Renegade Conservatory Guy

In the second of a series of interviews with key people from the double glazing industry, today we hear from one of the biggest names – Andy Jones.

Andy is the MD of Edgetech and has been at the forefront of the move towards Energy Rated windows in the market, with the phenominal growth of Super Spacer in the marketplace.

Edgetech have clearly had a strong marketing and PR campaign over the last few years, and strong growth.  What percentage of the spacer bar market do you feel Edgetech will achieve?

I truly believe that we can achieve 25% of the entire UK market place by 2010. At present the Warm Edge market has approximately 10% of the market of which Edgetech has the lion’s share. With planned changes in legislation and commercial pressures mounting on companies to achieve higher energy ratings I believe that 80% of the entire market will be using a Warm Edge spacer system of some description by 2012.

Do you really feel that by using Super Spacer, the double glazing industry could single-handedly save humankind?  No, but seriously, how much benefit does warm edge really have?

I have never claimed that Super Spacer can single handily save human kind but I do believe passionately that we all have a part to play in minimising the effects of global warming going forward. The reality of the situation is that a good warm edge spacer such as Super Spacer can affect the energy efficiency of a window by up to 11 points on the BFRC Energy rating scheme which is considerably more than any other component part of the window. Other metalised warm edge technologies have less of an effect but generally even the warm edges containing metal can increase the energy efficiency rating by a minimum of 3 points. Generally most of us only replace our windows once in our occupation of a dwelling so if we miss the opportunity to install energy efficient windows now the chance is potentially missed for the next 30 years. 

Is it true that for warm edge technology to really work then a separate weather seal needs to be fitted between the sealed unit and the frame to stop the free air transfer?

It’s true to say that for any window to be truly energy efficient it has to be air tight, which is not unique to warm edge technology. The BFRC scheme takes into account many things including the air tightness of the window.

Why did Andy Ball leave Edgetech, and how are you going to fill the gap?

Andy left Edgetech to join Synseal as Sales Director. Andy did a fantastic job for Edgetech over the past 18 months putting together two successful Glassex campaigns, the 360 Customer service initiative and the Dealer Network scheme., But I am sure that Andy will agree that he was part of a fantastic team that helped bring all of these things together and enhance Edgetech’s position of market leader for warm edge solutions. Unfortunately for Edgetech when any individual is given a platform to perform from and that individual does well, that individual then attracts the attention of outside companies wanting to emulate the success story. Andy has earned the right to the opportunity of arguably one of the largest sales jobs in the industry and I certainly believe that he will do a great job for Synseal. As for how will Edgetech fill the gap, the rest of the team is still in place. We have also recently added both Alan Fielder (National Sales Manager) ad Mel Jones (Southern Business Development Advisor) to that team who both bring a wealth of industry experience which puts Edgetech in an excellent position to achieve our considerable goals in the future.     

Other than Edgetech, which companies do you see growing strongly and profitably in the industry as a whole?

I think that forward thinking companies who view the challenges within our market as an opportunity to differentiate themselves from the competition will continue to do well. Many companies talk about battening down the hatches when times get difficult which may be one way of taking out some cost within the business. But if the market was bad yesterday and you’re not prepared to change today, why do you believe that it will be any better tomorrow? Opportunities such as energy ratings only tend to come around once in a life time and I think that companies who are early adopters of initiatives like this will be the ones that continue to thrive. I think it’s interesting that major companies such as Everest are now putting their considerable marketing power behind national TV advertising campaigns talking about A rated windows. I believe it is just a matter of time before one of the major refurbishment companies start to offer A rated windows as their standard offering, at which time the industry will be forced to react to compete. 

You have been at the forefront of the campaign to get 5% VAT on ER windows.  What do you feel are the underlying reasons why the government is reluctant to change its stance?

It’s quite simple, money! If the Government were to mandate that all windows that achieved C rated or above are eligible for 5% VAT rating and the market migrated to 100% C rated windows, it would cost the Government approximately £597 million in lost revenue. That’s why Edgetech have now taken their campaign to the next level which is the Europe commission. I still strongly urge everyone reading this to write to their MP by using our standard template letter which can be found on the Edgetech web site. Together as an industry we can make a difference!!

I notice you have booked Glassex again for next year.  Do you feel that Glassex should go biannual, as suggested by David White?

I personally think that if Glassex goes biannual that it would be to the detriment of the industry. Glassex is still the only UK based show to showcase the industry’s innovations. The last Glassex was my 22nd consecutive outing and I still strongly believe that there is an absolute requirement for a UK based show; after all if you are a visitor and come away from the show with one good idea of how to enhance your business then I think that is a day well spent.

Which football team do you support, and are they as good as Huddersfield Town?

I support the Baggies (West Bromwich Albion) who were recently promoted to the Premier Division which I think answers your question of “are they better than Huddersfield Town” :0)

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For more information about Edgetech please visit http://www.superspacer.co.uk/.

This entry was posted on Monday, May 12th, 2008 at 5:40 pm and is filed under Climate Change, Double Glazing, Glass & Glazing, uPVC Windows. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.