Flush is the future says Veka

Veka hosted a media day earlier this week, an opportunity to re-introduce itself to the trade press, underline the strength of its service and product offer and outline its vision for the future.

Sustainable operations, and a greater push for recycled PVC-U to be used in its manufacturing is a key objective for the Burnley based systems company. Currently, 28% of raw material used in its products is from recycled frames and off-cuts, but Veka says it is targeting 40% in the longer term.

With many competitor system companies now ramping up their own recycling initiatives, the race is on to secure what has become a valuable resource, and Veka has taken steps to do just that with closer control of Veka Recycling in Wellingborough, which is one of the most advanced facilities of its kind in Europe.

It also says that 80% of its fabricator customers contribute to the Veka Recycling scheme, but admits that there are challenges to overcome in order to maximise the potential of end of life PVC, including product manufactured in the UK that is sent to Europe, where it ends up out of reach of domestic recycling schemes.

The event also presented an opportunity to introduce the new Omnia system, which was launched to customers earlier this year. Omnia has been designed to allow a full suite of products to be manufactured with just one profile, and also presents a number of key manufacturing efficiencies for fabricators, including speed of production.

It is a modern flush system, designed from the ground up and can be welded, mechanically jointed and also produced with Timberweld joints.

For Veka, flush is very much the future with managing director, Neil Evans, predicting that the flush aesthetic will dominate the market in the next five to six years.

Neil was also keen to stress that Veka remains a family-owned business, with a family-owned ethos at its heart, and is a company that naturally looks to the long term for any investments it makes.

This comment is of course designed to assure Veka customers on the strength of the business, especially those that were onboarded last year following the demise of Duraflex – new business that has helped Veka to boost its revenue by 1.8% year on year in the first half of 2024, against a market that is reported to be around 10-15% down overall.

Stay tuned for a full report on the media day and a full breakdown of the Omnia system in Glass Times magazine soon.