Clearview Midlands June 2014 - Issue 151 | Page 24

INDUSTRYNEWS

FREEFOAM CLADDING DRIVES NEW
OPPORTUNITES FOR INSTALLERS
Freefoam, a leading manufacturer of a wide
range of innovative products for the building
industry in UK, Ireland and mainland
Europe, has recently seen an increase in
enquiries and opportunities for installers and
stockists of its Fortex cladding range.
Demand and knowledge for home
improvement products is increasingly being
driven by consumers who now have easy instant
online access to products and information.
Freefoam has seen a significant increase in
searches for the Fortex range with cladding
terms fast becoming one its most popular search
terms. This interest and increase in traffic is
also converting in to stock and installation
enquiries.
Ricky Lovell from Precision Roofline, supplied
by Prestige Plastics in Evesham commented
“As Freefoam Registered Installers we recently
picked up on a Freefoam enquiry with a brief
to replace traditional hanging tiles for a more
contemporary look using the Fortex cladding.
We found the product easy to fit, light to handle

Before

After

and it certainly transformed the frontage of
the clients home. The work has opened up a
new side to our roofline business and we’ve
subsequently carried out several more similar
projects for other residents in the area who like
the look and can see the benefits of using a hard
wearing low maintenance cladding. We are now
actively promoting the range to existing and
new customers, using the product to grow our
business”
Fortex® cladding features an attractive textured
wood effect and comes in a range of subtle
contemporary colours, available in weatherboard
and double plank formats. Designed to make
storing, handling and fitting quick and easy, the

weatherboard cladding weighs just 3.15kg per
5 metre board - four times lighter than cement
fibre board. Fortex also comes with significant
environmental credentials with the Building
Research Establishment’s (BRE) ‘Green Guide
To Specification’ giving PVC cladding an A+
rating when fitted with standard insulation
products.
Colin St John, General Manger commented,
“Manufacturing new innovative products is what
Freefoam is all about. The Fortex cladding range
is a good example of how stockists and installers
can easily increase their product offering and
extend their business to meet new consumer
demands.”

IT’S A FIT-UP FOR ‘FACE OF
FIT’ PHOTO WINNERS
This set of dodgy-looking ‘Usual Suspects’ are
actually the crew from GT Window Products
who have just got clean away with a pair of
tickets to the exclusive FIT Show Gala Dinner
after winning the show’s Face of FIT photo
competition. And, of course, their faces in
front of thousands of their peers throughout
the industry!
Their Usual Suspects ‘selfie’ came out top in
the competition and will be used extensively
on the show’s official programme and other
marketing material but many of the entries were
so good that no fewer than four others will also
win two tickets each as joint runners-up.
Social networks have been buzzing with all
kinds of comical, quizzical and spoof photos
since the organisers launched the competition,
aimed at getting visitors and exhibitors really
involved in the show. Tony Hancock, General
Manager of GT Window Products, the
Tewkesbury-based hardware manufacturer and
second-time FIT Show exhibitor, said, “We won
the competition at the first FIT Show, we have

24

JUN 2014

won again now and we will definitely be going
for the hat-trick next time...unless anyone thinks
they are good enough to stop us.”
And now, as well as GT Windows’ movieinspired rogues’ gallery, prizes also go to
long-established sash window trade fabricator
Roseview Windows of Olney, Bucks; installer
Andy Howarth and wife Lisa who are ADH
Glazing of Reed, near Burnley; Dungannon
Window Co of Co Tyrone, also a longestablished sash fabricator and a FIT Show
exhibitor; and St Helen’s-based profile bender
Arcoframe, which will also be exhibiting.
As well as the FIT Show itself, the black-tie
Gala Dinner on the night of the 11th will
feature dining, dancing and cabaret hosted
by award-winning stand-up comic and
ventriloquist Nina Conti as well as a tantalising
‘World Cup Surprise’ and the announcement
of this year’s winners in the Master Fitter
Challenge, with prizes totalling over £10,000
up for grabs to reward the most skilled in our
industry.

‘we’ll definatley be
going for the hat-trick’
For anyone not lucky enough to win a pair,
tickets for the Gala Dinner are going fast but
a few may still be available on www.fitshow.
co.uk.

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