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Following on from its recent completion of the BM TRADA Q-Mark scheme for IGU’s and PVCu windows, Leeds based Eurocell Ultimate PCE 70mm fabricator, Alternative Windows has been further recognised with the PAS 23 and PAS 24 Certificates for door assemblies.

Alternative Windows currently fabricates around 400-450 windows per week with the majority being supplied to a number of local authorities and housing associations in the North of England. The new accreditation will go some way to cementing relationships with the company’s enviable customer base as well as allowing it to target further work.

‘It is important for Alternative moving forward that we have all the necessary standards and accreditations in place in order for the company to become a major player nationwide. The PAS 23 and PAS 24 certificates added to those we already have make Alternative Windows a more attractive company to deal with. The investment which the directors have made back into the company is already bearing fruit with this the latest success.’ Nigel Fletcher, Alternative Windows.

Alternative Windows submitted the door assembles for testing earlier this year to Chiltern Dynamics and passed both the general performance requirements (PAS 23) as well as those related to further security scrutiny (PAS 24).

Alternative Windows: 0113 248 3773
Eurocell: 01773 842 100
Web: http:// www.eurocell.co.uk

Knowledge Transfer Partnerships Awards 2003

On 9th December the 2003 winners of the Knowledge Transfer Partnerships Awards were honoured. The winners include Keystone Lintels Ltd, based in Cookstown, who created a substantial sales increase by diversifying into new and lucrative markets. They partnered with the University of Ulster and, with engineering graduate Cormac Diamond, developed the expertise for a new product range of roof windows.

Through the partnership, a new product, a mid hung roof window, was designed, developed, tested and successfully launched. The company then developed a whole product range, which ensured that in the first year alone sales by its new subsidiary Keylite have gone from zero to £2.5million, 60% of which are exports.

Eithne Kelly, General Manager of Keystone Lintels commented: ‘At the moment we are now 20% ahead of our turnover target, which we’re absolutely delighted with.’

Professor Dennis McKeag of the University of Ulster said ‘The idea was to launch a product from scratch so that at the start nothing existed except an idea. Keystone have actually taken 15% of the Irish market and 30% of the Northern Ireland market in the first six months of trading. It’s an absolutely superb result’

At the Knowledge Transfer Partnerships Awards Event (previously known as the TCS Awards) held at One Great George Street, Westminster, London SW1, the exceptional success of six other knowledge transfer partnerships were also recognised. Each one involved a business benefiting from the input of expertise from university academics.

Awards were also presented to six talented graduates who have been identified as ‘Business Leaders of Tomorrow’. Jacqui Smith MP, Minister of State for Industry and the Regions, and Deputy Minister for Women and Equality, presented the Awards.

The seven award winning partnerships each participated in TCS (the Teaching Company Scheme) and were identified as the best that completed successful TCS Programmes in 2002. Both partners in each Programme gained significant benefits, as did the graduates they recruited as TCS Associates.

On 9th December, the recipients of four special awards were identified from the seven winning partnerships. These four awards are for Best TCS Programme, Best Application of Social or Management Science, Best Application of Knowledge, and for Engineering Excellence.

The six recipients of the Business Leader of Tomorrow awards are Associates (graduates) engaged on current TCS Programmes who were nominated for this award jointly by their Company and Knowledge Base Supervisors.

Dr Ian Harrison, Deputy Director of Key Business Technologies at the DTI and member of the judges panel which selected the winners of the four special awards said:

‘On behalf of DTI and the other 10 public sector bodies funding Knowledge Transfer Partnerships, I am delighted to welcome the 2003 Knowledge Transfer Partnerships Awards. Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (formerly TCS) is the UK's leading mechanism for transferring science and technology, innovation, knowledge and skills from the knowledge base to business. At any one time, over 900 partnerships are in progress.

This year we are again recognising the achievements of some of the best of them. They are a clear demonstration of the tangible benefits derived from the teamwork of a graduate Associate working in a business with guidance from a knowledge base partner. The seven winning programmes cover a wide range of topics from manufacturing and engineering to healthcare and software developments; but one feature was common for them all - the enthusiastic implementation of the projects which led to real business benefits.’

