Day 2 at the FIT Show was as expected. Mega busy, mega footfall and lots of industry engagement. Lets kick off the day 2 review.
Fantastic footfall
It probably goes without saying, but Wednesday was by far the busiest day in terms of footfall. There was a busy buzz throughout all the halls, with the industry very keen to discover what was new. The exhibitors I managed to sneak a word with all said that they were very impressed with the traffic on their stands and the interest in their wares.
Trying to catch a few minutes to have meetings on a day like today is always difficult. However, I did manage to circulate around the rooms and met such an array of brilliant fenstrationists!
Master Fitter progress
Throughout the day, the Master Fitter competition drew great crowds as they streamed in through the doors. The installations being judged all made great progress and are looking splendid. I suspect judging a winner isn’t going to be all that easy.
GQA Qualifications are once again heading up the event, making sure things run smoothly. If you’re heading down on Thursday, make sure to speak to these guys.
Edgetech hospitality
I have never really met or spoken to any of the Edgetech team in person, however, I met a lot of great people and I finally met the legendary Alan Fielder in person – very funny and a great story teller. We had a good chin wag about metal music!
I was kindly given the odd glass of champagne from 4pm and got the chance to put the world to rights with the Edgetech team. We also looked forward to next week’s National Fenestration Awards Winner’s Event, and they were very excited to be taking part!
Roseview’s sexy sash!
The industry knows that Roseview already make great sliding sash windows. But, they are launching yet another new product that improves on the already high class sash product.
The finer details have been refined further, with profile lines getting slimmer, hardware touches looking even better. If you’re into the sash window market or looking to get into it in a bigger way, you should be looking at this company.
Mojitos at Insight Data
More great hospitality on the Insight Data stand, where Andrew Scott explained their new STEM product to me. I’ll be doing a full press release on their new product, but for those who already use their Salestracker tool, this is going to be a hit.
They also had a very nice Mojito on offer. Andrew says it’s the Irish version! Thanks for the hospitality!
Putting faces to names
I finally got to meet Kevin Ahern and Garry Monk from St Johns Windows, prolific DGB commenters. I must thank Kevin for the home brewed beers, I’ll let you know how they taste in a week or so! And Garry, it was great to put a face to the Twitter handle! Another great fenestrationist!
Summary
As I walk around the stands, it’s becoming clear that the industry is moving towards a flush sash future. Casements now appear to be very old hat. Many of the new product announcements incorporate flush sashes partly or in full, and the quality of what I have seen is very good.
There will be some companies who will claim that they were the first to start the flush sash revolution in the PVCu sector, and they will be right. Some companies are clearly playing catch up. But, the trend is clear and the trend is strong, the future is most certainly in flush.
Day 3 will be a quieter affair, with hangovers from the Gala Dinner and footfall expected to be quieter than on Wednesday. Perhaps a good day for meetings and catching up with industry friends and colleagues.
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