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Double Glazing Blogger: April 2011

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Another Casualty

Conservatory roof manufacturer Amdega has been placed into administration and is to be closed down due to lack of interest and no chance of sale.

This is the report from http://www.creditman.co.uk/:

Mark Firmin and Brian Green from KPMG’s Restructuring practice have been appointed as joint administrators to Amdega, the Darlington based upmarket conservatory manufacturer and supplier.

As there is no prospect for a sale of the business, it is being closed by the administrators and most of the 197 employees have been made redundant.

Mark Firmin, joint administrator and KPMG’s Northern Head of Restructuring, said: “Amdega is a victim of the severe downturn in the big-ticket and home-related parts of the retail sector. KPMG’s latest Retail Sales Monitor highlighted that these businesses are being hit hardest by consumers’ lower spending patterns and Amdega was unable to sustain the ongoing weakness in demand it was experiencing.

“Amdega had approximately 300 orders on its books at the time of the administration so there will be some impact on customers. Our key priority is to assess this situation and communicate with Amdega customers. We will be writing to them as quickly as possible, with information and guidance regarding their next steps.”


It's sad to see another manufacturer go to the wall during these tough trading conditions. We all also have to remember the human cost to these events. People lose their jobs, lose income, bills get harder to pay, plus all the other pressures that come with losing a job.

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Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Quality Counts Story Part 4

Below is the fourth part of the Quality Counts story:



19/4/11 Two fitters were sent from Leeds by the frame manufacturer. They were to replace some damaged sashes. I agreed to some foil tears being repaired rather than have all the frames changed. However, the new sashes,had filler, scratches/tears and 4 even had 25mm of torn gasket. These sashes were supposedly 'thoroughly checked ' by the installer before coming to the property. The situation is becoming ridiculous. Can't this place in Leeds make a window that's at least 90% correct? Is it a labour problem? Is it their machinery ? Or both.
So now I have curtains and blinds removed , furniture moved and dust sheets down again .
20/4/11 Builder came to alter his poor bell cast over bedroom window. He has already altered the lower one. He didn't redo it , just patched it up,so I don't know how long it will be before cracks appear. I have no confidence in his work any more.
20/4/11 Today my new back solidor will be fitted . It was supposed to have been installed week commencing 14/2/11. I saw it in the showroom on 24/2/11 when I paid the £4000 interim payment the director asked me for. So it arrived covered in dust. It has been fitted. But due to the measurements being wrong, it won't open. Something to do with the threshold. So I have a £1000 plus door that can't be used. To access the rear of the house I have to use the front door and walk round. The alarm sensor on the old door has been disconnected since February in readiness for the new door. I've had a piece of plastic over the old door, where the arch was squared off on 11/2/11.
I can't blame the new fitter for this, it's the surveyors fault.
Regarding the cracks that have appeared in the mortar joints over two windows;the director told the fitter to inform he will not be fitting any 'steel' over them. Trade comments on this would be appreciated. I did not expect it to be done fore nothing.
The doors for the storm porch arrived today. Again they should have been fitted 14/2/11. They've been stuck in a storeroom behind the showroom for weeks. This would explain the dents, gouges and white showing through the foil. The fanlight had black gasket instead of grey. The fitters couldn't install them.
The new window for the landing was unwrapped. There was a damaged area area which looked as though it had been touched up with a mars bar. So again the fitters couldn't install it.
I would point out here that the landing window previously fitted had touched up tears and numerous marks on it, not to mention a weld which had opened up .
The fitters have removed the mortar used by the previous fitter and replaced it with a correct mix. They also replaced a small window at the rear of property.
The director has not informed what he intends to do re. the back door. Nor has he rung with an apology. 

The above part of this story was sent to me a few days ago, but due to us being very busy at work, and then the bank holidays, this is the first opportunity I've had to get it posted. So apologies to my sender, I'm not ignoring you!

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The Bank Holiday Effect

We are now part way through this strange period of time through the year where all the bank holidays seem to have come all at once. Many thought that with people booking the three days off between the two sets of bank holidays, the economy would suffer as Britain took 11 days off work.


But, I'm pleased to report that so far the long holiday period seems to not have had an effect. Leads have still come in in good numbers, sales are still being made and people are even letting us fit on the day of the Royal Wedding! It seems that most people aren't too bothered about sitting down in front of the TV all day and watching two very privileged people get married!


I hope everybody has had a good Easter break and continues to do well throughout the spring.

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Thursday, April 21, 2011

Simple Solution

I'm wading in and back out of the DGCOS debate very quickly here!


