NEWS
INDUSTRY GETS BEHIND FIT SHOW IN BRIEF
September www.ggpmag.com
• Specialist PVC-U sash
window manufacturer,
Victorian Sliders, has invested
over half a million pounds in
expanding its delivery fl eet.
The fi rm has acquired
new Mercedes Sprinter vans
and two 38-tonne Mercedes
lorries to transport its
ECOSlide windows from its
Ammanford HQ to depots all
around the UK.
The investment follows a
long line of purchases made
by the South Wales fi rm, as
group managing director,
Andy Jones, said: “Constant
investment is how Victorian
Sliders has grown to become
one of the biggest and most
successful fenestration
businesses in the UK.
“We’ve spent in excess of
£m on state-of-the-art
machinery in just the past fi ve
years, which has resulted in
one of the most advanced and
impressive manufacturing
facilities UK fenestration has
to offer.
“Like every company in the
sector, we were seriously
disrupted by coronavirus and
the several months spent in
lockdown, but we’ve returned
to extremely high demand.
“Now, our newly expanded
fl eet of delivery vehicles will
allow us to bring outstanding
sash windows to thousands of
installers around the country.”
FIT Show organisers have reported a
record-breaking summer season with
strong sales in July and August.
The FIT Show is set to return to the
NEC next May ( -, ‚ƒ).
July saw Profi ne join the ‚ƒ lineup
after it’s ‘lockdown’ assets acquisition
of Aperture. Joining Profi ne in the July
signings are Granada Glazing, BCB
UK and Prosale Doors. SmartReady
also increased its stand space to bring
its SAC brand alongside it at the show
next May. Debut brands who signed
up to exhibit in July included Ab Initio
Software, ProSale Doors, Metsa Wood
and CNC-machinery experts, Italmac.
The July sales put the ‚ƒ event at over
6‚% sold.
Rhonda Ridge, MD of Ab Initio
and the developer of AdminBase, says
that next year’s FIT Show will provide
the perfect environment in which to
demonstrate the new features that
have been introduced to the UK’s most
popular installer management system.
The new web-based version just
unveiled, together with a series of sales,
survey, fi tting and remedial mobile apps,
will be continuously demonstrated
throughout the three days of FIT on the
company’s stand: “We have booked
a stand at FIT Show as we believe it
will provide the perfect environment
in which to demonstrate AdminBase,
especially as the event attracts so
many installers, our primary audience,”
said Rhonda. “We are very adept at
demonstrating our system remotely but
the opportunity to do this and engage
with live visitors is very exciting as it
adds a new dimension,” she added.
Rhonda also believes that the
timing of FIT Show in May ‚ƒ will be
perfect: “Like everyone else, we hope
and believe that by May life will be
returning to some sort of normality and
as such, I believe it will be something
of a celebration. And, whilst we have
been demonstrating and installing
AdminBase remotely as a matter of
course for many years, we are all excited
at the prospect of actually meeting so
many people face-to-face.”
Exhibitors who joined the FIT
Show ‚ƒ lineup in August included
Uniglass, Winbag, ODL, Aston Lynch
Windows & Doors, Zero Seal Systems
and Logical Timber.
FIT Show event director, Nickie
West, said: “Once again, we have been
blown away by the levels of support
shown by the industry across the
summer months.
“We believe that this has been
bolstered by the reported ‘V Shape
Recovery’ and hope that this positive
run will continue well into the autumn
as we see the full impact of the Greener
Homes Initiative, Future Homes ‚
and the Government’s ‚ ‚ Zero
Carbon Emissions pledge.”
Andy Jones
/www.ggpmag.com
