PROINSTALLER . CO . UK THE VOICE OF THE TRADE

08 Design directions

Hardware expert ’ s guide to SBD products for doors and windows .

23 Pings to know

Trades coming out of lockdown could now face a new problem .

36 The wheel deal

Driving dos and don ’ ts for insurance , fuel saving and EU laws .

ISSUE 101 AUGUST 2021

44 Same old story

How to attract young , skilled workers to an aging industry .

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“ When I grow up , I ’ d like to design door and window systems ” – was the statement no child ever said to their careers advisor . Engineering is a broad term and sticking your neck out you could say it ’ s a career that young people usually get involved in from an early fascination with bikes , cars , planes , trains and the plethora of parts and systems that make them work . Whether right or wrong about the primary drivers ; one thing is certain Brunel didn ’ t lie awake at night dreaming of windows and doors .

Despite this , it is a very real fact that everything around us in the world has been designed and engineered somewhere along the line . All the products you see in the pages of this magazine are only in existence because someone out there thought of them ,

then had the opportunity to commit those thoughts to paper and finally someone else financed them to manufacture .

The lack of glamour in fenestration products means it is hard to attract real engineering talent into the industry which Made for Trade has learned and certainly know a thing or two about . As a business run by qualified Mechanical Engineers , here MFT ’ s Chris Wann discusses the topic more :

“ My background is all Oil and Gas machinery design , which I did for about eight years . Over that time my employer realised I could also communicate with other human beings ( a trait many engineers lack ) and so I was moved into concept sales and business development which gave me a real taste for business . Most of these ‘ sexy ’ industries , like automotive , O & G and aerospace only offer an opportunity to look at a really small part of the

overall system , or they force you to design things that have been seen and importantly proven before . They don ’ t like risk . Here at MFT we like to throw the rule book out of the window and start projects , where possible , from first principles pushing the industry forward .”

The Korniche line of products is exactly what MFT claim to be the new first principle designs that are pushing the envelope and have certainly turned things on their heads with the Lantern roof . It was the first product on the market that wasn ’ t just a converted conservatory roof and it is only now , some four years later , that companies are

starting to bring out similar sorts of things .

The Korniche lantern was the first in-house designed product from the trade fabricator and it made installation a doddle for even the most inexperienced fitter , delivered to site precision-cut with no requirements to do anything other than assemble the simple kit with the provided hex tool . Also , the innovation of the glazing retainer design meant it can be glazed in under a minute which MFT demonstrated to astounded audiences at trade days and trade shows across the UK and Europe .

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