Clearview 226 - September 2020 | Page 18

INDUSTRYNEWS OBITUARY Keith Vast It is with great sadness that profine UK announces the passing away of Keith Vast at his home on Wednesday 29th July, following a prolonged period of ill health. » IN APRIL 2020, KEITH retired from profine UK, yet he was largely responsible for the design and development of the KÖMMERLING 70 window and door system, which today remains a class leader in terms of performance, quality and design. Keith’s career with the business extended beyond 20 years in the technical department and he was very well respected by customers, suppliers and colleagues alike. Andrew Charlesworth, head of technical for profine UK commented: “As profine continues to grow strongly within the UK and in now establishing a local manufacturing base for the first time, we trust this a fitting tribute to the hard work and dedication Keith showed over the years. But now our thoughts go out to his family and his wife Joyce during this difficult time.” Get masked up with free face coverings » IT WILL NOW BE COMPULSORY that face coverings are worn in enclosed public spaces such as supermarkets, indoor shopping centres, transport hubs, banks and takeaways. It will be fully enforced according to the government and the Police can hand out fines of up to £100 to those who do not comply. The Residence Collection and Window Widgets are both offering free facemasks, now that the new face covering rules have come into effect. Window Widgets has already been making use of their 3D printer to produce straps for the facemasks of frontline NHS workers, but this latest initiative for facemasks is to help support the industry and respective friends and families. Sarah Hitchings, sales and marketing director of The Residence Collection and Window Widgets commented: “As a responsible business we are looking at ways in which we can support our staff, customers, business partners, and communities. These facemasks are free, but make sure it’s worn properly as per guidelines across the internet and please abide by the new government requirements.” www.residencecollection.co.uk www.residencecollectiontrade.co.uk DECEUNINCK’S JULY SALES REACH ANOTHER RECORD HIGH » FOLLOWING STRONG GROWTH before the lockdown, and a ‘spectacular’ recovery in June, Deceuninck sales in July were up a record-breaking 31.9% year-on-year, 20.9% ahead of our pre-Covid budget. The leading PVC-U window systems company says all Deceuninck fabricators have seen strong demand since lockdown, with the proportion of sales that are colour also jumping from 60% to around 70% of total sales over the past few months. “We anticipated some pent-up demand as the industry came out of lockdown, and to be fair we were growing rapidly before the pandemic, but our customers’ sales have continued to grow at an incredible pace”, says Rob McGlennon, Deceuninck MD. “The home improvement market is doing much better than many predicted, with the top end doing spectacularly well. Colour and ‘aspirational products’ like our Heritage Flush Window and Slider24 are a big part of this trend. No-one can predict the next six months, but we’ve invested in the right mix of products, the right level of stock, service and support to give fabricators a very effective competitive edge in these challenging times.” www.deceuninck.co.uk 18 » SEP 2020 » CLEARVIEW-UK.COM