You know, there wouldn't be a need for things like DGCOS (who claim to protect companies against non-paying customers) if companies conducted themselves in the correct manner. 


Think about it, it's simple. If the company does the job correctly from start to finish, the customer (assuming they are genuine people as 99.9% of them are), won't have a reason to hold back payment. If the installations company does things like:


1. Have polite, courteous sales people who fully explain the product and the proposed work.
2. Keep the customer informed and kept within the communication loop at all times. Making sure they know at what stage their installation is.
3. Install their products to the same standard as they saw in the showroom, without major defaults or problems.
4. Install products by fully qualified fitters, who are clean, tidy, efficient and fit to a high standard.
5. Provide a good after sales service after installation.


These are all simple steps, but ones which we carry out here and we practically never have a problem with customers not paying, as we don't give them an excuse to.


The other advantage is that you're less likely to collect the type of customers who are non-payers as they know they probably won't get away with it.


See! DGCOS rendered useless (in my opinion anyway!).

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Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Quality Counts Story Part 3

I now have the third part of the ongoing story of a problem installation that I've been documenting over the past few weeks:



The builder came on 17/3/11 and cleaned the mortar of the flags at the front and side of the house.He came and went without announcing his presence. The rear flags were not cleaned.

On 24/3/11 the Manufacturer's technical advisor arrived. Stated foil damage was obviously caused by the frame manufacturer. Also, completely without any prior notice being given to myself, a fitter sent from Leeds arrived to replace the frame with the protruding screw and 2 badly made sashes. Due to the excessively high number of faults revealed when the tape was removed from the front windows, I checked the upper windows off a ladder and again found numerous faults. It was, therefore, pointless for the Leeds fitter to attempt any remedial work. 

Whilst up the ladder I noted a new horizontal hairline crack in the render where the builder had fitted angle iron above the upper window. The mortar bed under the bricks is insufficient, and the slate packing is loose. In fact it can easily be pulled out. The two bell casts done by the builder are odd. The upper being 4'' different to the lower one and bowed. The bricks above the WC window are extremely loose. Cracks in the mortar joints above the bathroom and back bedroom have appeared. The installers director informed that this will be OK as the upvc windows are load bearing. If a level is put on 1 cill it rocks, there are two high spots. 

On 24/3/11 The sales director from Leeds was due to arrive at 9am. He did not appear. Nor has he ever made contact with me. The fitter from Leeds confirmed that vandalism had taken place he also stated there were tooling problems in the factory. So Leeds were aware of the faults, but chose to ignore them . They painted over them. 

After showing the faults to the installers director he promised they would be rectified. He stated that if I looked at the windows in his showroom I would see faults on them. Would I have bought them if that was the case? He then said he was going to his showroom, and would return with a letter which he wanted me to sign. I will not disclose the content at this time. I declined to sign. I'm sure this was not legal.
On 24/3/11 I was told it would take a week for new windows to be made. I rang on 5/4/11 and was told they were waiting for some frames. Today is 12/4/11 and they have not contacted me.

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Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Doing The Healthy Beer Diet!

Today is the day that myself, @JWNorthWales and @TradeStopUK have all joined the 'healthy beer and cider' diet!


When you think about it, if you compare beer to other drinks like Coke, and most fruit juices, it's far healthier! Beer has much less sugar in it than Coke does, therefore better for your teeth. And it has less acidic content than fruit juice, again much better for your teeth! Also, if you compare bitter to lager, lager has less fat content, so, healthier for your arteries!


Fruity cider is another option. If you treat yourself to 5 bottles of this every day then you're getting in your 5 portions of fruit! Fat wise it's better than lager (I think!) and roughly the same cost!


So, I name this day Beer And Cider Tuesday, and from this day on, to make sure we live a healthier lifestyle, we must ditch the Coke, other fizzy drinks and tooth rotting fruit juices and strive to make sure we drink enough fruity cider and lager to keep our bodies fighting fit!

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Monday, April 18, 2011

Quality Counts Story Part 2

I have received the second part of the Quality Counts story from my contact:

Still nothing heard from installer.


Sent photos of screw and tears to frame makers in Leeds. on 4/3/11. On 7/3/11 rang installers and was told they were waiting for one piece of glass and this was holding things up.. When the snags were mentioned I was informed quality control in Leeds was first class.....I informed them the front windows were still not finished despite being fitted on 18/2/11..Was told fitter would come. He didn't.


At this stage , the windows on the front of house had not been trimmed and still had protective tape on them .


8,9, 10, 11, 14, 15, .... heard nothing from installer.


16/3/11..I rang showroom said I wasn't very happy, quite politely.


