16
DECEMBER 2013 PRO INSTALLER
PRO NEWS
www.proinstaller.co.uk
Finance Matters
A PERFECT FIT
Consumer Credit Solutions (CCS) has
been shortlisted for a prestigious
Construction Marketing Award (www.
cmawards.co.uk) in the ‘Best Professional Services Campaign’ category,
with its agency MRA Marketing.
Essex-based fabricator, Climatec
Windows, has snapped up a stand
at next year’s Fit Show in Telford
and where better to showcase
its brand new products using the
newly launched Calibre system.
This is a ‘first’ for
Climatec who has
never exhibited before,
however after visiting
the exhibition this year,
it was agreed that this
event would be the perfect platform to showcase the Calibre system
as well as Climatec’s
wide range of top quality, industry accredited
windows and doors.
Never one to shy away
from innovation and new
developments in the market
place, Climatec are excited
to take on the challenge of
creating an exhibition stand
that will showcase the best
of fabrication, with the best
of the industry’s high quality products. Climatec’s Marketing & Sales Co-ordinator,
Jayne Lovett, says, “Launching new products to your
own customers is a task in
itself, but to convince an
established industry of new
products fabricated from a
newly launched profile system is an even bigger task.
We visited the Fit Show this
year and the resulting success convinced us that this
would be the ideal event to
launch our Calibre windows
and doors.”
‘High quality’
Visit www.climatecwindows.co.uk, call 01702
613733.
The CCS/MRA campaign challenges the
negative perceptions of point-of-sale finance
still held by some who associate it with hard
selling and high rates. CCS is the leading
intermediary provider of credit to the home
improvement industry and has pioneered
“soft sell” finance (i.e. low or zero interest
rates, with flexibility and customer control).
The company already partners most of the
top 100 home improvement firms but the
death of the remortgage market and the
reluctance of banks to lend have contributed
to a growing demand for finance from homeowners who prefer to use local or regional
installers. CCS’s ability to offer credit terms
consumers could never get from high street
lenders – with Interest Free, Buy Now Pay
Later, and ‘Bank Buster’ rates - has also had a
direct impact on its growth.
Helping To Meet The Challenge
A specialist carpenter who has developed an innovative
way to attach thermally superior, weather-tight windows
in green oak buildings is working with GLASSOLUTIONS
to overcome a common glazing problem caused by
the natural shrinkage of newly felled timber.
Black Pig Frame Finishing,
a nationwide manufacturer and installer of glazing
for green timber buildings,
has developed an improved
method of face applied
glazing, which eliminates
problems including water
ingress, heat loss caused
by draughts and unsightly
cracking around windows.
Green oak has a high moisture
content and takes up to five years
to dry out. During this time, the
cut timbers will shrink so any
structure created using green
oak will naturally experience
movement. That means elements
such as windows and doors must
accommodate this movement.
Black Pig’s face applied glazing
solution involves cladding the
entire structural glazing frame
to offer protection and provide
a continuous waterproof seal.
Sealed units then ‘float’ to allow
for movement of the frame and all
weather seals are EPDM rubber to
provide longevity. Manufacturer
Andy Wallace, Managing Partner at CCS,
is delighted. “We’re pleased to see that our
message -‘If homeowners can’t buy, then you
can’t sell’ – is recognised as an important
and relevant one for the home improvement
industry.”
www.creditsolutionsgroup.co.uk
Membership
Ensured Receipt Of
Outstanding Balance
DGCOS member, Gavin Mills
Conservatories Windows &
Doors Limited, was elated
after the Ombudsman ordered
a complainant to pay an outstanding balance of £7,700.
A homeowner contracted Gavin
Mills to install 16 replacement
windows at the cost of £11,000 and
paid an initial deposit of £3,000.
However, when the project was
complete the customer withheld the
final balance and alleged that some
of the windows were incorrectly
installed. Gavin Mills responded to
the complaint and returned to the
property on several occasions to
remedy the work according to the
customer’s request, but the homeowner remained unsatisfied. Gavin
Mills, Company Director, said: “In my
‘provide a continuous
waterproof seal’
of the sealed units, GLASSOLUTIONS, ensures Black Pig can
balance thermal performance with
solar control and help green oak
building architects manage the
drying process over time.
For Black Pig Frame Finishing:
www.blackpig.me
For more information:
www.glassolutions.co.uk
For Saint-Gobain:
www.saint-gobain.co.uk
For Black Pig Frame Finishing is
available at www.blackpig.me
opinion we were doing everything
right to try and satisfy the customer
but communications simply broke
down and we were still owed a lot of
money. When I realised we were at
an impasse I knew I had to turn to
DGCOS for help.”
DGCOS, the Double Glazing and
Conservatory Ombudsman Scheme,
commissioned an independent inspection, and a professional mediator was assigned to help resolve the
dispute. This process involves no
cost to either party.
Gavin Mills added: “Without DGCOS’s help and assistance I would
more than likely still be owed the
money now.”
Call 0845 053 8975 or visit
www.dgcos.org.uk