The Triple Glazing Question, which took place at the Ricoh Arena last week, has been hailed as an ‘outstanding success’.
It was a ‘great day for the industry’ was just one of many positive comments sent to hosts Edgetech UK after the forum, which, with more than 600 registered attendees, is said to have ‘outperformed all expectations both in numbers and the content delivered on the day’.
Sceptics of the event were surprised by the openness of the debate, which explored the challenges and opportunities for the industry and generated a ‘frenzy of activity’ on Twitter. There were reportedly 231 tweets to @tripleglazingq, 88 posts by @tripleglazingq and 116 retweets creating a huge reach with 177,300 impressions.
Addressing a packed house, speakers shared information and experiences and there was no shortage of controversy. Technical versus sales has been a running battle since the start of the debate and Mark Barsby, technical manager at VEKA, talked about ‘clever doubles’ being a viable alternative to triples, while Chris Carter, of Everest Home Improvements, spoke about how triple glazing gives homeowners an easy way to understand improved performance.
Ecoglass’ Gaby Mendham challenged the industry to order triple glazing for a reason rather than just a buzzword, revealing that it takes 90% more glazing material to manufacture a triple glazed unit than a double.
Giving away triple glazing as a free upgrade was a theme that ran throughout the day, emphasising that this shouldn’t be the default for companies. Triple glazing could be a tool to impact positively on the industry’s margins but for this benefit to be realised the additional costs must be passed on to the consumer.
Fred Doodey who now owns Ecologic Windows, a newly formed installation company, said after attending the live event: “I’m even more convinced that my main route to market is by pushing triple glazing.”
In a survey of installers, which he conducted six months ago, three quarters of those asked said they never mentioned triple glazing, as they weren’t asked for it by the consumer. He believes they are missing a sales opportunity as it’s a good chance to differentiate. Fred comes from a systems company and trade fabricator background. Now that he is sat on the installer side of the fence, he intends to standardise on triple glazing.
Directly after the event, Andy Jones, managing director at Edgetech UK, said: “Today was a great success for the whole industry. And, as facilitators for the day, we knew it was vital to create a balanced programme to explore the challenges and opportunities as every part of the supply chain faces different issues. The Triple Glazing Question more than delivered this.”
It was also announced on the day that the Triple Glazing Question will continue at the FIT Show in June.