Owner came to site on 17/3/11 .Said he thought windows were completed....Also said he could repair all the tears with wax.


He arranged for two fitters to complete the front of property. They arrived at 2, left at 4. Window heads were still not dressed. Steel and bricks still showing. but they said they would glue the end caps on the cills that previous fitter had not done. Rang showroom, and was told they would be back within an hour. They never showed up. The removal of the manufacturer's tape revealed many more faults.


I was promised a new frame to replace the one with screw protruding. I was told the screw was done by a sacked ex employee and only the frames, not the sashes are checked for quality control, allegedly, although their literature makes claims of very stringent quality control. Also promised was a new sash to replace one with a 3/8 inch wide repair to a poor mitre and many blemishes, plus another sash replacing one which had patches of touch up where the fitter tried to disguise the foam he'd left on . Plus three new seals to replace torn ones. Builder is to come back and clean the mortar from paths and under windows. A real mess.


Who in their right mind would fit a bottom window firs? And then damage it with debris from the window above the next day and slap touch up on the marks. The builders using the toilet left excrement on the seat.


The two fitters who came on 16/3/11 removed the two boxes of broken glass that had been left in front of the house for 4 weeks. They also put brown silicone over the clear silicone used by the previous fitter. Because none of the windows were trimmed internally, no curtains or blinds could be refitted for 7 days.


20/3/11. Correction. Bedroom end caps not glued. They told me they had 'foamed' above 2 windows (2500 wide) to fix them. I now have my doubts.


On 23/3/11. I was told the piece of glass that was delaying the fitting of the doors had arrived and they would fit them tomorrow. This phone call was received at 1.40. I informed them that this notice was too short, as an appointment with the profile manufacturers technical advisor was arranged for 10 am that morning . I also had a medical appointment later. At 7pm. the installers director called at the property. He said a 'tooling fault' at Leeds was the cause of foil damage. Also a sacked worker had committed acts of vandalism. I pointed to the exposed brickwork over the 2 front windows.He said this was correct practice, as the bricks need to breathe.........

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Strange Time Of Year

We are about to enter a part of the year like no other. The Easter Bank Holidays.


Easter is the only time of year where the working weeks become so disorganised and skewed for everybody involved. Delivery schedules are all over the place, fitting schedules become shorter hence less income, sales reps can't sit leads because offices close. Personally, I wouldn't mind if we had less bank holidays during this time, and they were spread out a bit more evenly throughout the year. Plus, we get an extra one because of the Royal Wedding.


Being self employed and commission only based, I like to work as much as I can to earn as much as I can. So having so many days off like the ones coming up are more a pain in the backside than anything else. Is this just me being grumpy and greedy?


On a more positive note, I'm happy to say that sales and continued to be very strong, more than making up for a slow start to the year. Lead levels have continued to be healthy, as have sales and profit margins. I think that the recent good weather has spurred people on into making decisions on improving their homes, and with the forecast for the rest of this week to stay sunny and warm, this trend will hopefully continue.

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Thursday, April 14, 2011

Pilkington To Open £36 Million Energy Efficient Glazing Line

More good news has been released from Pilkington, with their announcement that they are to open a new energy-efficient coating facility at their current base in St Helens, worth £36 million. This new line will also create 50 brand new jobs.


This is further good news, following the re-opening of their production plant in St Helens last year, which created 130 jobs.


The new line will produce highly energy efficient glass which will be used in residential properties where the glass will be installed to reduce CO2 emissions and lower energy bills for home-owners.


The opening of this new line was helped after Pilkington was given £5 million by the new UK Regional Growth fund, and the new facility should be turning out the first sheets of glass by October 2012.


A report by the Liverpool Daily Post can be read here.

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Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Quality Counts Story Part 1

The sender of the images of my recent Quality Counts posts has sent me some more information and the first part of his ongoing story with his poorly installed windows and doors. 


The property is a semi-detached in Warrington, the company installing the windows is from Warrington but the frames are made in Leeds. The 70 year old OAP paid his deposit on 13th January this year.


