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Glass Times editor Nathan Bushell reports on the latest attempts to rid the construction industry of rogue traders. Today sees the launch of a mandatory licensing scheme that has been designed to combat the image that the construction industry is unprofessional. The new Construction Licensing Task Force has the backing of several professional bodies, including Fensa, Federation of Master Builders...
Glass Times editor Nathan Bushell responds to a scammer. As the dust settles on what has turned out to be a successful FIT Show 2019, the organisers have an unwelcome battle on their hands: fraudulent attempts to sell visitor data. FIT Show exhibitors have been receiving messages from someone purporting to be an ‘event specialist’ from the FIT Show offering...
Glass Times editor Nathan Bushell reflects on FIT Show’s success. What a great three days that was! I don’t think I’ve talked so much, or met so many people, in such a short space of time. And, as always happens after an industry event, I apologise most humbly if I failed to catch up with you at the FIT Show....
Glass Times editor Nathan Bushell reflect on the news that the FIT Show will become an annual event. So, we are past the halfway point in the FIT Show. I think there’s no coincidence in the fact that ‘show’ and ‘exhibition’ are also synonymous with entertainment, and while we attend events like this one in order to be informed, we...
Glass Times editor Nathan Bushell reports on the government’s plans to make permanent the right to build extensions and conservatories. I have some good news for you this week, especially if you supply products that go into single storey extensions: the government has pledged to make Permitted Development Rights (PDRs) for single storey extensions permanent. Glass Times posted this story...
Glass Times editor Nathan Bushell reviews the latest fire safety news. Following last week’s news that the BBC had found that new-build homes were not fire safe, the Door and Hardware Federation has emphasised the importance of making fire safety an ‘absolute priority’ in new-build homes. “The BBC’s Watchdog discovered serious breaches that had gone undetected during the construction process,...
Glass Times editor Nathan Bushell wonders why new homes are not meeting fire safety standards. It often takes a significant jolt to make society sit up and take notice of something. Just recently, despite repeated warnings from scientist that the earth’s atmosphere was heading towards irreversible damage, it took the action of the so-called Extinction Rebellion, and a disrupted London,...
Glass Times editor Nathan Bushell discusses how having the right skills really pays off. Following the credit crunch and recession 10 years ago, companies right across the construction industry laid off staff, choosing instead to hire contractors as when they were needed. This included window fitting teams. Staff cuts are an obvious barometer for the health of any industry, and...
Glass Times editor Nathan Bushell reports on a new modular build in Corby. As you may have picked up before now, I am quite excited by the growing trend in modular construction. As I was preparing this week’s newsletter, this story crossed my desk, complete with a time lapse video, that I thought may interest you. The first four houses...
Glass Times editor Nathan Bushell considers the various elements of the FIT Show that will attract visitors to the NEC next month. With less than six weeks to go, the FIT Show has unveiled its seminar programme, which looks pretty attractive in its own right. There have been a number of standalone events over the past decade or so, which...
Glass Times editor Nathan Bushell raises a glass to the fundraising efforts of Supalite’s Nina Colquhoun. Glass Times recently won a charity football tournament organised by Supalite’s Nina Colquhoun. Nina, finance director at Supalite, is raising money for Rock FM's Cash For Kids Charity. She is running the London Marathon for them, and this football tournament was part of the...
Glass Times editor Nathan Bushell responds to the latest news from the ECITB. The Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB) has identified a growing skills crisis exacerbated by an ageing workforce and low supply of appropriately trained new starters. Employers believe the skills gap will either stay the same (43%) or get worse (44%) over the next three years. The...
Glass Times editor Nathan Bushell considers the latest plans by the Department for Education. Plans to stop funding qualifications that do not provide the same high-quality education as new T Levels and existing A Levels have been published by Education Secretary Damian Hinds. The move, the Department for Education said, is the latest step in the government’s drive to boost...
Glass Times editor Nathan Bushell learns more about the sale of Synseal to Aperture. I’ve been reading a pre-sale report by KPMG, the administrators involved in the prepack sale of Synseal to Aperture Trading last week, and it makes for interesting reading (a SIP 16 for those in the know). The statement of affairs has yet to be published, which...
Glass Times editor Nathan Bushell unpicks the latest industry announcements. A couple of significant stories have broken at the beginning of March that have really given watercoolers their secondary purpose. The first is the shocking, but not surprising (if all the rumours were to be believed), news that Synseal went into administration, only for it to be snapped up by...
Glass Times editor Nathan Bushell reviews the latest news regarding skills and training. The issue of attracting talent into the fenestration industry has really gained traction over the last six months or so (although the issue has indeed been obvious for a number of years). Why? Because we are talking about it. And once we start talking about something, we...
Is our industry rudderless without revised regulations on energy efficiency? Glass Times editor Nathan Bushell looks at the latest report. The impact of the 2002 edition of the Building Regulations, incorporating Approved Documents L1 and L2 for the first time, on the construction industry cannot be over-stated, in my humble opinion. Even if we single out the glass and glazing...
Glass Times editor Nathan Bushell welcomes the latest news from the FIT Show. We are now in countdown mode to the FIT Show. Companies I visit these days tend to be focused on very little else: new products ready to go; brochures printed; social media campaigns ready to launch; stand builders briefed; hotel rooms booked; corporate entertainment planned; and all...
Glass Times editor Nathan Bushell discusses the rise in popularity of trade counters. A recent conversation with a systems supplier revealed that it will be working more closely with trade counters this year. This was basically an acknowledgement that this route to market – targeting builders in particular – is one to be ignored at your peril. According Insight Data,...
Glass Times editor Nathan Bushell wonders if bad news is always bad news. Read a news story once, and you view it as negative. Read it a second time, and you may well see the positive side to it. Today’s news often gets bundled up with an unhealthy dose of opinion, so it is often difficult for the reader/viewer/listener to...