Pro Installer November 2016 - Issue 44 | Page 4

4 NOVEMBER 2016 PRO INSTALLER PRO NEWS www.proinstaller.co.uk FAMILY CELEBRATES 20 YEARS IN BUSINESS There was plenty to celebrate when Joe Roche Glass & Glazing invited customers and guests to the opening of its new showroom. The event not only marked 20 years in business for the County Waterford installer but also its launch as the area’s first dealership for the ultra-contemporary Lumi window and door system from Apeer. “It’s a wonderful achievement to have reached 20 years in business,” said Joe after the event, “and we are very fortunate to have Apeer as such an important part of our supply chain. On reaching the 20-year milestone, we knew it was time to reinvigorate the business so the Lumi window and door system has come at just the right moment for us.” Joe founded the company with his wife Bernie in 1996 in the small town of Dungarvan with the philosophy of working to the highest standard to earn word-of-mouth recommendation as well as repeat business. Two decades on, and with daughter Meg and son Kieran now on board, that philosophy has been endorsed many times over, as many visitors to the showroom event could testify. Joe Roche Glass & Glazing has been installing Apeer composite doors for the last 16 of those years and, says Joe: “Our relationship has gone from strength to strength and our experience with the doors has been thoroughly positive. In that time, the constant improvement and introduction of new products is enough evidence of their determination to set standards.” The company’s launch of the Lumi dealership turned out to be even more timely than planned. By coincidence, only days before the showroom event, the system had its first major consumer outing in the ROI, with the SelfBuild & Improve Your Home Show in Dublin, where Apeer not only had an audience of more than 12,000 visitors but also launched the latest in the Lumi range, the Lumi sliding patio doors. Lumi had taken the Grand Designs Live show by storm when it was launched to widespread acclaim last year. The window and door system was followed soon after by the bi-fold system and now the sliding doors complete the picture. The Lumi system is the latest range from Apeer, which also includes its Traditional, Contemporary and Modo composite door collections. ‘new family blood in the business’ Joe Roche concluded: “Lumi will no doubt bring our business forward and open up new opportunities, especially now with the new family blood in the business.” CHANCELLOR’S BOOST TO HOUSING MARKET Following uncertainty around Brexit, the housing market has received a boost from the government after Chancellor Philip Hammond revealed a £5billion fund to support house building. The chancellor said the cash would allow builders ‘to build more houses, more quickly, in the places people want to live.’ The move follows comments from Lord Turnbull, former head of the civil service, who highlighted the need for at least 200,000 new homes a year just to keep pace with housing needs. Jade Greenhow, operations manager at Insight Data, which provides business data for the construction industry, welcomed the news, saying: “After a nervous few months following the referendum, many building product suppliers have stepped up their sales and marketing activity to win market share from competitors. The latest news from Chancellor Hammond and Sajid Javid, the Communities Minister, is great news for the housing market and those in the supply chain. We welcome this new initiative.” Jade Greenhow, Operations Manager at Insight Data Under the plans, the government will provide a £3billion fund to help small family firms build more homes and a separate £2billion loan fund will pay for further new homes by 2020 on surplus public sector land. The cash will be used to encourage builders to use more modern building techniques which can deliver homes twice as quickly as conventional builders. Jade added: “With renewed drive in the housing market it’s important that suppliers have the latest market intelligence and know exactly who their target customers are – from large house-builders to the smaller family building firms.” Insight Data provides detailed information on house-builders, main contractors and smaller building firms across the UK, with full contact details of decision makers. The full construction database contains over 30,900 named contacts and is available in real-time, using Insight Data’s online software platform, Salestracker. www.insightdata.co.uk Silver anniversary marks strong relationship 2016 marks a milestone anniversary for Epwin Group and Profile 22 customer Total Glass. Since 1981 Total Glass has been manufacturing and supplying Profile 22 products. Group managing director Frank Deary said: “Total Glass has been with Epwin and Profile 22 since day one. When we were looking for a profile supplier they ticked all the boxes - a high quality and sustainable range of products with a stable supply chain. That deci- sion 25 years ago has formed the business we have today, and with Profile 22’s support we are now one the UK’s largest fabricators of PVCu products.” Katrina Earl, northern regional manager for Epwin Window Systems added: “Our relationship with Total Glass has been a long and happy one and is a great example of how we can work together to develop a strong and sustainable business.” www.totalglass.com