INDUSTRYNEWS
MOVING FORWARD WITH GREAT OPTIMISM
» DOOR & HARDWARE
Federation (DHF) is moving
into summer 2020 with great
optimism for the remainder of
the year, buoyed, in part, by its
continuing training initiatives.
Developing its successful
online training courses, the proactive
trade association has now
progressed to offering a ‘Distance
Learning Programme’ (DLP) in
the coming weeks, delivered via
Zoom, with delegates attended
to by Senior Compliance and
Training Officer, Nick Perkins,
who will be available to fully guide
and tutor them throughout their
courses and indeed, until their
qualification has been achieved.
Examinations can be taken via the
online facility, with both one and
two-day courses available. This
will enable those at a distance to
maintain their training and obtain
the necessary qualifications for
them to progress their careers and
remain compliant.
DHF has been particularly
active during the COVID-19
pandemic, responding adeptly to
the ever-changing circumstances,
whilst finding a successful balance
between safety and continuing
to provide the exceptional
training for which it has become
renowned.
Working hard behind the
scenes during lockdown, it has
not compromised its offering
of advice and guidance, nor
the training it has provided.
On 1st June, the organisation
reinstated its face-to-face training
sessions at its on-site facility at
Tamworth, and from 4th July,
will be increasing course attendee
numbers on-site from six to 10.
As Head of Commercial
Operations, Patricia Sowsbery-
Stevens, explains, uptake for both
online and face-to-face learning
has been extremely positive:
“DHF is revered industrywide
for its exceptional training
offering, and the onset of
COVID-19 has not diminished
our on-going desire to retain our
position as industry leaders. We
have continued to put delegates
first in every way possible,
ensuring that those partaking in
distance learning have received all
training materials in the post prior
to their sessions, and Nick has
been available to support trainees
at every step. Unquestionably,
a further positive to distance
learning is that delegates are not
only limiting their time away from
the workplace, but reducing their
carbon footprint, which can only
be a good thing.”
In addition, DHF is offering a
10% discount on its first year of
membership, open until 31st July,
and has continued to welcome
new members throughout the
lockdown period.
www.dhfonline.org.uk
FLEET IN FULL FLOW AS
WINDOW INDUSTRY
GETS BACK TO WORK
» VEKA RECYCLING LTD,
the Wellingborough-based
specialist recycler of PVC-U
window, has reported that its
fleet of collection vehicles is once
again travelling the highways
of England, Wales and more
recently Scotland as the industry’s
window and door installers open
their factory gates again after
lockdown.
VEKA Recycling’s articulated,
demountable forklift-equipped
vehicles, together with 10-tonne
box trucks, are once again
completing their regular routes
as installers get back to work
installing new windows, doors and
conservatories and returning the
old frames for reprocessing. Once
received, the old windows will
have metals such as reinforcement
and hardware removed, with the
frames passing through several
stages before being supplied
again as high quality polymer to
extruders for re-manufacture into
a range of products. These include
PVC-U window and door profiles
and others that include products
for the electrical and building
industry.
The collection vehicles
being back on the road may be
regarded as a reliable barometer
of real-world activity, says
VEKA Recycling’s managing
director Simon Scholes: “We
were delighted when the phones
began ringing with our installer
customers telling us that not
only were they back at work but
that their hoppers were full of
recyclable material that needed
collecting.
“We have also been busy
again collecting virgin PVC-U
frame offcuts from fabricators
using all system brands, as frame
production steps up again.
It may be some time before
volumes return to those before
lockdown, but it is encouraging,
nonetheless.”
Simon added: “It is
encouraging that, despite
business pressures brought on
by Covid-19, installers and
fabricators are still keen to
have their profiles reprocessed
according to a clearly traceable
audit trail, to ensure compliance
with ever-stricter regulations
covering recycling.”
veka-recycling.co.uk
16 » JUL 2020 » CLEARVIEW-UK.COM