MAY 2020 | 25
PVCu & Colour
Read online at www.proinstaller.co.uk
ONLINE COURSES
OFFER ‘BACKBONE’
OF ORGANISATION’S
MAIN FUNCTION
In response to the
continuing COVID-19 issue,
Door & Hardware Feder-
ation (DHF) has launched
its digital training facility,
enabling its audience to
purchase training courses,
online. Following govern-
ment recommendations,
DHF ceased its face-to-face
training the week com-
mencing 23rd March and
has responded swiftly to a
continuing need to provide
training to its members
and the wider public.
With training very much
the ‘backbone’ of DHF’s
function, it has been essen-
tial to adapt to changing
circumstances, as Head of
Commercial Operations,
Patricia Sowsbery-Ste-
vens, explains: “We have
been working extremely
hard behind the scenes to
successfully bring online
courses to the outside
world and are now de-
lighted to be able to offer
these,” she says. “Although
not a total substitute for
the face-to-face training
courses, we are confident
that the online courses will
provide knowledge from
all elements of the com-
plete course and a positive,
rewarding learning experi-
ence.”
In particular, the one-
day, Level 2 Award cours-
es in Automated Gate &
Traffic Barrier Safety and
Industrial & Garage Door
Safety, ideal for installers,
have been filmed and
edited to enable DHF to
share knowledge with its
learners. Once purchased,
each candidate will be
able to view the units at
their leisure over a 14-day
access period starting from
the purchase date. There
are five modules in each
course and these can be
viewed as many times as is
necessary.
“In recent weeks, busi-
nesses and organisations,
UK-wide, have had to ad-
just to a new way of oper-
ating, and for many, other
than lockdown restrictions,
it is very much ‘business as
usual’,” concludes Patricia.
“DHF prides itself on keep-
ing the industry informed
by delivering training that
enables safe and compliant
products to be put on the
market. These trying times
will not compromise our
offering of advice and guid-
ance and the federation’s
employees remain commit-
ted to helping its members
as much as possible during
this time.”
The cost of courses are
£230 plus VAT for mem-
bers and £330 plus VAT
for non-members. The
purchase of any online
course also includes a free
face-to-face ‘recap’ day, to
include an overview of the
course and all tests, (which
can be accredited), at a
later date, post-lockdown
(to be confirmed).
To book online, please
visit: https://www.
dhfonline.org.uk/training/
book-a-course/142.
htm and select which
course to purchase. Once
purchased, an access
code and link will be
emailed to the learner.
www.dhfonline.org.uk
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
A ‘NEW NORMAL’ AND A
‘BRIGHTER BRITAIN’
When we emerge from this crisis, the
world will be different. When things ‘get
back to normal’, it will be a new normal.
The crisis will accelerate polari-
sation between the top and bottom,
the added-value premium and the
rest of the market, because those
buying premium will be less affected
by economic downturn.
Younger, lower income households
will be hit harder. You can only spend,
save or borrow if you have some dis-
posable income.
Short of a full financial meltdown,
the ‘Haves’ will still have money and
the inclination to spend on their prop-
erties - and despite everything, their
numbers will continue to grow. Even
if house prices fall in the short term
they are falling from a very high base.
The Haves already HAVE their money,
and will have when the crisis is over.
And they want to continue upgrading
their homes and enjoying them.
That’s good news for fabricators
and installers selling premium prod-
uct in the upper third of the market,
but competition will be a lot tougher
everywhere.
Fabricators and installers will need a
sharper competitive edge and they’ll
have to adapt to survive – some
are already doing so. They’re moving
to remote selling, and selling more
professionally. Those who haven’t em-
braced colour will have to, quickly. The
trend to colour has been very strong,
but after the coronavirus people will
want their spirits lifting, and a brighter
Britain.
They’ll have to choose their suppli-
ers carefully. If we learned one thing
from the coronavirus crisis: it’s the
importance of supply chains. In a
recent FMB survey of small builders
and tradesmen 80% of those who
stopped work said they had to be-
cause their supplier couldn’t provide
them with products or materials.
Every link in the chain has to work.
That recognition has been key to
our own thinking. Deceuninck’s foun-
dations are built on giving customers
beautiful windows and doors and
the service and support to sell at the
top end of the market. They’ll be in a
strong position when normal business
product made in
‘ Britain,
and safely
in a warehouse in
Britain, is worth two
products made to
order or supplied from
far-away places
’
resumes. Our vast warehouse is kept
stocked to the brim with profile and
colour because ‘A bird in the hand
is worth two in the bush’, as the old
saying goes. That’s something the
NHS and people in the front line have
learned in this crisis: product made in
Britain, and safely in a warehouse in
Britain, is worth two products made
to order or supplied from far-away
places! This ‘make for stock, not make
to order’ policy underpins our strat-
egy of helping customers sell more. I
believe it’s the edge fabricators and
installers need in a more competitive
post-Covid market - see our latest
video on linked in (Deceuninck UK).
Rob McGlennon
Managing Director, Deceuninck