18
SEPTEMBER 2014 PRO INSTALLER
PRO NEWS
www.proinstaller.co.uk
FREEFOAM ADDS
ANTHRACITE
GREY & CREAM
WINDOW TRIMS
AND ACCESSORIES
Freefoam has added two
new colours to its foiled
range, Anthracite Grey
and Cream; and acknowledging the increasing
popularity of colour
window frames has
also introduced window
trims and accessories in
these matching, on-trend
shades.
Manufactured to last using
marketing-leading Renoit
Exofol MX foil - which features built in UV protection,
reduced heat absorption so
reducing temperature and
expansion – and available
in 40mm, 65mm and 90mm
architrave, 15mm and 19mm
quadrants and cloaking fillet,
these new colour options will
offer suppliers and installers
the opportunity to capitalise
on opportunities in a growing market.
In addition to foiled products, Freefoam manufactures
a range of co-extruded
fascia, soffit and trims in 10
colours using its patented
ColormaxTM technology.
Featuring built in colourfastness, colour variety, and
reliable colour matching, all
with a 10 year guarantee, the
range offers both quality and
choice to architects, specifiers, property developers and
homeowners.
Colin St John, UK General
Manager, summarised “We
continue to push forward
with new colours and finishes to increase further opportunities for our customers.”
All products are listed in the
Freefoam Trade Catalogue.
Liniar Fabricator Gains
Leads Through Social
Media Channels
Nottingham-based home improvement specialist Glazedale is bringing
a much-needed fresh approach to an
industry that’s been fighting against
the ‘persistent double-glazing salesman’ stigma for far too long…
Husband and wife team Darren and Claudia Shelbourn are the brains behind the operation, which focuses mainly on bespoke,
high-end installations for homeowners.
Darren Shelbourn, Glazedale’s owner and
MD explains: “We originally brought in our
windows when we started back in 1991,
making the bespoke frames in-house and as
the company grew we found the business
sided more towards bespoke installations.
“We decided on the Liniar profile because
of its energy efficiency performance and the
fabricator-friendly design, we have never regretted our decision. We find many homeowners and self-builders want something a
bit different to the norm and we are able to
supply that with everything fully matching
and a systems company that is constantly
designing new products.”
Glazedale is one of the few window fabricators that as embraced social media as a
marketing channel. Darren started ‘Twitter’
4 years ago and is using it to build relationships with local contacts and generate
business.
“When I first started ‘Twitting’ it felt like I
was constantly using it,” says Darren, “But
I knew I needed to spend time building up
my followers, so I started following lots of
people and tweeting interesting stuff, which
gradually started to pay off.
“We now have over 3,500 followers and I
don’t need to spend as much time tweeting, although I still try to post at least
three times most days, using it to engage
with people and show the human side of
the business; helping them by answering
queries.
“We also use Facebook , which now has
almost 800 ‘fans’ – we find that’s a great
way to showcase our installation images
and demonstrate the quality of our work.
“As well as raising the profile of Glazedale
in the local area, social media has actually
generated orders, with add-on work where
we’ve subsequently been recommended to
neighbours and also gone back for repeat
business.” Darren explained.
See how they do it
Follow Glazedale on Twitter @Glazedale
and see what they get up to on Facebook
by Liking their page at www.facebook.com/
Glazedale
Glazedale’s website can be found at
www.glazedale.co.uk. Find out more
about Liniar at www.liniar.co.uk.
www.freefoam.com/trade/
brochures-and-tech-info
Hse Launches Enhanced Land
Use Planning Advice Service
A new service making it
easier and quicker for
developers and local
planning authorities to
access land use planning information and
advice was launched on
28 July.
The Health and Safety
Executive is launching the
enhanced service to reduce
the amount of red tape
involved in the planning
process, which should help
business take advantage of
commercial opportunities
and will aid the efficiency
and cost-effectiveness of
local authorities.
The new service, which
allows developers and
others to make enquiries
related to any plot of land,
was introduced on 28 July
but will be fully rolled out
in March 2015. HSE’s Health
and Safety Laboratory (HSL)
will take on an increased
role in delivering advice on
planning applications.
The service is designed to
support early and positive
engagement using an enhanced pre-application service. Developers and others
will gain increased access to
HSE’s assessment tools and
techniques, meaning that
the whole process will be
faster and simpler.
Peter Brown, Head of
HSE’s Hazardous Installations Policy Division, said:
“The advisory service is
being planned and designed
around what users need.
“Discussions with developers and other parties
involved in the planning
process have indicated that
being able to find out more
detail about a piece of land
in advance of purchase
helps to quicken the development process and can
also save significant costs.
“By enabling easier and
more transparent access to
HSE’s Land Use Planning
advice, developers and
planners will be able to get
quick or even immediate
answers to queries related
to a plot of land they may
be interested in purchasing
or developing”.
The paid for business-facing service will generate
increased effectiveness and
efficiency, will enable better
informed planning decisions
at a local level and will
create greater transparency in HSE’s decisions and
operations.
‘The advisory
service is being
planned and
designed around
what users need’
People can access the new
service at
http://www.hsl.gov.uk/
products/lupa or by calling 01298 218159.