Winchester Cathedral

Earlier in the year we had the pleasure of working on the Deanery in Winchester Cathedral. We were tasked with fitting 25 units of varying shapes and sizes, bespoke to the Cathedral’s unique requirements. To work on one of the country’s most historically important and iconic buildings is one of the joys of our job and it was a tremendous start to our year.

Lindisfarne Castle

We couldn’t do a recap of 2018 without mentioning our most prestigious job to date. We won the contract to install secondary glazing to the National Trust’s Lindisfarne Castle and were chosen due to our excellent track record and vast experience in working with listed properties, as well as the success of our various other National Trust projects.

We fitted around 18 windows for the castle and it’s without doubt, one of our most challenging and rewarding assignments to date. We were hit with the notorious ‘Beast from the East’ whilst we were working on the project which made conditions difficult to say the least. However, despite a few delays, we were able to get the job done and we, together with the National Trust, couldn’t be more pleased with the results. We are immensely proud of the work we did on Lindisfarne Castle so if you’re ever in that neck of the woods, you must pay a visit and admire the windows. They’re a sight to behold!

Grantley Hall Hotel and Spa

Another project that was one of the highlights of 2018 was the work we did at Grantley Hall Hotel and Spa, This beautiful 17th century building, located in the stunning Yorkshire Dales, between Ripon and Harrogate, has been restored to its former glory and we were delighted to play our part in preserving this fabulous property which is now used as a 5-star country resort hotel and spa.

Working closely with Riley Architects, we were tasked with fitting a mix of lower vertical sliding sash units and slimline units to the property. The project was extremely successful and there is now more work to do in 2019 on the property which we are very much looking forward to.

National Galleries Edinburgh

Earlier this year we had the great fortune of working on the prestigious National Galleries in Edinburgh. Home to Scotland’s national collection of fine art, it was a fantastic building to work on. The glazing we installed has made a big impact to the working environment for the staff who work there, and they took the trouble to tell us how pleased they were with how much the new glazing had made a difference in keeping out the noise and draughts which used to hinder their working days. We are pleased to say that we’ve now conducted an additional survey at the National Galleries to fit another series of windows. We can’t wait to get back up there.

Ampleforth Monastery

This is a project we surveyed back in June and it’s been one of our favourite jobs of the year. The beautiful Ampleforth Monastery is located in York and is home to more than 55 Benedictine Monks. We were commissioned to fit around 150 windows into this amazing building and to date, we’ve fitted a selection of horizontal sliding units and slimline units on to the second and third floors of the building. The client is thrilled with the work done so far and the monks are already seeing the benefits and enjoying warmer living quarters.

Phase 2 of the project will start shortly, and the larger part of the project will start to unfold in 2019. One of the main challenges of the project has been ensuring that our work didn’t disturb the day-to-day running of the monastery too much. We’ve been able to achieve this we can’t wait to go back to this unique project in the New Year.

Shows and exhibitions

Sharing our knowledge and experience of secondary glazing and building conservation work is something we always like to do and our attendance at various shows and exhibitions in 2018 has given us a great opportunity to do that.

We had very successful shows at the Listed Property Show at Olympia, the Farm Business Innovation Show at the NEC and the SPAB Old House Show at the Old Royal Naval College. These shows were a great opportunity to network, meet with our peers and like-minded organisations and also meet with potential new clients. We’ve got mored lined up for 2019 and we’re looking forward to spreading the word…

The Team

2018 has also been a momentous year for the team. In February, our Technical Director Mitchell Reece had a new baby son arrive called Jono which was a wonderful start to the year. We also took on a new estimator called Andy Dennis who has fit into the company like a glove. Coincidentally, Andy also had a new baby boy called Ollie the same day Jono was born so there’s been plenty of doting father talk and paternal-bonding taking place!

The team have also worked like trojans over the last 12 months to get their qualifications for the Q-card. This has involved a number of exams, course work and site assessments and , of course, our fantastic team of Oliver, Warwick, Andy and Mitch have all passed with flying colours!

The Q-card provides proof that individuals working on construction sites have the required training and qualifications for the type of work they carry out so it’s incredibly important that they have this under their belts.

We also decided it was time for a bit of a refurb. We have been revamping our workshop area to make it a lighter, brighter and cleaner environment for our staff and our visiting clients. We have installed new racking and storage space, brand-new desks and we’re planning a porta-cabin/showroom to meet and greet our clients and suppliers. The work we’ve done has certainly improved the way we operate and sets us up nicely for 2019…

Plans for 2019

And on that subject, what have we got lined up for 2019?

Well, we will be exhibiting again at the Listed Property Show at Olympia early in February so we’re really looking forward to that. And as well as the continued work at Ampleforth Monastery and Grantley Hall, we’ve also got another hugely exciting project on the horizon that we can’t quite tell you about yet. We will certainly be telling you more about this once we get the green light, so watch this space!