These are his details he sent me so far (I'm just copying what he sent me, with some slight editing):


Start date; 14/2/11. Two fitters,11 'til 4.
> 15/2/11. one fitter, 9.45 'til 12.
> 16/2/11. two fitters,9.30 'til 3.30.
> 17/2/11. one fitter, 1.15 'til 5.20. This is when I started to log events.
> 18/2/11. two fitters, 10 'til 4.30 and 12.30 'til 4.30.
> 21/2/11. one fitter, 10 10 'til1.15. Dragging 4m lengths of quadrant through house. Noticed two dents had allegedly appeared in new fridge .
> 22/2/11. no fitters.
> 23/2/11. one fitter, 10 'til 1 . 55. Builder returned to redo his poorly done bell cast. Fitters 'boss' on site. I overheard his fitter saying to him he didn't give a f..k. Was told it would be one and a half weeks before doors would be fitted.
> 24/2/11. one fitter, 5.30 'til 6.30. Trimmed externals to one small window.
> Said he'd return tomorrow to finish trimming and to replace three torn seals. Never seen him since.
> 25/2/11. no fitter. 26/2/11 .Made interim payment. This was requested by
> company director. £4000 .I noticed my back door in showroom. My back door has had a piece of plastic nailed across the top where the arched head was squared of on 11/2/11. (12/4/11 still no door fitted)
> 28/2/11 no fitter
> 1/3/11. '' ''.
> 2/3/11. '' '' .
> 3/3/11 '' '' .
> 4/3/11. '' '' .

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Tuesday, April 12, 2011

When A Bullet Hits Switchable Glass

Found an interesting video on Youtube of when a bullet hits Smart Glass Switchable glass:






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Monday, April 11, 2011

2 x 4 Through Windscreen

Not window related, but after watching this video I had to share it with you all!



Be careful on those roads!

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Sunday, April 10, 2011

Oil Prices And Unverified Subscriptions

Due to the current economic climate and how the world seems to be struggling with rising fuel costs, I've decided to change the spinning globe showing where my visitors are coming from, to a gadget showing the current price of Brent crude oil. It's more relevant to current conversations and puts more emphasis on our reliance on the black stuff and how we should be finding alternative forms of energy.


I also wanted to mention my subscription feed. I now have 6 potential followers but they haven't gone into their emails to confirm subscription to the site. If any those 6 are reading this, please look in your inbox and open the email with the link that will confirm your subscription!


That is all!

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Glazing Blogger To Buy Out RCG

Well, I think I'm now in a position to buy out the RCG blog!


No, I'm only joking! It was an idea banded about in jest between RCG and Anglian on twitter. But it did get me to thinking how much money it would take to do so.


I went on the the UK based www.websitevalue.co.uk to see how much this site was worth and how much the RCG site was worth. Mine came in at a slightly disappointing £1089. RCG's site came in at £6057. Again, less than what I thought it was. So there's just less £5000 between the two sites.


If you go on to other website valuation websites there are differing values. So these numbers have to be taken with a pinch of salt. But I suppose if I had a spare £6057 knocking about I might think about buying it! 

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Friday, April 8, 2011

Are Reduced Margins A Certainty?

A bit of a debate started yesterday on Glasstalk about margins and how they will naturally become less due to the mature market place, competition and struggling economy. As proof of the opposite, I'm taking the view that just because things aren't so easy, there are ways to stay profitable.

One way to increase margins is to improve the quality of the product that is sold. High-end products can command a better profit margin. It's easier to sell a higher price to a customer when the product is a good one. Cheaper products can only achieve medium price ranges with poor profit margins.


The other way is to accept the financial situation we are all in. Loss leading offers are not the  way to bring the custom in when profit is needed so badly. It's time to implement those price increases that your manufacturers have been passing on and eating into your profit levels. Just because the price of a door might go up £30-50 doesn't mean you won't get that sale now. Just sell the benefits of the product and explain that raw materials prices have gone up. The last few leads I've sat I've explained how the current financial climate has caused raw material prices to go up, having a knock-on effect on our prices. They're are fully understanding as they know everyone, including themselves are having to pay more due to the rising cost of living.


Get your staff to do more. If you're busy and think you need to hire more staff, try using your current employees first before you add another wage to your bill. Perhaps give them a small pay rise to cover the extra work, but this will still be cheaper than taking on another member of staff when maybe you don't need to.


Increase your levels of personal service. You can command higher prices if the customer thinks you're doing more for them than the other company is willing to do. The more work they see you doing, the more justified the higher price becomes.


We don't have to be scared of higher prices. If we can embrace it in the right way, adapt to a more expensive market and communicate that well to the customer, there's no reason why companies can't start to recover their profit margins.

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Thursday, April 7, 2011

More Evidence Of Under-Selling

A new follower on my Twitter account: @AlexanderUpvc has been advertising this offer:



Fantastic UPVC Doors With Our Unique Lifetime Warranty – Only £395

This Alexander Windows Special Offer is for a 6 point locking, fully reinforced white uPVC front or back door and frame with your choice of clear or obscure glass. Choose from a selection of over 10 uPVC door styles, including both half and fully-glazed doors. It comes with a standard threshold and white furniture (handles, knocker and letterplate if required). This unbeatable price includes VAT, fitting and our Unique Lifetime Warranty.


