The inaugural Glazing Summit conference was held on 22nd May and was attended by 400 business leaders from across the glass and glazing industry.
The conference had 9 sessions including key-note speakers and panel discussions featuring some of the industry’s most influential people.
Discussions ranged from materials and products to technology and innovation, with the final discussion of the day focused on mergers and acquisitions – included panellists David Leng from Customade Group and Rob Crews from Momentum Corporate Finance sharing their views on private-equity backed businesses.
Other speakers throughout the day included Andy Jones from Synseal, Paul Atkinson from Yale, Chris Alderson from Edgetech, Window Ware’s Samantha Nuckey and Russell Yates from AluK.
The keynotes included Jade Greenhow from Insight Data who gave an expert overview of the industry and outlined further consolidation across all sectors. Jade also highlighting product trends and changes within the supply chain with the rise of trade-counters and local builders now capturing more market share from traditional double glazing installers.
One of the UK’s leading economist’s Dr Walter Boettcher from Colliers International gave a powerful presentation on the UK economy and construction sector after Brexit, with encouraging data showing an underling strong economy.
The conference was organised by Insight Data and Purplex Marketing. CEO Andrew Scott commented;
“This was breaking new ground, the industry has never had a major business conference but as the market matures and becomes more professional, a platform for CEO’s and business leaders to come together, learn and share information has become paramount.”
“With several different sectors represented and a diverse range of companies of every shape and size it is impossible to provide content relevant to every delegate on every session, but our aim was that delegates would take away at least some valuable pearls of wisdom and connect with industry leaders and from the feedback this was definitely achieved.”
The conference was a ‘who’s who’ with CEOs and stake holders from the industry’s most influential companies attending, with combined UK annual sales of over £1 billion. A VIP Leaders Dinner followed in the evening, with after-dinner speaker and iconic businessman Gerald Ratner gaining a rapturous applause.
“As the first conference of its kind there was much to learn. We welcomed all the feedback which will help us shape the event if the industry feels it should be a regular fixture.”
