INDUSTRYNEWS
FIT Show ’21: A Filter For “the Leaner,
Fitter and Better Funded Companies
in Our Industry” Says Top Installer
In an extraordinary, timely interview, one
of the UK’s leading window and door
installers, David Thornton of The Window
Company (Contracts) Ltd, says that
he will be visiting next year’s FIT Show
with a view to identifying additional new
supply partners, because the event will
“highlight the leaner, fitter and better
funded companies in our industry.”
» DAVID, WHO HAS
previously shown his support
for the event, which will take
place once again at the NEC in
May, was asked for his views on
the relevance of the FIT Show
at a time when the industry is
facing enormous challenges due
to Covid-19. He said: “Although
we all have an extremely difficult
road ahead, assuming that we
are able to return to some sort
of normality in the coming
months, the next FIT Show will
be immensely important for the
industry.”
Having previously visited
the FIT Show with a specially
prepared prospectus on his firm,
to allow exhibitors to understand
his company’s requirements more
thoroughly, David says that the
2021 event will be even more
important in his choice of future
additional trading partners to
work alongside existing suppliers:
“With the total cancellation
of Fensterbau until 2022, FIT
Show 2021 will be even more
important. Certainly, I will regard
any exhibitors at next year’s FIT
Show as companies that I am
more likely to do business with,
simply as they have not only
survived but they can afford to
be there both financially and
logistically. By then they are
likely to have rationalised their
products and services and, like all
of us, will have taken a lot of hard
decisions during the lockdown
that will make them leaner, fitter
and simply better to do business
with.”
‘there is no
substitute for
looking people in
the eye to discuss
your needs’
Now one of the South East’s
leading commercial window, door
and curtain walling installers,
working for some of the region’s
biggest contractors and social
housing providers, David has
steered The Window Company
(Contracts) Ltd to three ‘Installer
of the Year’ titles. A committed
industry man, David has also
served as a director of the Glass
& Glazing Federation. He added:
“You meet people face-to-face at
an exhibition like the FIT Show
and, as sophisticated as digital
communications are, there is no
substitute for looking people in
the eye to discuss your needs and
their ability to supply you. We do
a lot of business at FIT.”
Next year’s event will be even
more important in this process,
he says: “It’s a fact that many of
the more fragile companies will
have gone. I want to see who
is left, to see the shape of their
businesses and how they intend to
develop going forward; the May
’21 FIT Show will be a filter, in
effect.
“But just as importantly,” adds
David, “many of the challenges
posed by the lockdown came
from the basic human need to
interact… the FIT Show will be
so very important, as we come out
of this period.”
FIT Show 2021 will take place
at the NEC 25th to 27th May.
For further information go to:
https://www.fitshow.co.uk
For further information on The
Window Company (Contracts)
Ltd go to https://thewinco.co.uk
18 » JUL 2020 » CLEARVIEW-UK.COM