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MBA Associates Limited" Optimism Is True Moral Courage
There are well documented cases of the most unlikely people surviving in true life threatening situa...[more]

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The Fenestration News Bulletin this week will be sent to more than 15,000 recipients in just over 9,000  organisations aligned to the Window Industry. Making it an effective delivery platform to get your Companies message across.

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From the News

News shorts: -

CENSolutions Reports Increase in Part 3 Testing

Drive towards BM TRADA Q-Mark as demand for certification for SBD commercial schemes increases

Treforest Glass joins Certass TRR IGU febricators scheme

From Sales-i, Building Products Companies need to sharpen their sales intelligence to avoid getting left behind

Biggest-ever Network VEKA gears up for anniversary AGM

CRL Launch New Custom Door Rails Programme in Europe

Door & Hardware Federation - Door and security sectors embrace new Kitemark standard for cylinder lock security

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Remember, for all the latest news updated daily, check out the Fenestration News website @ www.fenestration-news.com

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Pricing

Our In-Box has an interesting item from REHAU’s Wolfgang Gormer on pricing in the UK for windows and doors. This item has also been picked up by our friends over at the Renegade Conservatory Guy blog in a running conversation

Serious comments by serious people. While hearing what is being said and suggested, devilment creeps in, left-field-thinking, just can’t help it.

The analogy used by Wolfgang was a bit odd, being specific on pricing of a Ford Fiesta as a comparison with pricing to ALL windows and doors. Unless it was meant to refer to people that supply just REHAU windows, either way it seems out of kilter with what the message appears to be. Even then a Ford Fiesta before discount is priced between £9,995 and £15,745, a 57% variance for the same product, not exactly a good example to get your bearings on price.

Surely to compare ALL windows and doors there is a need to use the analogy of ALL cars, not just one model. This of course doesn’t work either; it’s against the flow of the discussion.

If this was just the discussion, REHAU could of coarse grab the bull by the horns, take the lead, practise what they preach and just publish on their Website the price for fitted REHAU windows and doors. REHAU installers would then feel the need to comply. This could then be used as an example for other system suppliers to pick up ...[ more ]

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Optimism Is True Moral Courage

There are well documented cases of the most unlikely people surviving in true life threatening situations, often the survivor is not the fittest, the strongest or the brightest, the survivor is an optimist….. they expect to survive and won’t give up. The quote that titles this article is from Ernest Shackleton the polar explorer and a consummate survivor. There is however a major difference between Shackleton and someone who survives a plane crash or a sinking ship, he led an expedition that encountered truly horrendous circumstances and not only did he survive… so did every single member of his team. They all went home to their families after living for the best part of a year under an upturned boat eating mainly Penguin and for 6 months in almost total darkness. It would have been the easiest thing in the world to give up!

Business is hardly a life threatening situation (unless it’s so bad that the window ledge really is looking a realistic option) but it is a team endeavour that requires leadership. It’d be easy to succumb to the market equivalent of a polar storm especially one that drags on. I think it’s fair to say that if you are under 80 the last few years have given us the most challenging environment (certainly in macro economic terms) that any of us have experienced in our business lives and for some it has proved simply too much....[ more ]

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In Box

Letter to the Editor, from Wolfgang Gorner REHAU - The issue of pricing

Dear Ian

The best-selling car in Britain last year was the Ford Fiesta and, thanks to the strict pricing policy of Ford and its dealership network, most consumers would have a reasonable idea of how much they would have to pay if they wanted to buy one.

Ask that same consumer however, how much they would have to pay for a PVC-U window or door and, chances are, they would have very little idea. Bombarded by cheap offers and hidden discounts, REHAU’s own research shows that consumers simply do not know how much a window or door should actually cost.

This is made even worse by the fact that some sections of the fabrication market have continually driven down the price of windows to a point where it is now possible to buy a window which is cheaper in real terms than it was 10 years ago - yet that window is more secure, more efficient and more technically advanced than ever. ...[ more ]

Wolfgang Gorner

Business Unit Director, REHAU Window Division

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In Box

Letter to the Editor - from Wayne Rogerson of CENSolutions

Dear Ian,

I was so surprised at the news that the Irish Building Regulations have not been brought into line with the English Regulations, I felt compelled to put pen to paper.

The revisions that were implemented to the Building Regulations for England and Scotland made a move to tighten legislation around energy efficiency. I know this brought with it its own set of problems, debates and discussions but the objective of such a change is clearly to improve the overall energy efficiency of our buildings. Even if you don’t believe in climate change,...[ more ]

Yours sincerely

Wayne Rogerson, CENSolutions

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In Box

Letter to the Editor, from Malcolm Kemp, Ingas - requirements of EN1279

Dear Ian

The increasing demand for improved Window Energy Ratings in the drive towards energy efficiency finds vast numbers of sealed unit manufacturers faced with tough decisions on a daily basis. The investment considerations and potentially disruptive production changes are a constant headache. In addition you have to balance this change with continued ‘day job’ delivery of quality products your customers expect and the need to remain profitable. It is no wonder that in these situations we find ourselves tempted by those ‘too good to be true’ deals that very often deliver on promise initially but offer no ongoing service commitment or support mechanism....[ more ]

Yours sincerely

Malcolm Kemp, Managing Direct – Inagas Ltd

Remember, for all the latest news updated daily, check out the Fenestration News website @ www.fenestration-news.com

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Glass Systems Direct
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Glass Systems Direct Ltd of Llanstrisant is pleased to announce its membership of the Certass TRR IGU Fabricators scheme. As a member, the company will be able to supply customers ..[ more ]

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Treforest Glass
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Pricing
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March - issue: 0311.01

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