Ford of Britain 100: Image of the Week – 49/52

To celebrate the centenary of Ford of Britain in 2011 the company is exploring its photo archive to reveal rarely seen images. Ford's unique relationship with Britain and its society will be illustrated each week by specially selected pictures.
 
This week tells the story of one of Ford’s most legendary vehicles, and one of the most exciting of all time.
In 1962 after failing to buy Ferrari, Henry Ford II challenged Ford engineers to build a prototype racer that would win the Le Mans 24 Hours race, defeating the Italian arch-rival in the process.
 
After an unimpressive first attempt in 1964, the Ford GT40 Mk II emerged in 1966, claiming the first three places at the Daytona 24 Hours. At Le Mans, it set new speed and lap records, before finishing first, second and third.

The GT40 was powered by a 7.0-litre V8 engine, producing 485bhp with a recorded top speed of 187mph.  The two-door, two-seat car had a body made from glass reinforced plastic, weighed just over 1100kg, and was nicknamed GT40 after its 40in height. 

A Tribute to this iconic race car arrived in the form of the Ford GT supercar in 2002, this time featuring a 5.4-litre supercharged V8 engine with 550bhp, a top speed of 205mph and an aluminium space frame chassis. 



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Masterdor Cracks the Thermal Code

Door-sets from Manse Masterdor with U-Values of 1.0W/m2K are being fitted into one of the UK's biggest ever "Zero Carbon" social housing developments.

The £12 million Park Dale development will meet Code for Sustainable Homes Level 6. The 91 homes in Airedale, near Castleford in West Yorkshire, are being built using traditional construction methods by Bramall Construction for Wakefield and District Housing and will feature 160 Masterdor Timber Thermal door-sets.

Part-funded by the Homes and Community Agency (HCA), the two, three and four-bedroom homes will use a ground-breaking combination of energy saving and carbon-reducing features including mechanical ventilation and heat recovery systems, photovoltaic panels, and grey water recycling.

The 54mm Masterdor Timber Thermal door-sets will deliver superior levels of air tightness (800 Special). The thermally efficient high security door-sets have an insulating core and also meet and exceed the requirements of PAS23, PAS24 and Secured by Design.

Jeremy Gaffney, Supply Chain Manager at Bramall Construction, said: "This is a very exciting code 6 development with a very high specification. We chose Masterdor because they offer a high thermal efficiency and excellent air tightness product. This has a positive impact on reducing fuel bills and minimising CO2 emissions. The Masterdor has the added benefit of looking great and is available in a wide choice of styles and colours, which is really important to the social housing residents and clients."

For further information about Manse Masterdor visit www.masterdor.co.uk. 



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Happy Advent - Hallelujah Chorus with a difference!

Featuring the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's Messiah, this video filmed in the small Yupiq Eskimo Village of Quinhagak, Alaska , was a school computer project intended for the other Yupiq villages in the area.

Much to the villagers' shock, well over a million people have viewed it on YouTube so far.

View the video on YouTube here. 



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Industry Safety Update: DHF focus group looks to educate installers

During the past year gate safety has been a hot topic following the fatal accidents involving sliding gates within 1 week of each other in July 2010. 

In October 2010 ASO Safety Solutions & EGD Distribution together provided the Industry with a first of its kind event. The GSC (Gate Safety Conference) was hosted in the Midlands and was designed to provide installers with a balanced overview of health and safety requirements for gate installation.

 The event was a great success, with over 230 attendees from 150 separate companies. With the feedback gained from the conference EGD & ASO created a "Guide to Gate Safety" which has been circulated to many companies in the gate industry over the past year. During the period that followed it was clear the gate automation industry required a new body to represent them and move things forward with the backing of the HSE. 

The DHF (Door Hardware Federation) already the representative body for the Industrial door, Garage door & shutter door industry has now established a "Powered Gate Group". The aim of the focus group is to drive forward the Industry using the in depth knowledge of its member companies, which range from automation manufacturers through to distributors and installers. The focus group has proved to be an excellent platform to drive the industry forward and is currently working closely with the HSE & other campaigns (such as Jacksons Fencings "Gate Safe") to help educate and train the gate installation industry.

 Following the efforts of members of the focus group, a HSE approved "Guide" will be launched in to the Industry in the coming months providing key facts for installers. This guide is the first step to ensuring that new gates are installed correctly utilising the appropriate equipment and test methods.
 
Looking forward from this the DHF will be creating a new UK installation "standard" with the input of its members and collaboration with the HSE and others bodies. 



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StorageMaker: A Complementary Product for Garage Door Specialists

Online garage storage solutions company, StorageMaker, has made its innovative kits available to garage door companies throughout the UK and has already signed up 15 outlets to resell them. 

