FROMTHEEDITOR
PROUD SPONSOR OF INDUSTRY NEWS
So much has been written about the collapse of construction and services giant Carillion, it’ s hard to know where to start. It’ s fair to say there has been no bigger business story in construction for the past 30 years.
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THE GROUP – WHICH WENT INTO liquidation in January – employed 20,000 people in the UK alone and what has gone under-reported are the voices of the workers and SMEs affected.
I’ ve been looking at the stories of some of these workers- often low-paid sub-contractors- who are feeling the serious knock-on effects predicted by the Federation of Master Builders( FMB). One worker who was told to go home from a site in the north east said:“ It’ s shocking. Everyone has bills to pay and we don’ t know what’ s going on.” Another, desperately worried about his pension, remarked that Carillion bosses earned in months what it took him 25 years to earn.
The witch hunts and political wrangling started as soon as Carillion collapsed. Mainstream media is playing the blame game, slamming everyone from New Labour, outsourcing and Private Finance Initiatives to former Carillion chief executive Richard Howson.
In my view, it’ s urgent now to assist those suppliers and workers directly affected. There is action- UK banks are offering overdraft extensions and payment holidays to small firms, trade bodies are setting up support plans, and laid-off workers are being picked up by other private sector companies. I’ ll be interested to see what the government now brings to the table. Turn to page 12 for more.
Elsewhere, there is more encouraging news. A new‘ National Home Improvement Week’ has launched( see page 6) and is backed by some very big companies. It’ s on from March 12-18, just ahead of the key Easter sales period.
The National Homebuilding and Renovating Show has also expanded and takes place at the NEC, Birmingham, from 22- 25 March. Its organisers reveal that 33,000 people have signed up to the Right to Build register since October 2017. This indicates a bold shift away from reliance on big companies and corporations to provide us with a home. Truly, a‘ DIY trend.’
Finally, something refreshing was a call for‘ naturefriendly housing’ from The Wildlife Trusts( page 10). The trusts believe people are fed-up with living on vast, concrete estates without a blade of grass. It would be nice to think we could create more places for nature in our new-build developments, and leave the environment in a better state than we found it.
Helen, Editor
FIT’ S INSTALLATION OF THE YEAR IS BACK
FIT Show’ s‘ Installation of the Year’ competition, which launched in 2017, is back for 2018. The hunt is now officially on to find the industry’ s best glazed installations.
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NEW FOR 2018, ENTRIES are being invited across two installation categories;‘ residential’ and‘ commercial’. Whilst the actual FIT Show will not run until May 2019, show organisers have responded to the industry’ s enthusiasm for the‘ Installation of the Year’ competition by making it an annual fixture.
And with the inaugural Twitter competition in 2017 receiving more than 200 entries and 1,000 votes, uptake is anticipated to be high in 2018 as fabricators and installers vie to showcase their best work.
From facades and balustrades through to conservatories and bifold doors, entries can be made via Twitter by posting a picture of an installation to @ FITShow and utilising either the hashtag for # Commercial or # Residential- to identify the relevant category- accompanied by a short description of the project.
FIT Show Event Director, Nickie West said:“ The FIT Show is all about celebrating the great work that is being done throughout our industry and‘ Installation of the Year’ is our way of showcasing this. We were overwhelmed by the success of last year’ s competition and wanted to maintain this platform to highlight the UK window and door industry at its very best. The excitement last year was incredible and we expect it to be even more successful over the next few months.”
Üni _ Slide, partnered with Barc Architects, won the 2017 FIT Show Installation of the Year title for this crisp, light-filled building featuring Üni _ Slide’ s sophisticated minimal sliding door with 20mm sight lines. For 2018 the competition will include Commercial as well as Residential projects.
The competition is open now and will run until June. Each month entries will be showcased on the brand new FIT Show website, with one winner selected for both categories by FIT Show’ s official judging panel made up of industry experts. Monthly prizes will be awarded to the winners in both categories, with the six monthly commercial and six monthly residential winners fighting it out to take home the overall‘ Installation of the Year’ crown in each category when it goes to public vote.
Overall winners will be announced at the 2019 FIT Show Gala Dinner and, alongside the honour of having the‘ Installation of the Year’, winners will receive a trophy and a two-night stay at a golf / spa hotel with dinner.
Full terms and conditions can be found on the FIT Show website at www. fitshow. co. uk / IOTY.
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