George Clark to open Master Fitter Challenge

We are delighted to announce that the Master Fitter Challenge in the FIT Show atrium will be officially opened by George Clarke -  IG Door’s ‘Truedor Product Ambassador’.  George who has been working with IG Doors for the past two years to promote the benefits of the Truedor Partner Programme, will open the competition to coincide with the opening of the show at 10.00am on Tuesday 12^th April, and will be on their stand 268 throughout the remainder of the first day of the FIT Show. 

 

GQA is managing the Master Fitter Challenge for the third successive FIT Show and once again the live finals promise to be an outstanding event and will see the six finalists put through their paces on the installation of windows, doors, and solid tile roofs.

 

Come along to watch and to find out how you can enter next years’ event.

Newest Addition to the GQA Family

GQA would like to congratulate Jodie Bradley (Awards & Systems Officer) and her Partner Tom on the safe arrival of their daughter Willow Rose born at 5.35am on 18^th February 2016 weighing 6lb 13oz.  All our very best wishes for the future.

GQA to join ‘Best of British’ at Fensterbau 2016

GQA is the latest company to join the UK Pavilion to push the ‘Best of British’ at Fensterbau in March.  On signing up to be a part of the show Chief Executive Mick Clayton explained his reasoning.

“For us, as the UK window industry’s leading qualifications writing body, promoting ourselves at Fensterbau brings a number of benefits”.

“We are of course heavily entrenched in the UK market having been working with and for the industry for the last 25 years, but attending Fensterbau as a part of the UK Pavilion will help us to create even more awareness amongst the 100s of UK companies attending of who we are and what we can offer them to support their individual businesses”.

“We are already active in emerging countries such as China and India with our fenestration and construction qualifications, and have received enquiries from the Middle East, so spending time at the window industry’s largest international exhibition is an ideal way for us to push ourselves further into the consciousness of the wider industry, including in Europe”.

“It goes without saying that we are really excited by the opportunity of being able to stand next to the GGF and other UK suppliers to promote the ‘Best of British’ and we are expecting a really positive response to our presence”.

For more information on GQA please visit www.gqaqualifications.com or follow GQA on Twitter @GQAquals

Visit GQA at Fensterbau on the British Pavilion Hall 4A stand 405

Construction Award for GQA Approved Centre

“It’s always a pleasure to see young people rewarded for their hard work”

GQA Approved Centre, South Lanarkshire College continue to pave the way forward for new comers into the glazing industry in Scotland and have recently recognised the efforts of one of their students, Con O’Neill by naming him Glazing Apprentice of the Year 2015. South Lanarkshire College have been working with GQA qualifications since early 2010 and they are currently the only College in Scotland to deliver the GQA SVQ level 2 in Glazing programme, doing so in their state of the art specialised workshop in East Kilbride.

Con, of Wm Drennan Glass and Glazing in Paisley, started on a Pre-apprentice course in Construction but moved on to a full time Apprenticeship in Glazing in March 2014 and is currently working through GQAs SVQ Level 2 in Glazing as part of his Apprenticeship under the guidance of Assessor and Tutor George Pendlebury. George was delighted to see Con bestowed with the honour of becoming only the 2^nd Glazing Apprentice of the Year, and commented “Con has proven to be an excellent student with first class hand skills and has always shown a very mature attitude in his work at college.  He not only carried out his own tasks, but supported his fellow students who might have been having difficulty with work they were tasked with”

GQA Technical Manager, Sean Hayes, presented Con with his award at the Construction Awards Ceremony, held in November 2015, and said “It is always a pleasure to see young people being rewarded for their hard work and I was delighted to be able to present the award to Con; he is a great example of how South Lanarkshire College, and particularly George, help Apprentices learn while they earn.  It was great to see Con very well supported on the night, not only were his mum and dad present, his Employer and the Tradesman Con works with daily were also there to see him receive his award”

GQA would like to congratulate Con on his achievement and also South Lanarkshire College for their continuous work within our industry in Scotland.

To find out more about GQA Qualifications: http://www.gqaqualifications.com/, @GQAQuals #BigGreenQ

GQA welcomes Nationwide Windows

With a heritage spanning almost three decades, Nationwide Windows is one of the UK's leading window and door manufacturers with particular expertise in the social housing and new build sectors. Nationwide provide bespoke manufacture and installation solutions to many of the UK's leading housing associations, local authorities, house builders and developers. Many properties have been refurbished or built using windows and doors manufactured and installed from a reliable and highly trained staff from Nationwide. The principles of customer delight, quality products that offer value for money, premium service and advice have guided Nationwide from humble beginnings and continue to drive their business today.

Nationwide Windows value investment in their people, knowing that investing in staff today makes the company what they are tomorrow and ensures that they are meeting with current legislation and industry demands.

For many years Nationwide worked in partnership with a highly respected GQA Approved Centre to deliver in house training and assessment to all their Fabrication and installation teams. With their partner now no longer operating in the Fenestration sector, Nationwide have taken matters into their own hands and have now become a recognised employer centre delivering GQA qualifications inhouse whilst manufacturing and installing their own products.

This massive step highlights the commitment that Nationwide have to people development, enforcing their position as a very progressive organisation willing to go a step further to stay ahead of the market and their competition;  Just as importantly, they value GQA qualifications and the added quality having GQA qualified workforce brings to their organisation.

