocking someone’s door and saying “ Want your windows done Mrs the Electric company will pay”.

I draw many similarities to the former Decent Home Scheme where the government stumped up a few quid in order to raise the standard of thousands of homes in the United Kingdom, unfortunately this scheme was scrapped due to cutbacks which left many of us with an empty order book.

This scheme was delivered through partnering which really meant main contractors and procurement agencies orchestrating the schemes not the SME are who actually did the work.

From what I see the products will be controlled into the market by The Green Deal providers who will do the Energy Survey arrange finance and control the supply chain and products into the installation, reading the criteria it appears a little out of reach for the average company.

In addition to this the method for repayment of the loan is measurable savings and meter feed in revenue so to me indicates that the key element of the whole scheme is Solar to provide an easy measurable repayment vehicle, can’t see windows alone doing this because the home owner would need to guarantee a reduction in energy and it may not meet the financial model for repayment.

My advice to my fellow “Double Glaziers” is get your products certified and performing to the best thermal efficiency and security possible our Protherm Windows are available with Secured by Design with a U Value of 0.8W/m2K and our Prodoor Composite Door at 1.0W/m2K and we will continue strive to do better.

Review your own business practices and its carbon footprint because this will play a part in the decision making process by the big boys because it is how they are scored also.

Then get yourself amongst the market leaders and let them know you can offer a good local service because part of the overview will be local sustainability and social impact so don’t ignore it, call me a tree hugger but every application and tender I submit focuses on sustainability and we enforce it throughout our working practices.

If you just focus on being “in the game” with the bigger organisations who provide The Green Deal then I believe you will reap some rewards but don’t wait until October or it might be too late.

Good Luck

Alan Sadler

GM Fundraising will be going ‘Back to Black’ with an Olympic theme, for their next Gala Dinner on 28^th April 2012, at the Holiday Inn, Birmingham. With nearly 50% of tables sold pre launch, those that are looking to go to what is regarded as the industry’s best night out in terms of entertainment, need to book quickly.

While the last few Gala Dinners for GMF have been themed in terms of what to wear, this year the glazing industry’s preferred charity, is going back to ‘black tie and posh frock’, which has proved so successful in other years. However, the evening will take a distinctly Olympic theme, as London 2012 becomes ever closer and the night’s festivities will follow this course.

Black Tie Posh Frock

Like every GMF Gala Dinner, the evening will offer remarkable entertainment, great food in the form of a 4-course dinner, wine, a charity auction and raffle, but above all, the opportunity to support Hope House Children’s Hospices. For the seventh event running, the charity has again held table prices at just £995 for a table of ten and has agreed a fabulous rate at the hotel of £75.00 per room, for two people sharing, inclusive of breakfast and VAT.

Gary Morton, chairman of GM Fundraising, comments: “We’re going back to black, but with an Olympic theme and we promise an evening packed full of entertainment. Like all of our events we want to offer outstanding value, fun and a platform for raising much needed funds for the charity. It’s the perfect opportunity to entertain staff, customers and to bring your partners.”

Tables are running out quickly, so to reserve yours today, please contact Gary Morton on gary@mighton.co.uk or telephone 07831 608882. The GMF Team look forward to seeing you there and supporting GM Fundraising. You can also help us build our Twitter and Facebook following @GMFundraising.

80 years ago today (1^st Feb) a world changing moment happened, the world was graced with the addition of a beautiful soul, my mom Doris.

Leading up to this historic day she has dropped her shoulder a few times on actually admitting how old is she really is, like the queen I am sure she has several birthdays a year and misses a few every other leap year.

Our Mom

For those who know “Deadly Dancin Doris” you may agree she is a bit of a case!  and puts her own slant on common phrases when getting her ”worms middled up” but can reduce a crowd to silence with tales from her youth when she was one of 7 children bought up single handed by her mom Polly due to the early passing of her father.

One of my favourites is when her friends were going swimming but because the family was so poor she didn’t have a bathing costume, so her friends decided to make her one from some old velvet curtains, so off she went feeling proud as punch with her new regalia.

This joy was short lived due to the stitching in the swimsuit coming apart leaving her in the shallows clutching the living room drapes to try and preserve her dignity.

She didn’t learn to drive until she was 60 and a trip in her rally Ford KA is enough to make Evil Kinevil brick it, pulling off at 6000 rpm riding the clutch while waving to us is a sight to behold.

While we were growing she always had her hands full with 3 sons and as we got older and faster we managed to escape the clip around the ear, but she was a bit too street wise for us, a few strategically placed fishing rod tops gave her the extension to our backsides she needed to get her point across.