What I'm doing on this post is politely asking how the hell do you make any money out of a £395 door including VAT and fitting?! What's even more baffling is the lifetime guarantee that is given with this price!


When prices are shooting up quicker than ever, this sort of pricing is utter suicide!


Another new follower on my Twitter page was advertising this offer on their Twitter account @HuddsGlazing:


7 windows including a bay window, fitted for £2100 inc VAT. Now that's a good deal.


I'm sorry but that is not a good deal from your point of you @HuddsGlazing. It's way too cheap. How are you making any money out of that?


I tear my hair out when I see things like this about. I don't understand how companies still think that churning out these sorts of prices are going to be good for business. Overheads are up, raw materials are up and margins are down. This is exactly the last thing that should be happening.

Rant over.

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Wednesday, April 6, 2011

How Often Should You Change Suppliers?

Suppliers provide some of the biggest issues for installers in this industry; quality of product, lack of communication, shortage of new and improved products etc.


So when a different supplier comes knocking, selling a product you like the look of, how tempting is it to jump ship if you're not happy with your current one?


You have to weigh up the options. The new suppliers might be offering better rates for their wares, but is the quality the same, better or worse than your current supplier. Is it a good thing to sacrifice quality for a better price? Do they promise better customer service. Remember, when you had that meeting with your current supplier, they will have been boasting about their customer service standards too. Does their product portfolio rival or better your current supplier? They might boast dozens more products, but would you really actively sell all those ancillary products that you wouldn't usually? Then you've got to consider the relationship you've built with your current supplier. If you've traded with them for a long time, you will have made good contacts with those within the company. You'll be able to ask for favours on lead times and prices, often very important if you're trying to secure a vital sale.


There are other things to think about, but I'm sure you've got the picture by now. Basically, make sure that the grass on the other side really is greener, or you may make life a little bit more difficult!

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Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Poor Start To The Year For The Window Industry

A report from Quotatis last week confirmed what many of us knew, that the beginning of 2011 was pretty rubbish!


The report stated that conservatory leads were down by a massive 27%. Though enquiries for windows were down only 1%.


There was plenty of talk in the first eight weeks of how quiet things were in the double glazing industry. Companies were wondering if the pace was ever going to pick up, pondering the thought that the beginning of this year was much quieter than normal.


Due to the bad weather at the back end of 2010, the best thing the industry needed was an early boost to trade, as seen at the beginning of 2010. But this didn't happen. 


Luckily however, March seemed to make up for a poor January and February. Customers came crawling out of the woodwork, ready to make leads and commit to new business. I'm also happy to report that this trend has carried on into the first few days of April.

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Monday, April 4, 2011

Polymer Prices Set To Rise Further

Due to the recent Japanese Earthquake, Toray Fine Chemicals Company Ltd, producer of polysulphide polymer, has had to cease production for an unspecified period of time.

The plant was damaged in the recent earthquake, and due to damage to most of Japan's nuclear reactors, power to everywhere north of Tokyo has had to be rationed to stop areas of the country going into blackouts.

The problem is that over 30% of Western Europe's polysulphide polymer is made by Toray. Moreover, the other polymer producers are already working at full capacity, therefore they won't be able to take up the slack and make up for Toray's lack of prodcution.

Because of this, polymer prices look set to rise further. This comes after recent increases in the cost of PVCu.

Also, the PIB based sealants used in the production of IG units has been disrupted by the disaster in Japan. Again, prices are set to increase, and glass producers are being warned not to enter into any long term agreements.

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Friday, April 1, 2011

Month In Review: March 2011

Well, how do I sum up March? A complete and utter turn around!

January and February really were a couple of months stuck in the doldrums. Lead levels were depressed, as were sales. A pattern repeated by much of the industry across the country, and was confirmed yesterday by a report from Quotatis, which stated that conservatory leads were down 27%, and window enquiries were down 1%.


However, the start of the month saw the trading year kick dramatically into life. Literally on the 1st of March! The previous month has seen far more leads, especially for conservatories and orangeries, as well as windows. Though door leads fell back slightly.


Sales saw a huge rise, deriving from the increase in leads. We are also starting to see more internet leads being made. We've recently updated the website and added an SEO package to improve our standings in internet search engines.


We now have fitting into the middle of May, which does mean our waiting time has risen. This is something we would have to keep an eye on. Having a long waiting time can put some customers off.


All in all, a very positive March, hopefully April will continue in the same vein.

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