Hardware & Security Articles
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By Richard Gyde, managing director of Mila. Even without the coronavirus pandemic, this is peak season when it comes to importing freight from Asia. Black Friday, Thanksgiving and Christmas combine to drive huge spikes in demand, and logistics businesses across the west also ramp up their orders to cover Chinese new year shutdowns. However, this year there’s something of a...
Manufacturing in the UK reached a record low in April this year due of course to the global pandemic. However, lack of investment and four years of Brexit uncertainty has also taken its toll on the market. Yale explains how it is bucking the trend by sticking to its roots and committing to UK manufacturing in a rapidly evolving industry....
Is it really too much to expect locks to lock and keep out intruders, and door hardware not to pit, peel, discolour or corrode? Brisant CEO Nick Dutton weighs up the options. It’s been said that a front door has two main functions: to invite people in and keep people out. Therefore, its specification should include both the aesthetics to...
Giovanni Laporta, inventor and innovator of Smart Ready, explains why respecting trademarks is vital for businesses’ success. It’s fantastic to see more and more fabricators and installers beginning to promote their Smart offering as they realise its potential as our industry’s next big opportunity. But in light of some recent trademark confusion, I have a word of warning and some...
Richard Gyde, managing director of Mila, explains why suppliers need to do more to help customers cope with demand. I write a regular blog on the Mila website (www.mila.co.uk/blog/). Over the years, it’s become one of the most visited pages on the site, largely I think because I always try to give honest insight and straightforward updates on the business...
By Rapierstar. We’re constantly being told to get used to the ‘new normal’ as we emerge from the Covid-19 lockdown, and in many ways as an industry we have so much to gain from the new ways of working that we have quickly had to adopt. The value of online services, resources and support really came to the fore during...
Simon Monks, managing director at VBH, gives an insight into the company’s decision to stay open for business during the Covid crisis and how product development has benefited as a result Much has been written about how companies have dealt with the issues facing all of us over the last few months. The Covid crisis effectively caused the UK, and...
By Rapierstar. With so many people spending so much more time at home than usual as a result of the coronavirus lockdown, it was inevitable that we’d see a surge in DIY home improvement activity. All those jobs that have been put off for years have finally been started, and some even finished. But what about the things that need...
Sam Nuckey, managing director of Window Ware, outlines the steps the company taking to keep staff safe at work, and gives her thoughts on how the sector has responded to the partial lifting of the lockdown. Thanks to the hard work and dedication of our brilliant team, Window Ware is officially open for business. It’s been a challenging few months,...
Nick Dutton, CEO of Brisant-Secure talks about the true definition of suited when it comes to door furniture ranges. There is also an underlying demand for better, as he goes on to highlight. Brisant-Secure offers a suited hardware system alongside our high security lock, Ultion. When Ultion, the three-star plus, Sold Secure Diamond lock, is fitted with a suited Lock...
Mila’s finance director James Kiernan offers some guidance on one of the biggest concerns following lockdown: finances. The main thing for customers at this stage is to make sure that they have accessed all of the government support available, from the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to business interruption loans and business rate relief grants. These can preserve much-needed working capital...
Eric Collins of Jackloc explains how window restrictors are faring in the current situation. Luckily the team at Jackloc are well at present and safe at home, although we have placed some of our team on furlough leave due to a number of our markets closing under government guidelines. We have set up a WhatsApp group to keep everyone engaged...
By Andy Holland, technical and marketing manager at Rapierstar. Designing and manufacturing fit-for-purpose fasteners that deliver on their promise is a complicated business; from a fastener’s pull-out strength and driveability to its corrosion resistance and structural strength, its design has to tick multiple boxes in terms of performance, otherwise it could be the cause of a door or window failure,...
Glass Times editor Nathan Bushell visited Maco’s head office in Sittingbourne to discover why the company is investing heavily in its UK operations. Maco celebrates its 20-year anniversary in its Sittingbourne-based site this year, which underpins a solid commitment to the UK by the family-owned firm. While Maco boasts a manufacturing heritage that goes back to 1947, when its first...
By Sarah Gyde, marketing director at Mila. When it comes to marketing in our industry, I would argue that nothing beats getting hands-on with our products; fundamentally, most of us are selling ‘stuff’ which customers want to be able to see and feel for themselves before they part with their hard-earned money. Whether that’s trade, retail or commercial customers, even...
By Toby Staff, managing director of Newstar Door Controls. As a supplier of widow restrictors, I always check out what’s been installed wherever I am. So, you can imagine my shock when I stayed in a hotel run by a large hotel group in Torquay over the summer to see a standard plug chain, washer and screw fitted as a...
Paul Atkinson, sales and commercial director for Yale, discusses how enhanced security guarantees, new security product developments, and household brands offer an often untapped competitive advantage to the retail salesperson. As we enter the winter months, opportunist thieves ramp up activity, according to the crime statistics. This may be attributed to the earlier onset of nighttime with the darker evenings...
Simon Monks, managing director of VBH (GB), says should the worst happen, homeowners want to feel protected by a guarantee that does what it says on the tin. Crime figures are regularly disputed, but one thing that can’t be disputed is the effect on victims; burglary has a much bigger impact than just the financial value of any items taken....
It’s that time of year when the home security message is hammered hard by hardware and security experts. With good reason, says UAP. Last October, ahead of daylight-saving time coming to an end, Co-op Insurance reported home theft claims increase by over a third (34%) in winter months, with Friday the day most likely for theft to occur. According to...
Yale is about to launch a new smart lock in the UK with no levers, and is at an advanced stage of development with sensors in regular hardware for windows and doors. Paul Atkinson, sales and commercial director at Yale, explains that since £10.8 billion will be spent on smart home devices in 2019 in the UK, now is an...