38 | JANUARY 2019
Business
Read online at www.proinstaller.co.uk
Rapierstar duo scales new heights to help beat cancer
Managing director of Ra-
pierstar, David Furness, and his
financial and operations director
colleague, Scott Rogers, have
completed a demanding two-
day trek up Mount Toubkal in
Morocco to raise vitally needed
funds for Cancer Research UK.
Driven by the sad loss to
cancer earlier this year of their
good friend and Rapierstar com-
pany accountant Jonathan Cur-
wen, David and Scott trekked
in unseasonably deep snow and
blizzard conditions to a height
of 4,000m close to the peak of
Mount Toubkal, north Africa’s
highest peak. They are 80% of
the way towards their fundrais-
ing target which will provide
support for Cancer Research
UK and are still welcoming
donations via www.justgiving.
com/rapierstar - funds that they
hope will help in the ongoing
fight against cancer and prevent
future suffering.
The duo started their fund-
raising trek from their Imlil
village starting point with a six
hour ascent to ‘the refuge’ at
3,200m. They woke early the
next day at 5:30am to trek to
the summit in the dark, with
only head torches to illuminate
a treacherous route in knee-
deep snow that was ultimate-
ly curtailed due to the harsh
weather.
Westend
Windows sign
up with Spectus
ISO success for booming Newview Homes
Systems
New fabricator, Westend Windows Newview, one of the
(Aberdeen) Ltd has recently signed with
leading systems supplier Spectus Systems
and now manufactures its popular Elite 70
window and door suite. Having previously
bought in their window and door products,
Westend Windows made the decision to
begin fabricating earlier this year and felt
Spectus was the right systems partner to
take their business forward.
Managing Director of Westend Windows,
Colin Stewart said: “We chose Spectus as
our systems provider as we felt they have
the best products, people, marketing and
service on the market. Their Elite 70 system
can be used across a full range of window,
door and conservatory applications– includ-
ing casement and tilt & turn windows, resi-
dential, French and bi-folding doors. With a
choice of bevelled and ovolo beads, plus a
large range of ancillary products we have a
compelling product range to offer both our
trade and retail customers.”
Fellow Westend Windows’ Director, Derek
Mackenzie says: “The market in Aberdeen
is quite buoyant at the moment so we feel
confident we can take our business to the
next level.” South’s fastest-growing installa-
tion businesses, is celebrating
after working towards and
being awarded two prestigious
UKAS accreditations.
Rigorously tested by the
British Assessment Bureau
(a UKAS-registered assess-
ment company), Newview’s
products were found to meet
the stringent requirements of
www.spectus.co.uk
ISO9001:2015 for Quality Man-
agement and ISO14001:2015 for
Environmental Management.
We met the requirements of
both standards without a single
non-conformity,” comments
Managing Director Michele Wiet-
scher. “This is the result of twelve
months of hard work, scrutinising
every element of our operation.”
Based in Worthing, West
Sussex, Newview is a family
firm that, over the last decade,
has quickly risen to become of
the largest glazing and home
improvement providers in the
South-East of England, special-
ising in high-volume quality
refurbs and new-build, as well
www.justgiving.com/rapierstar
www.rapierstar.com
as, more recently, fire door in-
stallations and inspection.
The firm is an increasingly
in-demand provider of com-
mercial glazing solutions, with
its highest-profile work to date
being its contribution to the on-
going Noise Insulation Scheme
targeting homes around Heath-
row Airport, as well as London
City Airport and Network Rail.
www.newview-homes.co.uk
Three in a row for Epwin Window Systems
Epwin Window Systems has won the
Sustainability Initiative of the Year at
the G18 Awards. The company won the
prestigious award for being one of the
first companies to achieve the VinylPlus®
Product Label certification and their ongo-
ing commitment to sustainability across the
business.
The VinylPlus® Product Label is a label-
ling scheme that makes it easy for custom-
ers and markets to identify the most sustain-
able and high-performance PVC products.
The label has been developed to ensure a
company’s overall policy and performance,
as well as the component materials used
for its products, are aligned with sustaina-
bility criteria. Epwin Window Systems has
achieved VinylPlus Product Label certifi-
cation on its three leading profile brands
– Profile 22’s Optima, Swish Window and
Doors Systems’ 24/7 and Spectus’ Elite. The
systems house was one of the first business-
es to apply for the VinylPlus label and one
of the first to achieve certification.
The award was announced at the indus-
try’s prestigious ceremony held at the Lon-
don Hilton Hotel on Park Lane in London.
www.epwin.co.uk
Government bans combustible materials on high-rise homes
The government is
banning combustible materi-
als on new high-rise homes
and giving support to local
authorities to carry out
emergency work to remove
and replace unsafe alumin-
ium composite material
(ACM) cladding.
Regulations were been
laid in Parliament late last
year which will give legal
effect to the combustible
materials ban announced
in the summer. The ban
means combustible materi-
als will not be permitted on
the external walls of new
buildings over 18 metres
containing flats, as well as
new hospitals, residential
care premises, dormitories
in boarding schools and stu-
dent accommodation over
18 metres.
Schools over 18 metres
which are built as part of
the government’s centrally
delivered build programmes
will also not use combus-
tible materials, in line with
the terms of the ban, in the
external wall.
The Communities Secre-
tary is also acting to speed
up the replacement of
unsafe ACM cladding, like
the type used on Grenfell
Tower.
Local authorities will
get the government’s full
backing, including finan-
cial support if necessary, to
enable them to carry out
emergency work on affected
private residential buildings
with unsafe ACM cladding.
They will recover the costs
from building owners. This
will allow buildings to be
made permanently safe
without delay.
The government is
already fully funding the
replacement of unsafe ACM
cladding on social sector
buildings above 18 metres.