Industry celebrations muted by business closures
First off, a huge congratulations to all the winners at last week’s G Awards. It was a fantastic evening, one that marked the event’s 20th anniversary in style, and a reminder once again of the wealth of talent that we have in this industry.
That was reflected in the exceptionally high quality of the finalists at the G24s. As I said in a recent post on LinkedIN, even those that didn’t come away with a win on Friday night, should feel very proud of the fact that they were recognised with the industry’s best.
In case you haven’t seen it yet, here’s a list of all the winners:
Best Business Initiative of the Year: Emplas
Commercial Project of the Year: Escapade Silverstone for AluK and Arkay Contractors
Component Supplier of the Year: Thermoseal Group
Customer Care Initiative of the Year: Evander Glazing and Locks
Fabricator of the Year: Warwick North West
Glass Company of the Year: ToughGlaze UK
Installer of the Year: Clearview Home Improvements
Machinery Innovation: Forel UK & Ireland
New Product of the Year: Pilkington for Mirai
Promotional Campaign of the Year: Veka for Omnia
Rising Star: Anthony Leach, AluK
Sustainability Initiative of the Year: Saint-Gobain Glass
Training & Development Initiative of the Year: Sternfenster
Unsung Hero: Paul Hamilton, BM Group
While the G Awards was of course a great celebration, there was also some sad news last Friday with the closure of long-established fabricator, Dempsey Dyer. Established 47 years ago, the West Yorkshire business closed its doors with a message thanking customers, partners, friends and its whole team for their support.
That is in addition to reports that Dundee based Ravensby Glass is also due to shut up shop as a result of mounting financial difficulties including rising energy costs, increased raw material costs and market competition.
At the time of writing, the fate of Ravensby’s 120 workers is yet unclear with redundancy consultations currently underway.
And, by the end of the week, we may yet have another even bigger name to join the list…