The advantages of Knowledge Transfer Partnerships are manifold, not least to ensure that small and medium-sized businesses can enjoy the same access and benefits of working with universities and training and learning from graduates as larger businesses.

The aim of every Knowledge Transfer Partnership is to improve the competitiveness of the company partner, enhance the career(s) of the graduate(s) and to increase the business relevance of the knowledge base partner.

National Award for Alumet Systems

Alumet Systems (UK) Ltd flew the flag for the construction industry by winning the Best New Product of 2003 award at the National Growing Business Awards at the London Hilton on 4th December 2003.

Alumet’s ‘Avon Dry Wall Beam’ took the honours for it’s new approach to the construction industry.

Comperes were William Hague and Gordon Brown, who presented the awards evening in what was a proud night for the Warwickshire based company.

The Avon Dry Wall Beam is a pre-fabricated panel system that provides a structural inner skin to compliment Alumet’s external façade package.

The picture shows Alumet’s Managing Director, Gary Summers receiving the trophy from Sir Stephen Brown, Group Chief Executive for UK Trade & Investment.

Contact either Dean Walton (mailto:deanw@alumet.co.uk) or Amy Betteridge (mailto:amyb@alumet.co.uk).

Norscot Takes the High Quality Road with Veka

Scottish Highlands based Norscot Joinery Ltd has gone all out for quality to achieve Q Mark certification for the PVCu windows the company manufactures using the Veka Matrix system.

The BM TRADA Q Mark achieved by Norscot is a third party certification scheme that provides independent assurance to architects and other construction industry specifiers. Any work carried out under the National House Builders Council (NHBC) for example, states that windows have to be supplied by a 3rd party accredited manufacturer and must be tested as part of the certification at laboratories with appropriate UKAS accreditation. Following completion of the testing procedures, scheme members are subject to regular factory audits carried out by experts within the construction industry to confirm that products are still being produced correctly.

While windows, doors and conservatories in PVCu are one of the main sectors of this ISO9002 accredited company, Norscot also manufactures timber and aluminium clad timber windows offering customers a wide range of products to suit their needs.

The Veka fabricator based in Caithness was established by husband and wife team Peter and Teda Body in 1984. Now managed by their sons Ian and John-Paul, the company’s headquarters covers 25,000sq feet including a state-of-the art factory together with a large showroom displaying the wide range of products the company offers.

Director Jason Fraser commented: ‘We serve a number of markets with our products, including house-builders. It is essential that we be seen to offer the very highest standards of quality in everything that we do. After scrutinising the certification bodies available we chose the BM TRADA Q Mark Certification as this, in our view, is the most stringent and thorough auditing system available. We were confident that our windows using the Veka Matrix profile would pass the parameters set out by BM TRADA. All the company has pulled together to obtain this award and we are all justifiably proud of the results we have achieved’.

Tel: 01282 716611
Email: mailto:salesenquiry@veka.com
Web: http://www.vekauk.com

Shepley Launches Showhome Award Scheme

Shepley Window Systems has launched Showhome Awards to pay recognition to its customers’ best installations. The trade fabricator is asking customers to enter installations they believe meet the highest of standards into the award scheme.
In return, if the projects are given the thumbs up from a panel of industry experts, customers are given an award certificate, which includes site photography, judges’ comment, region and company name. All entries are then put forward into a winner’s category with the opportunity to win a range of prizes such as a digital camera or Premiership football tickets.

‘The scheme is beneficial in several ways,’ explains James Brisbane, marketing manager of Shepley. ‘For prospects, it’s an ideal way of proving credibility. Just think what a boost it could be to your sales presentation to include awards received from a panel of industry judges. Customers can also build up an award certificates hall of fame. It helps Shepley too because by encouraging our customers to send in their very best work, it means we can continue to produce strong sales and marketing support to help our installers. In fact, many of the installation images will be used in future marketing items in turn helping our customers sell more, windows, doors and conservatories’.

