FROMTHEEDITOR
PROUD SPONSOR OF INDUSTRY NEWS
Fire safety still the hot topic
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IF YOU DIDN’ T ALREADY know, the annual‘ Fire Door Safety Week’ takes place at the end of this month. Held across the week of 24-30 September, the campaign was born back in 2012 and saw steady growth until 2017 when a record number of 273 organisations took part( over 50 % more than the previous year), more than 350 pieces of media covered the event, and there were over 19,300 visits to the official website and a reach of almost 485,000 on its Facebook and Twitter pages.*
Why am I telling you this? Well, it isn’ t because I’ ve suddenly switched to the Fire Door Safety Week marketing team, but the media pack for the campaign certainly makes for a compelling read.
The Grenfell Tower tragedy was undoubtedly the cause of the huge surge of interest in last year’ s figures, but the aftermath of the incident, its ongoing enquiry, and a massive call to action across the industry means that the matter of fire safety has remained at the forefront of our minds – and hearts – for a lot longer. For so many people to have lost their lives in something that could’ ve( and should’ ve) been prevented is the worst tragedy of all, but if it means changes are made throughout the sector, and buildings are designed, constructed, and maintained to a safer standard in the future, we can maybe be appeased that there is a glimmer of hope on the horizon.
As for the campaign at the end of the month, in the organisers’ own words, Fire Door Safety Week focuses on:
•“ Raising awareness of the critical role of fire doors, drawing attention to a legacy of neglect and specific concerns related to product selection, installation and maintenance.
• Encourage building owners and users to check the operation and condition of their fire doors and to report those that aren’ t satisfactory.
• Link together the initiatives of many organisations with common interests in the fire door and passive fire protection industries.
• Engage and educate people, helping the whole building industry and every property owner to understand the correct specification, supply, installation, operation, inspection and maintenance of fire doors.”
For our part, this month we have a Fire Safety Extra section that covers fire doors, fire windows, specialist hardware and access controls, and as always, I invite contributions from all levels to keep this conversation going as much as possible. For as we know, staying silent on fire safety will not make a difference.
Gemma, Editor
* Figures taken from the FDSW Media Pack, which can be found at www. firedoorsafetyweek. co. uk
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
No guts in glazing?
Following a period of consolidation and unrest in the industry, smaller firms need to show guts and embrace innovation if they are going to survive.
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THE NUMBER OF companies trading in the glass and glazing sector is falling but the average number of frames being produced each week is on the rise – as more and more small and medium sized manufacturers and installers are acquired by larger companies.
In the current trading conditions, several industry heavyweights are also seeing their profits squeezed.
Compared to many of our European neighbours, we don’ t invest as heavily in innovation and research and development in the UK. Part of the reason for this is that we sometimes aren’ t brave enough to charge a premium – or create a culture of high value- for our products, which in turn then allows companies to achieve the margins required to invest more heavily in innovation.
It’ s something we’ re trying to change at TWR and over the last few years we’ ve invested consistently in machinery, new products and innovation. This has allowed us to achieve year on year growth over the last five years, and become one of the biggest employers in the region operating over three factories.
I believe that there is a lack of guts in the UK amongst many business owners. Not all of course, but whether it’ s investing in new initiatives or looking at options like exporting – we need to be braver, to survive not just in our industry but within the UK economy.
Terry Richardson, TWR Bifolds Managing Director
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