So happy birthday my beautiful mother you don’t look or act 80 and thanks for always being the one who pulls our family together and smothering us in love and affection.

Love ya Dexter x x x

Alan

It seems the world has gone Cyber Friend mad and unless you have 1000’s of friends or followers you are considered to be behind in the new world.

Let’s just take a step back and apply the Facebook and Twitter approach to real life relationship building, would it work?

I know a few like this

So you’re at an exhibition and you see someone you have always wanted to do business with and using your new Facebook friend approach you walk up to them and say “Can I be Your Friend ? I have some photo’s you can look at if you like” Knowing some of the stalwart businessmen in our industry you would probably get a slap BUT should they agree to be a friend not sure how they would respond to you wanting to poke them every now and again !!

So the real life Facebook approach failed, so try the real life Twitter approach, you’re at the football and watching the players enter the ground followed by the WAG’s one of them is slightly famous and you say “Are you on Twitter ? Can I follow you?” She says yes and gives you her @username but you actually follow her into the club, then to her seat, then to the loo, then back to her seat then I am sure a nice security guard would give you the guided tour to the exit and perhaps a nice Judge would give you a restraining order.

And imagine your real friends keep giving you pointless updates in 140 characters or less “Watching Emerdale”  “At Work” “Looking forward to Friday” “Had a curry last night loo roll in the fridge” Who blooming cares !!!

Please don’t get me wrong I love a bit of social networking and have activities in a few arenas but always prefer a chat or even pint with friends and customers, I have met some people I now call friends and customers over the interweb so that can’t be a bad thing.

I think what I am saying at is simple, while Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, LinkedIn, email marketing etc are all with us and are here to stay never forget the human touch, the old saying “People buy off people” sounds corny but it is true, don’t hide behind a Cyber Wall go and introduce yourself you never know where it might lead.

Alan Sadler

Well we are halfway through the worst month of the year, the Christmas cheer has gone and the new year resolutions are already under strain plus that gym membership you’re paying £ 60 a month for is not getting you fit, the fact you have to go to the gym to achieve fitness was not explained when you signed up and why do they sell beer and burgers ?

If you’re running or involved in running a business the pressure is worse, no one pays but things need paying, suppliers, Corporation Tax, VAT, PAYE  all are due and order intake is down.

You speak to a friendly competitor and ask them ”hows biz?” when you hear “really busy actually” resist wanting to kill them but indicate to them in a stern but friendly manner perhaps you are not telling you the whole truth, for me the direct response is best but I promised not to swear on here .

Dawson The Methane Factory

To top that when you get home the “Mrs” has got the holiday brochures out “I really fancy Brazil” yeah and I really fancy Kylie but that isn’t happening either! So we agree to disagree but she suggests now the kids are grown up it would be nice to take the dog. Take the Dog! Yeah the dog really needs a holiday although I am pretty sure if I could harness the methane that comes out of him we could halve our fuel costs.

So time to knuckle down and generate some business in a pretty quiet market, for my fellow window and door colleagues it is time to up your game, make sure your products and service tick all the boxes so you don’t give the potential buyer an opportunity to say no because XYZ company products are higher up the food chain than yours.

It is no secret this year will be a tough but don’t give up before you try, work hard, try new things and stay focused, you will be OK, stay away from the negative crowd they will only bring you down.

That said I’m off now to develop my Methane Regeneration Engine for my flatulent Pup.

And remember………………..

“This time next year Rodney we will be millionaires” ~ Delboy Trotter

Alan Sadler

Dave Martin great sand save

This year’s GM Fundraising Golf Day at the Telford Hotel and Golf Resort, was arguably the best yet, with an amazing £9,405.20 raised during the event. As the industry’s preferred charity, it highlighted the continued generosity of the companies and individuals involved. 

There were a number of prizes including leading individuals, Malcolm MacKenzie of Lifestyle Windows and John Hewitt of Glazerite, with the winning team from Mila Hardware. Joint runners up in the team event went to Glazerite Windows and Dekko Window Systems. David Higgs from Promac Group was nearest the pin and Mick Madigan of Quickslide hit the longest drive. 

Once the day’s festivities were completed, there was a little networking at the bar, before the attendees made a quick turnaround for the evening event. GM Fundraising has built an impressive reputation for putting the fun back into fundraising and did not disappoint with an auction, raffle and impressive 3 course dinner.