The panel of judges comprise of Mike Rigby (Michael Rigby Associates), Irene Smith (Rehau), Jon Skinner (Deceuninck) and Ian Osborne (Riga Design & Advertising), who will be looking at design considerations, condition of the property photographed and the surrounding area when judging the entries.
The scheme was launched in August and already Shepley has announced the first Showhome award certificates for installation excellence have gone to Leyland Conservatory Specialists, Style Windows and Conservatories, and President Window Design. All nominations have been entered into the Winners award, with results announced in the next edition of SquareOn, Shepley’s customer newsletter.

Tel: 0161 339 2433
Email: mailto:james.brisbane@shepley.com
Web: http://www.shepley.com

Evergreen Door Achieves SBD with Q-Mark Certification

Evergreen Door, a UK manufacturer and distributor of steel and fibreglass external doors, has become a member of BM TRADA Certification's enhanced security Q-Mark scheme for doors.

The third-party certification scheme was launched two years ago in support of Secured By Design (SBD), the police initiative to reduce crime on housing developments. The Q-Mark provides independent assurance to architects, specifiers, enforcing authorities and building owners that all doors sold under the scheme meet the specified technical and regulatory standards. The doors must also incorporate crime prevention measures, at the design stage, to meet SBD requirements, which means testing to PAS 23 and PAS 24.

Evergreen Door is part of the industry-wide Epwin Group, comprised of 32 companies specialising in low maintenance building products. Technical Director Bob Benn said Evergreen decided to comply with Secured by Design as a service to its customers, especially the many smaller fabricators who source components from them for entrance and fire doorset assembly.

'As components suppliers, we ourselves reap no direct benefit, but we see huge advantages for our customers and that is good for us. We decided to go with the Q-Mark, rather than approaching SBD by any other route, because we had a close working relationship with BM TRADA on fire doors.'

Mr Benn's hope is that 'at least a good dozen of' Evergreen's customers will tread the Q-Mark path themselves, especially as third-party certification is soon to become a requirement of SBD for entrance doorsets.

To assist companies to meet the requirements of the Enhanced Security Q-Mark scheme, BM TRADA will define the test evidence - from UKAS-accredited laboratories - that is needed. The manufacturer must also demonstrate consistent quality control in the factory, usually by establishing a quality management system under ISO 9001:2000 or equivalent. Scheme members will be subject to regular factory audits and to annual audit testing.

Evergreen prides itself on efficient procedures and stringent quality control. It recently achieved ISO 9001: 2000 registration, so fulfilling that aspect of the Q-Mark scheme was straightforward. Simon Beer, BM TRADA Product Certification Manager, said, 'For BM TRADA, having a scheme member with Evergreen's reputation and high profile is an excellent testimonial for Q-Mark.'
BM TRADA Certification by Jean Kloos.

Brunner Mond Wins National Award for Safety Project

Brunner Mond was the only raw materials supplier in the country to scoop a prize when the soda ash producer won a national award for Best Safety Initiative at the recent GLASS Charter Awards.

Launched in January 2002, Brunner Mond’s Safety Project - which set out to achieve a step change in safety performance across the company - is divided into eight themes: Culture, Risk Assessment, Training, Systems, State of the Plant, Communications, Contractors and Auditing.

Well over half of Brunner Mond’s 480 UK employees have already been directly involved in the initiative and the company is on track to fully implement all 50 tasks identified within these themes within three years.

The awards took place during the Glass Industry Annual Health & Safety Conference in Birmingham. Presented by Bill Callaghan, Chairman of the Health & Safety Commission, the award was collected on behalf of Brunner Mond by Safety Project Manager, Deborah Whitworth-Hilton, and John Kerrigan, Director of Manufacturing.

Deborah said: ‘We were recognised for our significant achievements and improvements in health and safety within Brunner Mond since we launched the project two years ago.

‘We signed up to the GLASS Charter last year as it is an excellent scheme which helps to maintain the high profile of health and safety in all our activities.’
The GLASS (Goal: Less Accidents, Safe Sites) Charter, British Glass’ industry safety initiative, aims to reduce accidents across the industry by 30 per cent over 10 years by helping companies to improve their health and safety performance through best practice, information exchange and advice.

