The big National Fenestration Awards news on Friday was the announcement of the three new categories that will be included in this years competition.

1. Digital Specialist 2014

2. Timber Alternative 2014

3. Manufacturer/Fabricator 2014

The reaction to these awards seems to go down very well and we think that they cover some key areas that were overlooked last year.

Digital Specialist 2014

The fenestration industry has within it a growing and increasingly competitive digital sector which is producing some very fine work at the moment. The power of the internet and forced companies to really get creative with their online work, which in turn has spawned some new companies dedicated to digital services specifically within the fenestration market.

This category covers things like

  • Web design companies
  • Pricing software businesses
  • Data services
  • Web developers
  • Digital PR companies

Basically, if there is a company that delivers a digital service to any company within the fenestration sector, this is the category to nominate them in!

Timber Alternative 2014

The timber alternative market is just that, a market. No longer can we remain looking at this as a niche market. It has far outgrown that label and is forging a bigger sub-sector of it’s own, and is doing a very fine job of it too.

This category is specifically for the systems companies that create these products, not installers of timber alternative products or fabricators. The plaudits for this one deserve to go to the companies that ploughed the time and money into creating these very high quality products.

Manufacturer/Fabricator 2014

We felt the last obvious award we really didn’t cover was the fabricator market – and so did you lot too according to your feedback! So, making it’s first appearance at the NFAs is the Manufacturer/Fabricator 2014 category.

We gave it two names simply because the industry uses two names to describe a company of that type. This category is open to all material types as we are looking for the best manufacturer or fabricator spanning PVC, aluminium, timber and steel. We think this one will be hotly contested one.

So there you have it folks. Three new categories to get your teeth stuck into once nominating opens. There is going to be lots of new information going up on the NFA site over the weekend so make sure you keep checking back to keep up to date with all that’s going on. Remember, the first nominations for the awards will open on Monday February 3rd, as well as the monthly cool wall competition. Also, we have something extra to announce on Monday too. Your best way to stay up to date is to follow @NatFenAwards on Twitter.

NFA website: http://www.fenestrationawards.co.uk/