FROM THE EDITOR
Calendars , are you ready ?
» MARCH DOESN ’ T USUALLY HOLD any significant meaning for me . Normally , when I look through my diary at this time of year , there isn ’ t too much to get excited about . There aren ’ t any big birthdays in there , no important holidays or commemorations . The clocks will change ( and I ’ ll still always forget one for another few weeks ) but otherwise March doesn ’ t excite me much . Until now . With one foot in February , as I write this intro , and one foot out of the door ready to take a trip down to Birmingham to catch up with some customers – a month of exciting visits and events feels like it ’ s starting today …
I mostly stay out of the Barnsley FC conversations at Clearview HQ ( or try my best to ) but on 5th March I ’ ll be boldly going somewhere I ’ ve never been before , or thought I ’ d ever have to … Oakwell Stadium . That ’ s because we will be attending the first leg of the Building our Skills careers fair – with ‘ 50 careers in one day ’, hopefully helping some young minds find out more about fenestration and get them interested in our wonderful industry . We ’ re so excited to be involved in this project . The skills shortage is often discussed at events , expos and on panels , but as they say actions speak louder than words . They ’ ll be more to discuss in next month ’ s magazine , so if you can ’ t make it to the Barnsley or Manchester events , look out for more information in due course .
The week after , we ’ ll be down in Corby for the CWG Choices open day , one of the main events in many of our calendars . From the first time we went to this , Chris and his team have never failed to impress us with their hospitality , but also the sheer size and scale of their operation . Boasting the biggest choice of door and window products is no mean feat , but to do that every day and pull off the two-day event every year too ; always providing new information and innovation , always amazes me – so we ’ re really looking forward to that one .
Add to that some visits booked in for Lancashire , Kent , and more of the Midlands and March is shaping up to be my favourite month of the year so far . And at least this year we get the extra day in February to make up for the hour we lose in March , because with three magazines to put out and all those trips planned , I think we ’ re going to need it .
See you next time , Gemma
The Benelux event with surprising ‘ low profile ’
Belgium ’ s Polyclose stands for ‘ anything that opens and closes ’ and attracts 250 exhibitors from 10 countries and 14,000 visitors over the three day event .
STEVE SIDEBOTTOM , CLEARVIEW DIRECTOR
» THIS YEAR , THE SHOW took place from 17th to 19th January , with the majority of exhibitors from Belgium , Netherlands and Germany , but also increasing interest from other EU countries .
Launched in 1991 , Polyclose runs every two years like our FIT Show . It ’ s held in Ghent ’ s main expo centre which is just out of the town centre and easily accessible via tram and trains . Polyclose is the largest exhibition of its kind in the Benelux area .
The organisers were pleased with this year ’ s event and the diversity of products and companies on show . It ’ s still a family-owned business , with Tanguy Martens – the founder ’ s son – now at the helm of the event , together with his father and sister . It was a pleasure to meet him , and he was pleased to meet me as a UK visitor .
It seems this event has low profile here in the UK , which surprises me ; with plenty of UK companies doing business in the EU and vice versa . It ’ s expected that the presence of UK companies and visitors is on the increase .
My verdict is that while this is certainly not Fensterbau – with its massive EU and global appeal – Polyclose is an interesting show with a similar look and feel to our own FIT Show ( however the organisers made it clear that they do not compete with FIT ).
It ’ s certainly worth a visit ; the location and accessibility is good – Eurostar to Brussels and a short transfer to Ghent – which is a great city to visit , and reminded me of Amsterdam …
It will be interesting to see how Polyclose develops over the coming years .
polyclose . be / nl
4 MARCH 2024 CLEARVIEW-UK . COM