Pro Installer September 2013 - Issue 06 | Page 7

7 PRO INSTALLER SEPTEMBER 2013 PRO NEWS @proinstaller1 GIVE YOUR CUSTOMERS WHAT THEY WANT Doors can define the character of a property but getting it right for your customers can be something of a dark art. Aesthetics will clearly play a major role in product choice but alongside them there are also a number of additional considerations - security, performance and energy efficiency to name but a few. Safedoor Scotland’s range of over 30 standard styles of GRP composite doors will not crack, bow, warp or dent, offer the highest security options, energy efficiency and are available in a range of attractive through colours including white, black, red, blue, green, golden oak, rosewood and 15 sha des of grey, all offering a white internal finish or oak and rosewood finishes internally and externally. There is also the option of colour-matched frames available. Furthermore, Safedoor Scotland has made it simple for its trade customers to give their customers exactly what they want! By using the door designer facility online customers have the chance to pick their exact requirements in a door including styles, side panels, top lights, finishes, glass and hardware options, and most importantly they can walk away with an illustration of their finished product. The door designer also provides a hassle free option for requesting a quotation. Safedoor is a product specification you can trust to deliver and combines the UK’s bestselling GRP composite door leaf over the last 20 years, with the selling power of Yale hardware, and the unique benefits of the UK’s most successful specialist composite door frame system from Profile 22; all of this assisting you to turn a dark art into a craft. Visit www.safedoor-scotland.co.uk/designer Essential for Prosperity CAB Chief Executive, Justin Ratcliffe reflects on the recent Government Construction Summit and argues that we need both Investment and Fair Payment… “The long awaited Government Spending Review and Government Construction Summit in August both gave some new insight into the government’s construction strategy to 2025. The Review saw £20 billion committed to schools and £3.3 billion to affordable housing during the life of the next Parliament. The Strategy document that followed set some bold targets to 2025 such as a 33% reduction in the initial cost of construction and the whole life cost of built assets. A little lost in the launch headlines was the promise that there would be a new Government Fair Payment Charter before the end of 2013, an issue on which CAB has lobbied hard for over the years. I felt, however, that there was a complete lack of assessment of the construction sector as it is now and while 2025 is not far away, for some businesses just getting to 2015 will be a challenge after at least 5 to 6 very tough years where volumes have held up but margins have taken a battering. The announcements or should I say clarifications of a number of infrastructure projects did provide some excellent forward planning information but the government strategy document does make the following admission in that, ‘Construction has been hard hit by the economic downturn. The impact of this is being particularly felt among the many small businesses that operate across the sector. The industry is failing to create the conditions for its supply chains to thrive. This needs to change.’ Lack of fair payment is an issue that has impacted heavily on the sector and this was ‘The industry is failing to create the conditions for its supply chains to thrive. This needs to change.’ ‘around £36 billion was owed to SME businesses, an amount that affected over 124,000 companies’ emphasised only a few weeks ago on the Today programme by Debbie Abrahams MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth who convened and chaired a cross-party parliamentary inquiry about how to tackle late payment. The summary recommendations are listed at http://www.debbieabrahams. org.uk/2013/late-payments-report-published. Debbie explained that around £36 billion was owed to SME businesses, an amount that affected over 124,000 companies. Sadly within that figure are a large number of firms within the construction sector including CAB members. During the same programme it was alleged that Tier 1 Suppliers on the whole were tending to pay on time, but it appeared did not apply further down the supply chain. The Fair Payment Charter promised by government is certainly a start but much more still needs to be done and CAB will be highlighting the issues and recommendations within the report and its members’ concerns at the Construction Products Association Parliamentary Reception on 22nd October. The simple fact is that for long term prosperity in our sector we critically need BOTH investment and fair payment.” Council for Aluminium in Building, Tel. 01453 828851