17th April 2020

April Edition of Trade Counter News.

COVID 19 Home Improvement Industry Impact Survey Results

The United Kingdom, along with almost 20% of the world’s population, is in lockdown due to the threat of the COVID19 pandemic. The restrictions placed on everyone during this period are “stay at home” as much as possible to protect yourself and others and “work from home” unless you are providing an essential service.

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Prefix Systems have just launched a #100%WARM campaign, to help communicate to the trade and consumers the fact that their WARMroof has been designed and engineered throughout to be a true ‘warm roof.’

While there are a number of solid, insulated warm roofs in the marketplace, not all of these products are of a 100% warm construction and so the risk over time is that roofs manufactured using a cold roof construction can suffer from cold spots and condensation. This is particularly apparent the late autumn, throughout winter and in the early spring. With these roofs being sold as a long-term investment, the worry is that an increasing number of these roofs may fail to varying degrees.

With WARMroof, the insulation sits above the roof deck and so all aspects of the roof including the glazing bars are fully insulated. With some competitor systems, the insulation sits in between the glazing bars and so this forms part of a cold roof construction.

Mates in Mind has today published a call for donations to its COVID-19 Relief Fund. This Relief Fund will allow Mates in Mind to continue to respond with vital support programmes. It is now expected that workplace mental health issues, already a pervasive challenge will be heavily impacted by the economic fallout of COVID-19. For the construction industry, this is particularly critical, as it already has a suicide rate among workers that is 3 times the national average.

Steve Hails, Chair of the Board of Trustees of Mates in Mind said:

“We are now reaching out to supporters and across the industry to build up a reserve so we can do our part to mitigate the human cost of COVID-19 and its aftermath. My thanks to those that have already stepped forward to work with us.

This will allow us to continue to support the wider industry – construction, tradespeople, project management, and others; across all sizes of businesses but particularly those that are smaller and self-employed – to get through this period and into the ‘new normal’ by enhancing our ability to continue to respond flexibly and creatively in the short-term to arising issues.

As the most influential PVCu systems company in the UK, The Residence Collection continue to innovate when it comes to foiled finishes, being on trend and the increased adoption of the Corse Lawn finish further supports this claim.

Corse Lawn is available for R9 with a Grained White internal finish, that’s also carried through with a foiled rebate, while R7 is presented with a Chalk White internal finish and through the rebate. Corse Lawn was inspired by a Gloucestershire village of the same name and with undertones of green, brown and grey, it offers true, classic heritage appeal.

Following an internal review of the Government’s financial support packages, the Glass and Glazing Federation (GGF) has formally written to The Chancellor of the Exchequer highlighting the current cash flow crisis in the glass and glazing industry, caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.

In the communication, the GGF also stressed to the Chancellor that the length of time the claim to payment process is taking will mean money under the new Government schemes might not reach companies in time, with an anticipated 6-8 weeks process period.

The GGF letter also proposed three ways the Government could improve the current financial situation for many small to medium sized companies during the COVID-19 crisis.