Is the GGF facing a crisis?

The Helix Group – the commercial arm of the GGF – has lost three out of four of its directors in as many months. The news comes as the GGF’s two previous presidents have questioned the actions of the board.

Jon Vanstone and Jane McCallion no longer occupy the roles of CEO and COO respectively, and Alan Burgess stepped down three weeks ago. A spokesperson for the GGF confirmed that “Jon is no longer an employee with the group, and Jane has resigned”.

This arguably impacts the projects that Helix was working on, which provides significant income streams that help keep membership fees low.

Glass Times can also reveal that the two previous presidents of the GGF – West Yorkshire Windows’ Andrew Glover, and Masterframe’s Alan Burgess – stepped down from their roles because of fundamental differences of opinion they had with other board members.

Andrew Glover said: “Although we all feel pressure of work, it wasn’t the only reason for me quitting as president. I found it impossible to work with a few of the board members. This mainly started when I questioned their and my own positions on the board.

“I questioned if we were really the correct people to be running the industry’s governing body and its subsidiary companies. I personally felt that none of the board (including myself) had the skill set, experience or expertise in managing all the different companies within the group.”

Similarly, Alan Burgess said: “Regretfully I felt unable to continue my tenure-ship – while I wanted to achieve a number of things that I can’t now fulfil because of a fundamental disagreement with the board on a matter of principle. My position on the Helix board was similarly untenable.”

Alan stepped down as president shortly before Jon Vanstone left the Helix Group.

Both Andrew and Alan told Glass Times that they were passionate believers of the GGF, and they wanted the organisation to flourish, but GGF insiders have questioned whether the current structure allows this to happen; for example, only elected GGF members sitting on the board, rather than including people employed by the group.

A spokesperson for the GGF told Glass Times that the organisation was “running very smoothly”.