Clearview National July 2016 - Issue 176 | Page 19

INDUSTRYNEWS
LETTER TO THE EDITOR

The industry hasn’t had a major
product crisis for years, thank
goodness. But the industry has a habit
of creating its own crises; own goals
that knock the industry off-course.
»»USUALLY THEY’RE

Call for entries for
prestigious Awards
»»SINCE 1974 THE
prestigious National Home
Improvement Council (NHIC)
Annual Awards have recognised
achievement in UK housing
and have grown over the years
to become highly regarded as
the premier event in the home
improvement and modernisation
sector.
Entries are now invited
from across the spectrum of
housing modernisation projects
and associated activities in
the following four categories:
Energy Efficiency in Local
Communities; Gas Safety in
Social Housing; Excellence
in Roofing; and Aluminium
Systems for Windows, Doors and
Facades.
This year’s main category
sponsors are British Gas,
National Federation of Roofing
Contractors, Gas Safety Trust
and Schueco UK. The Awards
are also supported by Recticel
Insulation.
Companies and organisations
working in disciplines covered
by the award categories can enter
a project or projects completed
within the past year. In this way
they can take advantage of the
opportunity to raise the profile
of themselves and the many

inspirational initiatives that are
characteristic of our nation’s
outstanding ingenuity in the field
of housing.
Gary Simcock of the
National Federation of Roofing
Contractors said: “We have
supported the NHIC Awards
for over 12 years. It gives us the
chance to show how the housing
stock of the UK can be improved;
provides our manufacturing
members with an opportunity to
showcase the use of best materials;
and enables our contractor
members to demonstrate their
many skills”.
Anna Scothern, Executive
Director at the NHIC said:
“The NHIC Annual Awards
provide a real opportunity for the
home improvement industry to
showcase its talent for customerfocused innovation and for
delivering excellence within UK
Homes.”
Entry is free and full details
can be found at www.nhic.org.uk.
All submissions must be received
by the NHIC before 23rd
September 2016. Winners will be
announced at a special luncheon
in Gladstone’s Library, One
Whitehall Place, London, SW1
on Thursday 17th November
2016.

down to bad practice and
reckless cost saving. And
matching what others are
doing, rather than doing what’s
technically correct or sensible.
I’m thinking of the disruption,
damage and cost of discoloured
door panels; of peeling, cracking
or bubbling foils; delaminating,
warping and bowing composite
doors; of pitting peeling
hardware, and pinking profiles.
The industry recovered
from these very public, painful
crises. Those who were most
involved suffered badly, but
when the industry becomes
associated with bad quality or
bad practice everyone suffers.
Buyers take longer to buy and
the market slows down. At its
worst, the industry’s reputation
is tarnished. For decades, buyers
associate it with particular
problems.
Now the industry is
sleep-walking into another
unnecessary crisis.
The mark of a premium
quality systems company
is designing and developing
products with the end market
in mind, whether it’s a multistory commercial building,
heritage home or new build
semi, and designing for the
climatic conditions they’ll have
to perform in 10, 20 years from
now.
What does that mean in
practice? Well, colour is a big
and growing part of the market,
so we at Deceuninck engineer
our windows and doors to
perform perfectly in tomorrow’s
warmer world: in the factory,

during installation and in long
term use.
More than one in four
windows and doors are foiled or
coloured in England & Wales. In
Scotland and Ireland, it’s around
one in two. On the Continent
it’s more than two in three.
So how will the windows
and doors you’re making and
installing work in a hotter
tomorrow? White windows and
doors won’t be a problem, but
foiled and coloured will be.
Many will bow, twist and jam
in tomorrow’s heat because
they’re not made for it. We
know because we test our own
and our competitors’ products,
reinforced as recommended.
We test them to destruction
in accelerated weathering
rooms that expose them to
the temperatures they will
experience, 10 or 20 years from
now.
Will the new generation
of foiled and coloured
mechanically-jointed products
survive tomorrow’s climate?
Most won’t. Joints will be forced
open in hotter temperatures.
Engineered for tomorrow
does not mean ugly windows
and doors you could stand a
tank on. Deceuninck’s Heritage
Flush Sash looks beautiful and is
designed to be outstanding.
This industry must make
windows and doors for the real
world, not the world we’d like it
to be. No one gains from a selfinduced crisis.
Yours
Roy Frost, MD Deceuninck
UK & Ireland

C L E A RV I E W-U K . C O M » J U L 2016 » 19