News
Read online at www. proinstaller. co. uk
JULY 2017 | 17
News
MEMORABLE DAY FOR FOUNDERS
The Glass and Glazing Federation( GGF) held a special celebration for its founder members at its new building in Southwark, London.
INSPIRING TRIO
Atlas Glazed Roof Solutions says a trio of its installers has been inspired to create three‘ incredible installations.’
The projects showed the design skills of Keymer Double Glazing, Thames Valley Windows and Vale Orangeries and earned them winning places in the Atlas Installation of the Month competition.
Keymer Double Glazing from Burgess Hill, West Sussex, created a one-off underground extension on a grand, multi-level property in Sussex. Keymer worked closely with the owner to come up with a design that would be very contemporary. An important element was to consider the flow of light in the property and to frame beautiful views. Keymer created a generously sized family room, sunken into the ground. The extension is illuminated from above by a large Atlas lantern and features a wall of slimframed aluminium sliding doors which open out on to the newly landscaped garden. The focal point of the installation is the cleverly positioned lantern, which juts out of the patio on the level above.
Thames Valley Windows created an orangery on a detached dormer bungalow in Twyford, Berkshire. The owners of the property had originally wanted to install a modest-sized conservatory on the rear of the property to create an open plan kitchen diner. They approached Thames Valley Windows for design ideas and, having reviewed the possibilities, rejected a conservatory in favour of a much larger-scale orangery. The imaginative scheme spans the entire width of the rear of the property and incorporates ample spaces for cooking, eating and relaxing. The large, contemporary multi-functional extension features three Atlas glazed roof lanterns to flood the 45 square metre space with light.
The design flair of the team at Vale Orangeries is evident throughout a vast double-storey extension on a property in Barry in the Vale of Glamorgan. The ultra-modern‘ cube’ styled extension was carefully designed to contrast with the rest of the house and take advantage of its south facing orientation. Vale Orangeries’ design incorporated lots of crisp modern materials and acres of glass to create a light-filled contemporary family space. A large 1.2m x 2.3 metre Atlas Flat Rooflight and a mighty wall of glass adds to the dramatic visual impact.
Each month, the winning installer of the Atlas competition scoops a £ 200 Screwfix voucher and a £ 50 Majestic Wine voucher, plus trade industry PR and entry into the Atlas Installer of the Year award finals. All entries submitted with completed installation pictures receive an Atlas thermal mug.
Entrants can submit their Atlas roof installations via Twitter to @ Atlasroofjohn using the hashtag # AtlasShowOff or on email to marketing @ atlasroofsolutions. co. uk.
Contact Atlas on 02838 327741 or visit www. atlasroofsolutions. co. uk
Approximately 40 guests made up of GGF members, senior managers and the trade media attended to see founder members receive a special presentation award from GGF president, Alan Burgess of Masterframe Windows.
The event also allowed guests to view the new GGF building which includes a historic timeline, founder’ s wall, president’ s glass plaque and the GGF display cabinet which houses awards won by the federation and members.
Alan Burgess covered the progress made during the last 40 years and thanked all members for helping the GGF achieve so much for the industry since 1977.
He commented:“ I am pleased that so many companies who have been part of the GGF since its beginnings are still members today. It’ s been a memorable event and my thanks to all the founder members who have helped make the GGF the industry’ s leading trade body over the last 40 years.”
Phil Pluck, GGF chief executive added:“ Today has been the GGF’ s way of saying a special thanks to our founder members who have remained in membership since the very start. They represent the best of their sectors and the industry overall. It has been a pleasure and to have been part of such a unique event in this landmark year for the federation.”
After three successful anniversary events, the GGF’ s celebrations will continue at GGF Members’
Day on 29th September in London. All GGF members are invited.
To find out more about the GGF’’ s history, visit the digital historic timeline. http:// www. ggf. org. uk / 40-years-of-the-ggf
A full list of GGF’ s founder members is at: http:// www. ggf. org. uk / founder-members
Lack of health and safety knowledge
Tradespeople are putting themselves at risk of serious accidents and missed earnings due to a lack of health and safety knowledge when on site.
The findings were revealed in a survey to mark Health and Safety Week. The IronmongeryDirect study of nearly 700 tradespeople from across the UK found that 70 % who had an accident at work ended up in A & E as a result.
One in six tradespeople also admitted that they had never attended a health and safety course, despite 91 % thinking they were important and 70 % considering they should be mandatory.
The results also revealed that younger tradespeople are more health and safety savvy than older
generations, with just 13 % of 31-40 year olds having had an accident at work compared to almost a quarter( 23 %) of 51-60-yearold tradespeople. This is hardly surprising considering that nearly
a quarter confirmed they last attended a health and safety course more than five years ago.
Even more worrying, one third( 31 %) of the respondents who are sole traders have no specific work insurance and only 15 % have accident and sickness insurance, not only putting their health and wellbeing at risk but potentially their financial security should an accident put them out of work for a prolonged period of time.
Back injuries( 25 %) and muscle strains( 32 %) were two of the most commonly reported problems for tradespeople, with 41 % confirming they don’ t use any specialist safety equipment at work beyond the essentials i. e. hard hats and steel toe cap boots.
www. ironmongerydirect. co. uk / research / how-safe-aretradespeople /