April/May 2021

News Roundup
PEAK, PADDLE, PEDAL
POSTPONED TO 2022
GM Fundraising has postponed its 2021
Peak, Paddle, Pedal charity event to
raise money for Hope House Children’s
Hospices until 2022.
Gary Morton, the founder of GM Fundraising,
said: “Having already postponed our
scheduled 2020 event back to 2021 due
to the pandemic, we are disappointed to
reschedule again. With pandemic restrictions
still in place, this has prohibited the ability
to undertake the team’s extensive one:one
training programme that is needed for such
an event. In light of this situation and the
short timeframe to raise funds, we feel it was
the sensible and responsible thing to do.”
The 12 members of the Peak, Paddle, Pedal
team will now climb Snowdon, canoe 150
miles down the length of the River Severn
and cycle 150 miles back to Hope House in
Oswestry from 30 July, 2022.
With several large-scale fundraising events
being postponed or cancelled over the last
12 months, support for Hope House has
never been so vital. Gary said: “Like a lot of
charities, the pandemic has hit Hope House
Children’s Hospices hard... We are more
determined than ever to help support them
going forward and look forward to the various
planned events we still have this year.”
One such event is the GM Fundraising
Cup, which has been rescheduled for 14
- 16 September, 2021 at Quinta Do Lago
in Portugal. Gary said: “Looking at the
Government’s roadmap out of lockdown, we
are as confident as we can be of this event
going ahead. The three-day golf event is
hugely popular and more importantly raises
some much-needed funds.”
Smooth colours are the single most popular
PVC-U foiled finish according to the findings
of an independent survey of UK homeowners.
The study, conducted by leading pollster, YouGov,
and commissioned by Deceuninck, found that
smooth colours were more than twice as popular
as natural woodgrain finishes and significantly
more popular than woodgrain colours.
While as a single finish option, 42% of
homeowners selected standard white as their
preferred option for replacement windows,
combined, premium finishes (natural woodgrains,
solid colours, and woodgrain colours) were
overall more popular, cited by a total of 54% of
respondents as their preferred option.
Rob McGlennon, managing director, Deceuninck,
said: “What we’re seeing is fundamental growth
in the popularity of solid colours. This is in part
down to a general growth in appeal but also in
part at least to the installation of foiled PVC-U
products alongside aluminium.
“This is something which is also reflected in our
survey, which shows the popularity of greys with
Find more industry news at: www.total-fabricator.co.uk
POLL: SMOOTH FINISHES MOST POPULAR
homeowners, particularly anthracite grey but also
increasingly agate grey.”
The survey found that homeowner preferences were
also influenced by age, with older homeowners aged
55+ more inclined to choose a natural woodgrain
than younger homeowners, who preferred smooth
colour options.
Rob added: “We need to be thinking about colour
preference but also finish. Woodgrains make up
a sizeable share of what we do, smooth finishes
have gained ground and given their popularity
with a younger demographic, are likely to become
increasingly important overtime.”
Rob McGlennon
DEMAND FOR FOILS ‘MAIN GROWTH DRIVER’
Aluplast says it is on target to double its yearon-year
turnover at Q1 2021, with demand for
colour and finish identified as a main driver
for growth.
Foils account for as much as 50% of total order
volume for the PVC system house, which has
invested significantly in foiling technology and
production capacity at its manufacturing facility.
Aluplast maintains that this investment, combined
with extensive forward planning ahead of the January
deadline for the UK leaving the European Union, has
been central to its ability to maintain a strong and
consistent supply of product.
Aluplast, said: “The appetite for foils and colour
is on an upward trajectory but the pressure
on fabricators and installers to deliver on that
demand is also increasing.
“Our investment in foiling lines and CNC foiling
technology has afforded us a great deal of flexibility,
even on our bespoke finishes. Traditional, manual
foiling processes can take hours, but we’ve reduced
that to just minutes, and that has a had positive
impact on cost and efficiency that we can pass on to
our customers.”
This is despite widespread congestion at UK ports
due to shipping container shortages and worsening
delays on imports owing to Brexit.
Ian Cocken, director of sales and marketing at
8 TF APRIL/MAY 2021 CONNECTING THE WINDOW, DOOR & ROOF FABRICATION SUPPLY CHAIN