The Profix Team strike the pose

GM Fundraising will be putting on a further charity event in the near future, in the form of the Gala Dinner and will be looking to pass the £3/4 million pound mark raised for Hope House Children’s Hospices. It’s an event not to be missed and there will be a full announcement coming soon, so follow us on twitter @gmfundraising and help build our following!

Gary Morton, chairman of GM Fundraising commented: “Every year I applaud the industry and yet again we’ve been overwhelmed by the generosity of everyone. More than ever Hope House needs our support, at a time when their income is considerably down. Events like this help re-address the balance and we hope to put on an amazing Gala Dinner in the near future. Thank you once again to all those involved.”

The GMF Team with David Featherstone

I am proud to be part of GM Fundraising, the glazing industry’s charity of choice, and we have just handed over a cheque for £102,880.71 to Hope House Children’s Hospices after yet another action packed year of cycling, golf and some school antics ! 

The main focus of the year was the Rome 2 Home bike ride, a 1,500 mile cycle ride from Rome to Hope House Children’s Hospice in Oswestry. This included the Tour De France’s most feared climb, Mont Ventoux. On average it took riders 2 hours to cycle up the infamous 16.27 mile climb to an elevation of 6,273 feet at the summit, twice the height of England’s highest mountain. “2 hours of hell” as someone explained!

In addition to this latest cycling epic, there was the annual golf day and the Skoolz Out Gala Dinner that provided further, much needed, funds for Hope House Children’s Hospices.

Following a recent visit by the GM Fundraising team, the hospice will be soon opening a new centre which is being specifically built to provide bereavement counselling for both parents and siblings.

GMF chairman, Gary Morton, comments: “We’ve had another amazing year with yet another bike ride, golf day and the gala dinner. The money raised was due almost entirely to the generosity of the window and glass industry, who even in such difficult times, continue to support us. This money will directly support terminally ill children and their families. We want to do so much more for them and carry on the momentum we have built over the last 16 years.”
He continues: ”We’ve got exciting plans for 2011 so watch this space or follow us on Facebook, Twitter or at www.gmfundraising.co.uk ”

Glass Recycling

Commercial glazing specialist Profix has recently completed a project for East Durham Homes, thanks to their comprehensive environmental procedures and reputation as a great and proven contractor.

 The £600,000 contract was to supply and fit both windows and composite doors to the housing stock owned by East Durham Homes in the Chappel Hill area of Durham, working alongside key partners Kier Construction and Fabstore.

There were specific objectives with respect to the environment which included the recycling of all waste materials involved in the project including the old windows and doors which were recycled at the Profix factory. It was also important to avoid any waste disposal in landfill or in incinerators with the key aim to reduce pollution and to help conserve all natural resources. Virgin raw materials were specified for the new windows and doors.

Recycled timber from old windows and doors

When it came to the recycling of the windows and doors, the handles went for metal re-processing, glass went into a separate skip and the old timber windows and doors were placed in a dedicated skip. Woodwaste Recycling collected their skip, the contents of which were destined for clean re-usable wood, demolition timber and pallets.

“It was important both for the contract and for our own processes to meet the necessary environmental criteria of this project. We already carry out all our recycling according to the latest waste management legislation and our ISO 14001 accreditation and this project has helped further increase our efforts. We look forward to working on other more environmentally sensitive projects in the near future.”

Alan Sadler

Our Sound Solution

The residents surrounding Birmingham Airport, UK are now enjoying a little more peace and quiet thanks to the installation of new windows by Profix Ltd which have drastically reduced aircraft noise and have also provided enhanced thermal insulation.

The social housing specialist worked with Salford University  to develop a solution in accordance with the BRE and tested in accordance with BS EN ISO 140-3:1995 – laboratory measurement of airborne sound insulation of building elements.

Profix’s own high performance acoustic glass was used which also allowed for the development of a window with improved energy efficiency. Not only do the residents benefit from less noise transmission, but they can also benefit from reduced energy bills thanks to the use of the Protherm range.

In addition to the sound and energy befefits the windows carried Kitemark and Secured by Design security accrediation, thus keeping sound and unwanted visitors out and heat and valuables in. 

Energy Star Phonic Glass in Production

Part of a rolling programme the project measurement from homeowner satisfaction survey from Profix is showing a 99.8% satisfaction level. This survey is just one element of the audit process carried out by the company. Key partners include: Fabstore, Birmingham Airport, Pilkington, Edgtech and Birmingham City Council.

“This has been a rewarding project, not just for us but to see the positive impact these windows have on the residents surrounding the airport. Thanks to our in-house glass processing division we are capable of developing some technically advanced window solutions.”

Alan Sadler