Clearview South December 2013 - Issue 145 | Page 71

BUSINESSNEWS

LETTER TO PM OVER ECO THREAT
Following the Prime Minister’s recent
statement in Parliament last month that,
“We need to roll back some of the green
regulations and charges that are putting up
bills”, the GGF has written to the Prime
Minister’s Office.
The letter highlights that energy efficiency
is the “only sure way” to protect households
against rising bills in the long-term, and
that rolling back ECO (Energy Company
Obligation), which is designed to improve
the energy efficiency of vulnerable and
low income households and ‘hard to treat’
properties, would instead increase energy bills
for these consumers and could have “severe

consequences” for jobs and growth in the
Glass and Glazing Industry.
In the letter, Nigel Rees, GGF Chief
Executive urged Mr. Cameron to consider
using additional incentives such as Stamp
Duty rebates and Council Tax reductions to
encourage uptake of the Green Deal, which
could help reduce the cost of ECO.
Nigel Rees commented, “Green Deal is
struggling to make any impact with poor
uptake since its launch in January this
year. However ECO is proving to be quite
successful with over 200,000 measures already
installed. To remove or reduce ECO would be
a disastrous move for all concerned.”

www.ggf.org.uk

INVESTMENT AND CAMPAIGN TO
HELP SMALL FIRMS GROW
Business Secretary, Vince Cable,
kicked off a wave of activity
last month to boost small
businesses, including unveiling
the first funding allocation from
the British Business Bank’s
investment programme and
launching a campaign to help
small firms grow.
In addition to this, Vince Cable
also set out other measures that
will provide support to small
businesses, such as:

• a new £1 million Sector
Mentoring Challenge Fund
that will enable firms to benefit
from support and advice from
experienced business people in
their own field of work
• the successful Growth
Accelerator scheme, which
provides specialised coaching
to small businesses with highgrowth potential, will have
helped 10,000 firms in the
coming weeks.

Business Secretary Vince
Cable said, “We have set out
a comprehensive package of
measures that will address the
concerns of small firms.
“The first investments from
the British Business Bank’s
investment programme will
provide choice to smaller
businesses looking to secure vital
finance to help invest. Alongside
cutting red tape and increasing
the take up of business rate relief,

government has already made
significant progress in improving
the business outlook for small
firms and entrepreneurs.”
A new business support
website, www.greatbusiness.
gov.uk will also make it easy to
access the services and products,
including Manufacturing
Advice Service, National
Apprenticeship Service and
Growth Accelerator, that help
businesses grow.

A GRAND DAY OUT
Solidor yet again delivered with style to
the consumer, with an impressive showing
at Grand Designs Live at the Birmingham
NEC in October 2013, generating a large
number of leads and considerable interest in
their solid hardwood core composite doors
in the process.
It was the busiest ever Grand Designs Live at
the Birmingham NEC, with over 50,000 visitors
over the 3 days as consumers packed the aisles.
The exhibition, based on the Channel 4 TV series,
was opened by design guru Kevin McCloud. The
event was packed with over 500 exhibitors, across
six different sections including gardens, home
improvement, self-build and renovations.

To read more, visit www.clearview-uk.com

Door Designer App for iPhone and iPad that
allows you to take a picture of your home and
add the various door designs, glass options
and of course the choice of 17 colours and
woodgrains inside and out.
Gareth Mobley, managing director of
Solidor, comments: ‘The stand was absolutely
packed with visitors eager to look at our
pioneering composite doors and the vast array
of design options.’

Solidor gave out over a 4,500 iPhone leaflets,
each replicating the front of an iPhone, to
encourage homeowners to download its latest

Visit www.solidor.co.uk, call 01782 847300,
or follow @solidorltd on Twitter. Download
the free Solidor App at Apple’s App Store by
searching for Solidor.

DEC 2013

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