Another part of the Brunner Mond Group was also a winner when Brunner Mond (South Africa) beat off competition from more than 800 other suppliers to win the Annual Supplier of the Year award 2003 for Protea Chemicals - the largest chemical distributor in South Africa.

The award was made for the competitive pricing and quality of the company’s products, its outstanding service and reliable deliveries.

Web: http://www.brunnermond.com

HansenGlass Rewarded for Excellence

European specialist glass processors, HansenGlass based in Kirkby, Merseyside has been awarded an ‘Achievement Marque’ at this year’s prestigious North West Business Excellence Awards.

This year’s event was held at the Palace Hotel, Manchester and formally recognises organisations that have achieved high levels of excellence. Companies entering the awards are judged against the Business Excellence Model which is recognised as one of the most powerful business management tools in Europe.

Along with other applicants, HansenGlass was required to undergo a rigorous assessment over a number of months by a team of independent assessors which are selected from the country’s leading companies and organisations.

The company had to demonstrate its commitment to developing leadership, people, processes and business strategy. This is in addition to providing evidence that it has improved people, society and key performance results over the past three years.

Ian Whalley, Operations Director, HansenGlass comments: ‘This is a fantastic achievement and we are all very proud of receiving this recognition at our first attempt. We will continue our commitment towards business excellence in the hope of winning at next year’s awards.’

Contact: Graham P Chung
Tel: 0151 545 3000
Email: mailto:sales@hansenglass.co.uk

Aura - Quality Awarded with BBA

South West based Aura Conservatories has been awarded British Board of Agrément (BBA) certification for the manufacture and supply of the BBA accredited Quantal roofing system.

The presentation follows a stringent independent inspection programme that tested the production process and customer service offered by the company. BBA is the most prestigious standard for construction throughout the UK, and is only presented once the board is satisfied that the very highest standards of performance are continuously met.

Chris Yates, Director at Aura, was presented with the BBA certificate by Bob Keyse, Area Business Manager for BBA, at the company’s factory in Exeter. He comments, ’Achieving this award endorses the high quality of product and dedicated service that we strive to give our customers.

‘Our experienced and skilled team are committed to total customer satisfaction, and we take great pride in the fact that much of our work comes from recommendations. We offer a complete technical support package, including bespoke design and CAD drawing facility and on-site installation training and surveying assistance if required.’

Aura is part of the successful approved Quantal Fabricator Network, and manufactures the unique roof for a growing number of trade customers across the South West. It provides a comprehensive range of styles, finishes, glazing and ventilation options, backed up by efficient service and reliable delivery.

Chris continues, ‘With its strong external aluminium construction and attractive traditional styling, the Quantal roof allows our customers to substantially differentiate their sales offer in the market place. We sell on quality, service and reliability rather than price.’

Richard Hulbert, General Manager of Quantal, adds, ‘We are pleased that another of our fabricators has achieved this prestigious award, and wish Aura continued success for the future.’

For more information on the national Approved Quantal Fabricator Network visit http://www.quantal.co.uk

To contact Aura Conservatories, telephone 01626 355663.

Bostik Findley Awarded ISO 9001:2000

Bostik Findley, manufacturer of sealants and adhesives, has been awarded ISO 9001:2000 status by the British Standards Institute (BSI).

The ISO 9001:2000 standard is recognised internationally and covers all areas of quality management, from new product development and manufacturing to the dispatching of goods and customer care.

It is only awarded to organisations that consistently provide product that meets both customer and applicable regulatory requirements.

The updated standard is particularly concerned with the monitoring of customer satisfaction - an area of importance at Bostik Findley.

Richard Sellman, marketing manager at Bostik Findley, comments: ‘Through regular contact with and feedback from our customers, we are able to ensure that they receive the best service and product possible.

‘ISO 9001:2000 also emphasises the importance of continuous improvement, which is why at Bostik Findley, our product and management systems are audited regularly by BSI to ensure that we continue to meet the demands of our customers in new and innovative ways.’

As well as ISO 9001:2000, Bostik Findley also has accreditation to numerous customer and technical standards and specifications, including the ISO 14001 Environmental Management Systems standard which ensures that environmental pollution is prevented.

Contact: Richard Sellman
Tel: 01785 272727

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