27
NEW YEAR MESSAGES
Andy Jones,
group MD,
Victorian Sliders
Chris Alderson,
MD,
Edgetech
Last year, I was lucky
enough to join one of
the most ambitious
businesses in UK
glass and glazing – and 2020 is
shaping up to be Victorian Sliders’
“Over the last 12 months, our
decision to invest in the creation
of a UK product testing lab has
www.ggpmag.com January 2020
biggest year yet.
The Victorian Sliders team have built
Europe’s largest sash window manufacturer in the space of little
more than a decade – but we’ve got no interest in sitting on our
laurels.
By investing more than £10m over the last five years, we’ve laid
the groundwork for the next phase in Victorian Sliders’ ongoing
growth. This year – the company’s 15th anniversary – will see us
continue to grow our market share of the vertical sliding window
market. We currently deal with more than 3,000 installers,
manufacture over 2,000 frames per week and were voted the NFA
Vertical Sliding Manufacturer of the year.
Sash windows will always be at the heart of everything we do
at Victorian Sliders. In fact, we’ve come up with an ingenious new
design, which will see us launch the next generation of EcoSlide
windows by mid 2020.
Victorian Sliders will continue to invest in 2020 with more
than £1.8m worth of projects planned throughout the year. This
investment will keep us at the forefront of technology in our
recycling plant, our mixing plant and we may even have a surprise
or two in our product portfolio as we look to offer our valued
customers great value for money, high quality products coupled
with excellent service that we can deliver from our six depots
strategically placed around the UK.
I’m aware that sounds like a lot to try and achieve in the space
of just 12 months – and we know we’ve got a busy year ahead of
us. All I will say is watch this space!!
2019 was a hugely
momentous year in
Edgetech’s history.
Super Spacer, the flagship
product that made our name and helped
change glass and glazing forever, turned 30.
Super Spacer wasn’t the first attempt at
an alternative to metal spacers – manufacturers had been
experimenting with different materials for years.
But ours was the most successful – and the one that, over the
intervening three decades, helped take ‘warm-edge’ from a littleheard
of niche to something incorporated in the large majority of
modern windows.
It’s astounding when you think about it – tens of millions of
buildings all around the world include Super Spacer and around
a third of all units produced in the UK each year have Edgetech
spacers in them.
And last year, we marked that achievement. But if 2019 was about
celebration, 2020 is about looking forward.
When I first came to Edgetech back in 2016, I set out three key
priorities for the years ahead – and among these was innovation.
Over the last 12 months, our decision to invest in the creation of
a UK product testing lab has started to bear fruit.
started to bear fruit”
Behind the scenes, our Coventry R&D team, led by highly
experienced head of technical development, Gary Shoesmith, have
been working on new designs we’re confident represent another leap
forward in spacer technology.
Later this year, we’re planning to reveal some of these exciting
innovations, which we expect to have a huge impact in the industry.
In 1989, Super Spacer shook up the fenestration industry. In 2020,
we’re confident that the products we’ve developed will do the same
again!
“Victorian Sliders will continue
to invest in 2020 with more than
£1.8m worth of projects planned
throughout the year”
/www.ggpmag.com
