Members’ days success for the Glass and Glazing Federation

For the second consecutive year, GGF Members’ Day was resounding success as 130 delegates filled Glaziers Hall, London for a day of presentations, launches, awards and networking for GGF members. Brian Baker, GGF President commented: “It was an honour and a pleasure to co-host such a memorable occasion. I was particularly pleased to see so many of my fellow members enjoying themselves and taking advantage of the many networking opportunities throughout the day. With a ranges of diverse speakers and interesting topics combined with Member engagement, this year’s Members’ Day proved to be one of the best ever GGF events.”

Nigel Rees, GGF Group Chief Executive added: “I was delighted with the success of this year’s Members’ Day and the feedback we have received from members so far has been very positive. Our speakers and more importantly our members have made it a truly memorable occasion.”

The second GGF Members’ Day consisted of a strong line-up of keynote speakers from the worlds of politics, retail, broadcasting, market research, government and the public sector. Lord Redesdale, former energy spokesman for the Liberal Democrat Party, opened the event with a speech on the energy sector and the issues that will affect the UK’s energy consumption in the future. This was followed by the first part of the conference which was focused on consumer issues with keynote speaker, Clare Rayner, the Retail Champion and television business commentator, delivering a thought-provoking presentation on the way consumers are evolving and how businesses need to adapt to embrace the “new consumer” and meet their growing expectations.

Brian Smith, GGF Director of Home Improvement then presented the GGF’s consumer offering, highlighting the success of the GGF Conciliation Scheme and how consumer-facing members should use the unrivalled GGF Deposit Indemnity scheme to gain greater consumer confidence. In addition, Brian also explained the new GGF Consumer Code of Practice which all members must adhere to. At the end of the consumer presentations, James Lee, Head of Group Marketing provided a preview of the GGF’s new consumer website, myglazing.com and outlined the overarching objectives behind what was described as being ‘one of the most exciting projects ever undertaken by the GGF.’ James added: “MyGlazing.com will provide an online platform for the GGF and its members to engage directly with consumers. The GGF trade site is visited by over one hundred thousand consumers each year and MyGlazing.com aims to communicate with homeowners in consumer-friendly language.mUltimately the new site aims to help consumers make the right choice for their glazing home improvements. The new site will also re-direct homeowners to GGF members using the myglazing.com directory.

Other Members’ Day highlights included a presentation by Robert Palmer of Palmer Market Research on the state of the market, an update from GK Strategy on the GGF’s political campaigns and in the afternoon, presentations from seven chairmen of the GGF specialist groups. Finally, it was a very special day for one member as GGF President, Brian Baker accepted a special award on behalf of his company, Saint-Gobain to commemorate their 350th anniversary. Nigel Rees commented: “The GGF felt it was only appropriate to make this gesture as Saint- Gobain is the oldest brand in our industry and have contributed so much to the GGF and the industry over many years. It is particularly fitting that Brian as President accepted the award as his work with the GGF on so many fronts has been and still is exemplary.” Brian commented: “It was a genuine privilege to accept this award to mark the 350th birthday of Saint-Gobain. It is extra special to accept it as GGF President on an occasion such as Members Day. On behalf of all at Saint-Gobain, sincere thanks to the GGF for this award.”