Clearview Midlands May 2014 - Issue 150 | Page 6

INDUSTRYNEWS GGF WELCOMES TRUSTMARK RELAUNCH The GGF has welcomed the relaunch of TrustMark - the Governmentbacked quality mark for reputable tradesmen. Consumer Minister Jenny Willott announced the relaunch in April with new, improved standards of consumer protection under a renewed master licence from the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). In one of the first major announcements from the joint industry and Government industrial strategy for construction, ‘Construction 2025’, Peter Hansford, the Government’s Chief Construction Adviser, emphasised the Government’s strong commitment to TrustMark and called upon more firms to get behind the scheme which is central to boosting the reputation of tradesmen and consumer confidence in the domestic repairs, maintenance and improvement market. The Consumer Minister announced the new core criteria – the Government-endorsed standards at the heart of the TrustMark scheme – and urged the whole industry to meet these new standards, which cover customer service, good trading practices and technical competence. Nigel Rees, GGF Group Chief Executive commented: “The Glass & Glazing Federation has been involved with TrustMark since its launch in 2005 and we are pleased to still be involved in 2014 with this relaunch and the new core criteria. We have no doubt the further increases in 6 MAY 2014 enquiries by householders this year will be of major benefit for GGF Member companies.” Some of the key changes to the core criteria include: • Firmer standards. The old requirements in the licence and core criteria spoke about scheme operators using “best endeavours” to meet certain standards, and gave “examples” of checks and activities that