COMMENT
Reputation, reputation, reputation
Jon Vanstone, chair of Certass Trade Association, says that the industry
should take a stand against bad practice – from both small organisations
and large – and talks more about why the Trade Association is now open to
fabricators, component manufacturers and suppliers.
As the industry has emerged from
lockdown, there have been plenty of
headlines that do not paint the best
picture of our glazing market.
I write this just a few days after the
announcement that Customade Group has been
bought out of administration by a private equity
fund to form a new group. The social media
backlash is still going strong. And rightly so, if the
rumours around their behaviour towards their
customers and suppliers are all true.
Veka’s response that their future efforts will
focus on supporting their ‘TRUSTED fabricator
customers’ will, I’m sure, be a welcome response
for those fabricators who are doing it right and
grafting to recover from the effects of COVID-…†
– which is what the vast majority of our industry
is doing.
Unfortunately, it’s bad news stories, such
as this Customade Group one, that lead the
agenda and put a stain on the reputation of our
industry. In these situations, the industry needs
to be taking a stand, in-line with the strength and
courage that Veka has shown, to call out bad
practice.
Headlines concerning jobs saved is taking
away from the trail of destruction in the supply
chain and the impact on the jobs of so many
not directly employed by Customade. I do hope
government starts to look at the methods used
by some large businesses to look after only
themselves at the expense of so many others.
‘Cowboys’ have no place in our industry, and
we need to throw our weight behind supporting
the professional businesses that do the right
thing. As an industry, we are often quick to judge
bad installation businesses, whilst bad business
practice further up the supply chain often goes
under the radar. I think what recent events have
really shown is that it’s becoming a lot harder for
the bigger ‘cowboys’ to find somewhere to hide.
Pressures on the glazing industry are set to
increase over the next …Œ months, and those who
improve standards now will be well prepared for
the changes that are coming.
The Construction leadership Council (CLC)
has a two-year recovery plan, and has a Sectoral
Working Group for Repair, Maintenance and
Improvement (RMI). Unfortunately, glazing’s
history of shunning collaboration with other
construction sectors has given us a bit of a
reputation, meaning that our participation
in these groups that make the decisions has,
historically, been limited. With the government
liaison that Certass has done through the
COVID-…† pandemic, we have managed to open
up the communication between government and
glazing. This not only gives us the chance to put
our industry views forward but will also help us
to be better prepared for the modernisation of
technical competency requirements for installers,
which is planned for the next …Œ months.
When we started Certass TA two two years
ago, our goal was always to create an inclusive
organisation that gave real value to members,
and championed the great workmanship done by
our installers, as well as making their voice heard
at both industry and government level.
What the COVID pandemic has proven is that
we can also offer value to companies further up
the supply chain, as fabricators confided that
they weren’t receiving the support and advice
that they needed and didn’t know where to
go to ask questions of Government. It’s these
events that have brought forward the launch
of our trade association membership for the
supply chain. With communication lines with
government more open, we have a much better
chance of influencing the decisions around
regulatory change which are on the horizon.
Whilst I can bring back relevant points from
discussions with government groups to the
industry, I can also take feedback from the
industry back to the groups, which will be of real
value to them. My new monthly webinar will be
the vehicle for these discussions and is open to
all Certass Trade Association members.
Our hope is that this will form a new basis
of collaboration in our industry between those
companies who run their businesses with
integrity and manufacture great products, or
install those great products with expert care.
This will give us a united voice and a
stronger influence when it comes to those
communications with government and start to
show the rest of the UK what’s great about our
industry.
July www.ggpmag.com
“In these situations, the industry needs to
be taking a stand, in-line with the strength
and courage that Veka has shown, to call
out bad practice”
/www.ggpmag.com
