Pro Installer April 2018 - Issue 61 | Page 4

4 | APRIL 2018 News Read online at www.proinstaller.co.uk SMALL SITES AND SMALL BUILDERS WILL BUILD HOMES FASTER The best way to speed up housing delivery is to get more small builders back into the market and focus more attention on the potential of smaller sites, according to the Federation of Master Build- ers (FMB). In response to the Prime Min- ister’s speech, Building a Britain fit for future, Brian Berry Chief Executive of the FMB, said: “Small ‘ There is a reason to push back against developers who have a particularly poor track record of delivery ’ sites tend to deliver more quickly and smaller builders, for whom short term financing is more of a concern, have every incentive to build and sell quickly. More oppor- tunities for these smaller develop- ments will diversify the market, boost capacity and speed up de- livery. The Government has clearly recognised this and is today setting out a raft of changes to national planning policy that will encourage more small sites to come forward. We particularly welcome the move to ensure that at least 20% of the sites identified for housing in local authority’s plans are smaller sites.” Berry concluded: “There is rea- son to push back against develop- ers who have a particularly poor track record of delivery, and those who seek planning permissions purely for speculative purposes, but the Government needs to make sure that rhetoric doesn’t get ahead of reality. It should recognise that attempts to force building at a rate which makes poor commercial sense could end up slowing down delivery. This could end up dis- couraging rather than incentivising the SME builders and new market entrants we need to diversify the market.” www.fmb.org.uk CUSTOMADE GROUP STRIDES AHEAD Customade Group has rounded off a historic year since it merged with Poly- frame and is on course to double its scale to become a £200 million business. Now comfortably the biggest fabricator in the UK with revenues of more than £100 million, the group is poised for an era of rapid growth with new group chief exec- utive David Leng driving its ambitious plans. David Leng, who was formerly Synseal Group’s chief executive officer, joined Customade Group in February. He is leading the next phase of development for the business, which has invested £2.5 million in site developments, machin- ery and IT in the last 12 months. A substantial investment programme of £2.5 million across several manufactur- ing sites has significantly in- creased Customade Group’s capabilities and doubled production output. Three of the group’s nine sites in Livingston, Gloucester and Norwich have recent- ly expanded to cater for increased demand across both PVCu and aluminium. With additional capacity and unrivalled purchas- ing power, the group has welcomed more than 500 new customers on board and will roll out several new products nationwide during the year. Website designed to increase lead generation www.customade.co.uk BRITAIN MEANT BUSINESS AT FENSTERBAU ers for the glass and glazing industry. RegaLead is one of 12 co-exhibitors on the UK Pavilion and showcased their cutting edge Color- Spray Aqua glass and PVC-U paint technology. The GGF had an ex- tremely busy week (21- 24 March) at Fensterbau Frontale, the world’s largest window exhibition held every two years in Nurem- berg, Germany. With 200 square metres showcasing the best of British, the GGF is hosting the UK Pavilion, taking the theme “Britain Means Business” to the interna- tional industry and bringing together 12 prominent UK brands who will be pre- senting and demonstrating their latest products and services. One of the key features of the UK Pavilion was the British Reception which was sponsored by RegaLead, Europe’s leading colour ex- perts and paint manufactur- The 12 co-exhibitors on the UK Pavilion were: Clearview Magazine www.clearview-uk.com FIT Events www.fitshow.co.uk Glazpart www.glazpart.com GQA Qualifications www.gqaqualification.com HOPPE UK www.hoppe.com The Jackloc Company www.jackloc.com Made forTrade www.madefortrade.co Reddiplex www.reddiplex.xom RegaLead www.regalead.co.uk RITEC International www.ritec.co.uk Roseview Windows www.roseview.co.uk Window Ware www.windowware.co.uk www.ggf.org.uk PatioMaster, the nation’s favourite patio door brand, has just launched a new website. The new site has a fresh, high quality, person- able style that reflects Pati- oMaster’s brand personality. It has been designed to be easy to navigate, including the use of clearly defined calls to action at the end of each page that direct visitors to more informa- tion that may aid their decision-making process. A Door Builder platform allows homeowners to design their own door. A regular programme of con- tent marketing will ensure traffic will be consistently driven to the site to boost visitor numbers and lead generation opportunities. PatioMaster dealerships have been highlighted throughout the site to em- phasise one of the brand’s USPs of the reassurance of a trusted major brand that still allows homeowners to support their local econ- omy. One of the biggest features of the new site is the Technical Hub. It’s a dedicated area for trade customers that contains valuable technical and mar- keting support. www.patiomaster.co.uk