58
MAY 2016 PRO INSTALLER
PRO BUSINESS
Small
businesses
under
pressure
- FSB
The Federation of
Small Businesses
(FSB) has called on
the government to
strengthen small
business confidence
by clearly and
consistently
backing enterprise.
www.proinstaller.co.uk
‘SIENA’ SHOWS DEMAND FOR
SOMETHING DIFFERENT
Installers and fabricators
can fall into a rut and offer
the same old styles and
colours as everyone else.
However, the rewards are
there for anyone taking the
trouble to offer something
different as Glazerite installer Prestige Glazing Services
can testify.
“A customer came in looking for
something different to replace his
cream coloured windows,” said Peter Fossey, domestic sales manager
at Bedford-based Prestige. “We
showed him the VEKA Variations
colour range and he fell for the
‘Siena’ foil immediately.”
Siena is not a common colour in
the UK, despite being very much
in demand around Europe and beyond. But that was no problem for
Prestige as the dark, smoky grain
not only features in the VEKA Variations portfolio but has been available from Glazerite Windows Ltd
since the range was launched.
Glazerite supported Prestige
in closing the sale, as Peter
explained: “We had never done
‘all our installers
can make the ve ry
most of the growing
demand for foils
and colours’
The FSB’s last quarterly
survey shows small business confidence is cooling
in the face of deteriorating
global economic headwinds
and domestic policy decisions which are coming into
force.
FSB members say they are being tested by a series of significant challenges which will drive
up costs and increase burdens
over the coming months. These
include the introduction of the
National Living Wage, pension
auto-enrolment and changes to
the tax treatment of dividends.
On top of these, small firms still
face an unreformed business
rates system and the prospect of
compulsory quarterly digital tax
reporting.
Mike Cherry, Policy Director
for the FSB, said:“In the face of
a number of emerging global
and domestic pressures, small
businesses are looking to the
Chancellor to back them through
what are set to be challenging
times ahead. Many are struggling
to get to grips with the cumulative impact of a series of new tax
and regulatory changes that are
due to hit their business.”
www.fsb.org.uk
anything in this colour before so
had nothing to show him but the
swatch card but Glazerite came
across with some bigger sample
material to show the customer.”
Glazerite Director Jason Thompson added: “Prestige is a multiple
Network VEKA award winner for
customer service so we wanted to
do our best to help it to live up to
that reputation.
“We have not only offered the
entire Variations range from day
one, we also offer it on every one
of our PVCu products including
vertical sliders, patio, French and
bi-fold doors, to ensure all our
installers can make the very most
of the growing demand for foils
and colours.”
www.glazeritewindows.co.uk
NEW FACE AT LINIAR
Liniar has announced the appointment of
Clarke Robinson as Head of Logistics as
the systems company continues to grow.
Clarke joins after almost 16
years’ of experience with the
Widdowson Group where he
performed a similar role for
the Leicester-based logistics
company, operating out of a
550,000 square foot warehouse.
He said: “There’s a strong customer focus at Liniar and that
attracted me in particular. I haven’t
been brought in to fix anything
here because there’s nothing
broken. I’ll be working closely
with the existing warehouse and
transport managers to implement
a program of continuous improvement as the company expands.
“I’ll also be managing the
move to our new 150,000 square
foot warehouse once the building work has been completed,
with a target of uninterrupted
customer service whilst the
stock moves take place.”
Roger Hartshorn, CEO of
Liniar’s trading company HL
Plastics, welcomed Clarke –
who is a passionate Leicester
City FC supporter - to the team.
“With the new warehouse build
well underway, we recognised
the need to bring in someone
to take control of the logistics
in order to maintain our high
standards.
“Clarke impressed us with his
experience, knowledge and ideas
for the future and he shares our
philosophy when it comes to providing customer satisfaction. He’s
also as fastidious as me when
it comes to a neat, clean and
well-presented operation, something customers always comment
on when they visit Liniar. We’re
confident he is the right man for
the job.”
www.liniar.co.uk