Chris Costall, David Naylor and Ian Stenning make up the employer assessment team and have already started to enrol new candidates. GQA wish them well and look forward to supporting Nationwide on every step of their journey.

FiT Show Master Fitter Challenge Entry Deadline Extended

With GQA running ahead of schedule in its assessments for the FIT Show Master Fitter Challenge the decision has been made to extend the deadline for entries until Friday 15^th January 2016.

GQA, the leading qualifications awarding organisation for the glass and glazing industries, has managed and provided assessment and judging for the Master Fitter Challenge since the first event in 2013. An early influx of entrants for 2016 has allowed for GQA to bring the first stage of the judging process up to date with the capacity to handle additional entrants.

Mick Clayton, CEO of GQA says he has been impressed so far: “We have been impressed with the quality of entrants, the standards are higher than ever and we believe that this year’s competition will be tight. There is plenty of opportunity for any companies or individuals who fancy themselves to be a cut above the rest in fitting windows, doors and for this year, a solid tiled roof, to prove themselves and be in with a shout for the £5000 first prize.”

There are cash prizes totaling £10,000 but for many, the kudos of having the trophy and Master Fitter Challenge winner’s logo on their vans are the biggest rewards, as past winners have testified. “Just being a finalist in the competition gave potential customers the confidence to sign up with us and not our competition” said one. 

All six finalists will compete live at The FIT Show in Telford during April and will be invited to attend the lavish FIT Show Gala Dinner, as guests of the organisers, where the winner will be announced.

Full details and entry form for the 2016 FIT Show Master Fitter Challenge can be found at: www.fitshow.co.uk/master-fitter-challenge

The Fabricator Installer Trade (FIT) Show takes place at The International Centre Telford on 12^th, 13^th 14^th April 2016. General information on The FIT Show can be found at: www.fitshow.co.uk.

Issued on behalf of The FIT Show by VAST PR. For further information contact Paul Godwin or Will Lavin at VAST PR on 0845 0945 215; email will@vastpr.co.uk. January 2016 

Chase Taylor Installer Resourcing announces partnership with GQA which will open doors for installers and surveyors across the country

Chase Taylor Installer Resourcing, providers of contract labour to the fenestration sector, has signed a major partnership with leading industry qualifications body GQA Qualifications Ltd, which will open up opportunities for installers and surveyors across the country.

Under the partnership Chase Taylor Installer Resourcing will be able to offer installers and surveyors already registered on its books, or others who want to join in the future, access to formal qualifications and potential training through the GQA’s national network of approved centres; and offer clients who are looking to source labour the opportunity to choose from the most skilled and highly qualified resource available.

Announcing the agreement with GQA, Director Paul Lindsay explained “this is a major step forward for us and for the people we work with; absolutely everybody benefits”.

“We can now be confident that our offering to the market is unrivalled.  To be able to offer installers and surveyors who are looking for employment opportunities the chance to achieve or to update existing qualifications is a major plus point”. 

“We know our clients are looking to engage with labour which is not only skilled through time served working, but which is also qualified, certificated, and fully compliant with all the latest industry requirements”.

“For our clients this new arrangement with GQA will prove to be a really significant development.  For them to know that the labour resource we offer them is qualified, or at the very least compliant, is their guarantee of a certain level of quality, and is something they can then offer to their end user customers as a genuine point of differentiation”.

“The fact that we have been able to put this agreement together with the most recognised industry qualifications Awarding Body, GQA, and to be able to offer delivery through their nationwide network of approved centres is the icing on the cake”.

Under the agreement, any installers or surveyors currently registered with Chase Taylor Installer Resourcing will be able to opt to take a recognised industry qualification or join a compliance scheme.  Installers and surveyors who want to register with Chase Taylor Installer Resourcing in the future will have the chance to access the same opportunities by being a part of the network”.

Paul continued “it is no different to any other sector, the better qualified the personnel we can offer to our clients, the better it is for us, for them, and for the installer or surveyor themselves”. 

“There will come a point when the amount of time a person has served in their trade will no longer be enough by itself.  Formal and independent certification will be a pre-requisite.  At the end of the day, consumers will demand it, and for the companies delivering to them it will be essential if they want to retain and gain market share”.

GQA Chief Executive Officer Mick Clayton was keen to reinforce the same message “we have been urging the industry for a long time to fully embrace qualifications and certification for installers and surveyors.  As Paul says, there will come a point when time served is no longer enough, and we urge the industry to embrace the opportunity to be better qualified and fully compliant right now and continually so in the future.”.

“From our point of view we are delighted to have engaged with Chase Taylor Installer Resourcing. To be able to offer everybody who goes through any of our 80 approved centres the chance to register with a company who can potentially offer them future employment opportunities on the back of their qualification is great news”. 

“We wish Chase Taylor Installer Resourcing every success with this venture and we are really excited to be working alongside such a committed and focussed organisation”.

For installers and surveyors who want to find out more or who would like to register with Chase Taylor Installer Resourcing the company can be contacted on www.chasetaylorinstallers.co.uk Tel 01543 897800 Twitter @CTInstallers

For more information about GQA and the qualifications available to the industry www.gqaqualifications.com Tel 0114 272 0033 Twitter @GQAQuals