Clearview Midlands January 2014 - Issue 146 | Page 47

TIMBERNEWS

UNITY AND CONSISTENCY ARE THE KEY
TO GROWTH FOR TIMBER WINDOWS
The Wood Window Alliance
(WWA) and British
Woodworking Federation (BWF)
have announced a new merger in
a drive to achieve further growth
in the timber sector.
Iain McIlwee, chief executive of
the BWF, made the announcement
at the recent BWF Annual Dinner.
He says: “We’ve supported the
Wood Window Alliance from
the start and the campaign has
done a fabulous job of promoting

timber windows – leading the way
within the industry. But, as the
campaign has evolved, the benefits
of integrating the promotional side
with the wider services offered by
the BWF have become increasingly
clear. Together, we can provide a
seamless offer, project our messages
further, and offer better value to our
members.”
Sean Parnaby, chairman of the
WWA, says: “I’m delighted to
have led the WWA into the BWF

on my watch as chairman. From
a standing start some eight years
ago, our influence and effectiveness
have grown impressively. We’ve
promoted timber windows based
on demanding quality, performance
and sustainability standards; we’ve
undertaken ground-breaking
research to support our marketing
proposition; we’ve increased our
value share of the market to around
25%. We have also grown our
membership.”

REAL INVESTMENT IN
APPRENTICES WILL
REAP REWARDS
The British Woodworking
Federation (BWF) is offering
advice to employers of joinery
and woodworking apprentices
following recent increases to the
National Minimum Wage.
Employers are responsible for
ensuring that a contract states
whether or not an employee is an

apprentice to avoid any challenges
on salaries. A junior employee is
automatically entitled to a higher
wage than an apprentice but is
not necessarily entitled to the
same level of training.
Dave Campbell, manager of
the BWF’s training arm the
Woodworking Industry Training
Forum (WITForum), said:
“Apprentices are an investment.

Whilst daily housekeeping duties
are a part of the job, the bulk of
an apprentice’s time should be
spent gaining and honing their
specialist skills. This investment
of time and resource, will nurture
a well-rounded, motivated,
competent and hardworking
employee and valued member
of your team who will support
future growth in your business.”

Dave advises managers to meet
with apprentices regularly to
keep up-to-date on how they are
progressing with their course,
and to identify if any areas of
best practice being taught by
training providers could be
incorporated into the business.
Communication between the
employer and training provider is
also key.

Scooping all the top
accolades at Awards
The UK joinery industry’s highest awards
were announced at the annual dinner of the
British Woodworking Federation (BWF) in
London.
Oakwrights Bath Ltd of Corsham, Wiltshire
scooped both awards for technical excellence
and innovation in joinery manufacture, and
for the apprentice/trainee of the year – the first
time that one compan y has won both awards
together. The achievement was particularly
notable given that this year the BWF received
a record number of award entries in both
categories.

To read more, visit www.clearview-uk.com

The BWF’s 2013 award for technical
excellence and innovation in joinery
manufacture was given to Oakwrights for
its transformation of a building in central
London into a spiritual centre for the SelfRealization Fellowship.
The main technical challenge came from
turning the vision of the Fellowship, the
architect, Ray Hole Architects, and the client,
Healthcare Development Services Ltd, into
reality through two project phases over the
course of 18 months. The vision was to
undertake a refurbishment that would preserve

the heritage of the building while enhancing
the whole building decoratively. This involved
transforming windows, doors and other
internal features, and ensuring the modern
1970s extension linked to and echoed the
original Victorian part of the building.

JAN 2014

47