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Glass Times editor Nathan Bushell welcomes a new trade association. One market sector that has grown considerably in the last five to ten years has been the balustrade market, and understandably so: balustrades perfectly marry both safety and aesthetics. Furthermore, installers have an ever-increasing choice of hardware, coupled with ongoing advances in glass. The flip side to this is that...
Glass Times editor Nathan Bushell wonders if we will see new buying patterns as showrooms start to reopen. With showrooms set to reopen soon, could we be heading for another boom in demand, as those households that have waited patiently for the lockdown restrictions to be eased venture out into the wide world? Given the amount of demand that has...
Glass Times editor Nathan Bushell wonders if a secure supply chain will be part of your next sales pitch. Who has paid a little extra something just so they can get it sooner than from other suppliers? This can certainly be work-related, but I’m talking about your purchasing decisions right across the board. Surely anyone who has an Amazon Prime...
Glass Times editor Nathan Bushell reflects on a year of lockdowns and trading restrictions, arguing that we may be stronger for it in the long run. A year on from the start of the first lockdown, and I thought I would go back to what I wrote in the days following the prime minister’s instructions to stay at home. The...
Glass Times editor Nathan Bushell pays his respects to Ritec’s Stephen Byers, who died recently. This week, I am going to hand over this comment to John Austin of Austin Harlow Flitter who sent in his ‘memory’ of Stephen Byers. If you want to read other memories of Stephen, you can read the Glass Times post on LinkedIn, where people...
Glass Times editor Nathan Bushell says we have more to look forward to than a limited gathering with friends around a fire pit. This week it is a pleasure to serve up a great big slab of optimism. The first two stories show how, a year after the start of the first lockdown, investors are showing their confidence in the...
Glass Times editor Nathan Bushell celebrates some very welcome news. Not one, but two Glass Times Race Days were cancelled last year: our familiar and very popular one at the beginning of July at Haydock Park; and the second inaugural one in September at Epsom Downs, launched to be more accessible to companies based in the south. This week, we’ve...
Glass Times editor Nathan Bushell argues that we all need to draw up our own road maps to success, and they should all converge on the FIT Show. So, the prime minister has published his ‘one-way’ road map out of lockdown which, on balance, received favourable reviews. The main criticism is that it may be too timid, but I don’t...
Glass Times editor Nathan Bushell says we are witnessing a cultural change in how we conduct business. Not long after writing my comment last week, I came across this tweet. Chris Herd is founder and CEO of Firstbase, a US business that provides the infrastructure for remote working. I’m going to summarise what he said here because while his is...
Glass Time editor Nathan Bushell reviews the latest online performance. This morning (February 10), I was treated to a masterclass in remote selling by Tommy Trinder’s Chris Brunsdon. Actually, it was a masterclass in online presentation, full stop. Forget the company’s Framepoint selling software for one moment – which is why we were gathered online for the zoom meeting in...
Glass Times editor Nathan Bushell explains why he loves fenestration. We recently published a story from Building Our Skills about its #lovefenestration campaign. The organisation has dedicated the whole of February to promoting careers in the fenestration industry to young adults, or those looking for a career change. The effort is being co-ordinated by Stephanie Tague, who has twisted my...
Glass Times editor Nathan Bushell fears the government is making a rod for its own back. Will the Green Homes Grant scheme be another government eco failure? Disappointingly (and yet unsurprisingly) the Green Homes Grant scheme was never going to put rockets under the fenestration industry. At best, we were hoping for associated benefits – that homeowners would set about...
Glass Times editor Nathan Bushell unpicks the difficulties faced by fenestration companies during 2020. When the world stopped on March 23, 2020, we all felt that sense of trepidation: how will this affect my business, my employees, my colleagues, my family? From that moment, we expected a difficult 2020; deep down we knew that normality wouldn’t be resumed until an...
Glass Times editor Nathan Bushell discusses FIT Show’s extra four-month delay. The FIT Show has moved its dates once again, this time until September. I think even the most optimistic will find it difficult to imagine life being back to normal by May. And even if it was, you’ve got to take in to account all the work that needs...
Glass Times editor Nathan Bushell discovers an industry ready for the challenges created by the latest national lockdown. Happy new year! I spent all of yesterday talking to numerous companies and canvassing opinion regarding the latest lockdown rules, and I found myself thinking of a quote by Benjamin Franklin: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Like...
Glass Times editor Nathan Bushell says one day, we will look back and laugh. As 2020 draws to a close, I can’t help thinking that we’ll be referring to this year as a benchmark for business in times of adversity for, possibly, decades. In years to come, you will introduce eager new employees to the company, and you will recall...
Glass Times editor Nathan Bushell says green will be the most popular colour for the foreseeable future. The government has published its Energy White Paper, which sets out the specific steps it will take over the next decade to cut emissions from industry, transport and buildings by 230 million metric tonnes (equivalent to taking 7.5 million petrol cars off the...
Glass Times editor Nathan Bushell returns to the subject of energy efficiency. This time last year, conversation was turning to Part L of the Building Regulations: the consultation period was due to come to an end in February, and any changes were expected to come into force during 2020. If you want a reminder of where we were, you can...
Glass Times editor Nathan Bushell shares his Christmas reading list. Short of Christmas present ideas? Well, not one but two books have emerged from the industry recently – lockdown must have proved inspirational for some. The first is a children’s book, which is a collaboration between forklift manufacturer Combilift and award-winning Irish author Emer Conlon, and The Forklifts and their...
Glass Times editor Nathan Bushell welcomes the news that going green is back at the top of the agenda. When the Green Homes Grant scheme was launched in the summer, it was met with a degree of scepticism because of the lack of relevance for the window industry and the number of hurdles installers would have to jump over in...