Pay less, get more

With compliance a key consideration for manufacturers across our industry, some assume the technicalities involved mean it’s a big investment. Wayne Rogerson, joint managing director of CENSolutions, explains why compliance doesn’t have to cost the earth.

The recent launch of the BBC2 sitcom White Gold has had lots of people in our industry talking about ‘the good old days’ – the early 1980s when PVCU windows hit the home improvement market and some people made a small fortune off of the back of it.

Thankfully, our industry has come a long way from the stereotypical characters portrayed in the programme and what’s even better is that our products have too.

It’s not been easy though. For example, the introduction of Building Regulations, Window Energy Ratings and CE Marking – although put in place to improve standards – also proved a hassle and a headache for those fabricators struggling to understand the impact on their business, as well as getting the day-to-day stuff done.

However, compliance is now key for a great number of manufacturers who not only want to meet the standards, but exceed them. Whether you specialise in the manufacture of sealed units, doors or windows, if you’re a quality outfit you will probably do everything you can to give your customers the best possible service.

But do you get the same attention to detail in the service you receive from your suppliers? We often assume that the larger the company the better the service we will receive, but sometimes the opposite is true; we’ve seen market leading suppliers start to become arrogant and don’t pay customers the attention they deserve. They are so busy trying to win new business and maintain their market leader reputation they forget to look after the customers they already have.

In the field of third party certification things are perhaps even more complicated because the work your supplier does for you might not be the part of your business that you understand best. Surrounded in technical jargon and pages of legislation to wade through to see what’s relevant to your business, this field is understandably one people are wary of changing; complying with the relevant standards is obviously a vital part of any organisation and not something that can be left to chance with the wrong supplier.  

A lot of companies initially opt for the more familiar names in the market as their chosen third party certification providers. But we are seeing an increasing number of companies switch suppliers because they are either not getting the service they would like or are receiving inaccurate information about their compliance.

We’ve spoken to companies that believe they are completely compliant and doing everything by the book, when in fact they’re not. Although these companies may have undergone some of the relevant testing for a particular standard, they are not always being tested to the whole standard in its entirety.

As a result, they are unknowingly breaking EU law, UK Law, UK Building Regulations and could be liable to civil or criminal litigation if an accident occurs.

We often speak to companies that are paying more money than they should be, for a slow and indifferent service. Companies presume that the high cost means they will be getting a better service than someone offering to do the same job for less, but that isn’t always the case.

Primarily, CENSolutions’ tends to win business because of our approach. We take the hassle out of certification for our customers, and they like the fact they know they can rely on us to deliver. More often than not, we are able to do that at a fraction of the cost they were used to paying.

CENSolutions is now the UK’s largest supplier of quality certification working in the insulated glass and window industry, and is recognised by The NHBC. The reason customers keep switching to us is because we can offer everything you need under one roof and act as a true partner to your business.

Thankfully our industry has moved on from the ‘White Gold’ era and people expect a certain level of quality and service from their suppliers, who shouldn’t be lining their pockets with your hard-earned cash unless they have earned it.

01785 716625