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PRO INSTALLER JULY 2014
PRO BUSINESS
@proinstaller1
Build Show Responds To
The Queen’s Speech
In response to HM the
Queen’s speech at the
recent State Opening
of Parliament, the
Build Show welcomed
the announcements of
reform and new legislation that will help the
housebuilding sector to
grow, including measures that will benefit
the industry including:
A reform to the planning
system supporting small
housebuilding firms, new
legislation to sell high-value
government land for development, a continued promotion of the Help to Buy
and Right to Buy schemes
and a pledge to increase the
number of apprenticeship
places to two million by the
end of parliament.
A crucial announcement
to highlight is the change
in Zero Carbon Homes,
whereby the government
is introducing ‘Allowable
Solutions’ that will support
small housebuilding firms
that struggle to meet the
ever-increasing environmental standards. The changes
are designed to encourage
the acceleration of housebuilding across the country
by recognising the difficulty
in building to the new level
five standards for firms that
lack large capital backing.
Paul Godwin, Build Show
MD, commented: “The
Queen made some significant announcements that
offer the sector real encouragement, in particular
that small housebuilding
firms will be supported
and given a fair chance to
grow through the easing of
planning regulations and
the release of more land for
development.
“The pledge to increase
the number of apprenticeships is a welcome commitment that will help address
skills shortages and enable
the industry to flourish in
future.”
Brought to market by the
organisers of the FIT Show
(Fabricator Installer Trade
Show), the Build Show will
take place at the NEC from
Tuesday 28th to Thursday
30th April 2015.
www.buildshow.co.uk
Fuel cards:
the truth but not the
whole truth?
The Fuelcard People want to remind
van users of the importance of verifying fuel card suppliers’ claims. Steve Clarke, group marketing manager,
said: “Always remember the difference between truth and honesty. If a
supplier tells you that it offers fixed
weekly pricing, that might be true,
but if it forgets to add that it also
levies transaction charges, it is not
being honest.”
Failure to understand a supplier’s charging
structure could be an expensive mistake.
“You can usually expect any supplier to
tell you the truth,” said Steve Clarke, “but it
might not be telling you the whole truth, or
nothing but the truth. Always check their
claims and the small print.”
The 2013 introduction of unexpected
additional charges by some suppliers led to
thousands of van users discovering ‘network
fees’ and other transaction charges were
buried within invoices, without explanation.
Many switched suppliers.
“A £2 charge may sound small,” said Steve,
“but when you add £2 to each refuelling it
soon adds up. We never impose network
fees, transaction charges or anything similar,
under any name.”
Call 0844 870 6942.
TRAFFIC HOLDUPS? SURVEY
REVEALS 2,387
MILES OF
INCOMPLETE
ROADWORKS
Britain has 25,955
miles of to be completed roadworks - equating to 2,387 miles in
length. Figures were
revealed by the breakdown service LV=Road
Rescue who conducted
the research. The company surveyed all 434
city, district, borough
and county councils in
the UK and estimated
how many potholes
and road work needed
to be tackled. Information was provided by
91 councils about the
number of roadworks
in their area, with the
unfinished projects in
these areas totalling
10,499 an average of
115 per council.
Some roadwork projects
sti