StorageMaker has created bespoke kits that are only available to buy through its resellers and also encourages larger, more profitable sales through the supply of bespoke storage systems - made to measure individually for customers.

The StorageMaker garage storage system provides an excellent solution for tackling untidy garages. The StorageMaker product comprises strong, durable and easy to fit UPVC panels that can be attached to any wall surface. There is a wide range of accessories from hooks to racks and baskets. Items such as gardening and DIY tools, bicycles and golf equipment can be stored simply and safely and can be moved around as required.

Teckentrup Jim's Marmotte Cycling Triumph

Jim succeeds! Jim Rodger successfully completed his charity cycle event in aid of the Alder Hey Childrens Hospital Imagine Appeal. 

The event took place on July 2nd - take a look at Jim's Blog www.teckentrupdepot.co.uk/blog/ for the full story, however it's worth including a few taster extracts here first:

 "...Your head goes, legs wobble and if anyone said "lets stop and take 5?, you'd happily climb off and curl up and pray you'd wake up tucked up in bed."
 
"...We counted a dozen ambulances attending incidents enroute!"
 
"...If I am a pub cyclist then climbing Alp D'Heuz is like a pub footballer getting to play at Wembley against the Red Lion."

SWR CELEBRATES THEIR 22ND BIRTHDAY

SWR Ltd, was established in 1989. From the beginning they have focused on supplying high quality products backed up by their enthusiastic approach to customer service. 

Their drive and determination to be the best, has seen the company grow from strength to strength.

 Back in 1989, SWR solely concentrated on steel wire rope, which is how the company name was born. Although wire rope remains an important area of SWR, over the years, they have expanded into the garage door and garage door spares market as well as becoming a key player in the balustrade and awning world more recently.

"The changes since '89 have been dramatic," Managing Director Jason Lee explains. "We have seen vast improvements in production technology so we have better equipment, communication and logistics. That, together with our dedicated team of professionals, has enabled us to expand the business considerably."

 As the image on the right demonstrates, SWR Spares have come a long way since their first catalogue in 2001, which was hand-drawn and photocopied in mono. They have moved with the times, creating and printing digitally to ensure they remain one of the market's leaders. They use top of the range hardware and software and their latest catalogue has just been launched.

ONS Retail Figures Paint Overly Positive Picture

Stephen Robertson

Official figures released on last month by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) paint a much rosier picture of the state of retail than the British Retail Consortium (BRC) is getting from its members. The BRC's own highly regarded statistics show total retail sales values up 1.5 per cent on a year ago, meaning customers are actually buying less when the impact of inflation is factored in.

British Retail Consortium Director General, Stephen Robertson, said: "Most retailers won't recognise the overly positive picture being painted by these ONS results. The reality is disposable incomes are down on a year ago and customers are cutting back.

"Even food sales are suffering as people cut back or switch to cheaper brands in an effort to balance their household budgets. Stores are competing hard for what customer spending is available but consumers are overwhelmingly gloomy. Sales that happen come at the cost of reduced margins as retailers cut prices while facing higher business costs.

"We need the Chancellor to support households and businesses by holding back the costs he's responsible for. He should scrap the increases in fuel duty planned for next year and reduce the threatened 5.6 per cent business rates rise. At a time when youth unemployment has passed the one million mark, promoting growth in a sector where under 25s make up a third of the workforce should be a priority for the Government.



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REVIEW OF THE 59TH ARGE CONFERENCE

 

ARGE held its 59th Annual Conference and first Technical Meeting in Düsseldorf, 14-17 September 2011. ARGE is a Trade Association that represents Lock and Hardware Manufacturers within Europe and Scandinavia.

TECHNICAL
Thirty delegates attended the Technical Meeting with reports on European Hardware Standards, differences between the future Construction Products Regulation and the recent Construction Products Directive and Special Fire Resistance Requirements of Doors.

Guest Speaker, Hans Peters the director of IBU, the German Institute for Sustainability construction Industry explained the importance of the Environmental Products Declaration.

ARGE BOARD
The departing President David Whitworth (DHF, UK) was made Honorary President. The post of president will now become Chairman and is now held by Jorma Sirén (Abloy Oy, Finland). He stated that "ARGE needs to move forward and grow stronger".

Sirén is joined by two new Executives, Paul Browne (Assa Abloy, UK) and Denis Schnoebelen (Mantion S.A.S., France).

ANNUAL CONFERENCE
The Conference was held over two days. Highlights included, Jackie Sinclair gave a cautionary presentation on accountability through the supply chain.

ARGEs has authority to directly lobby the European Commission and to emphasise its political power they invited Karl-Heinz Florenz (M.E.P.) who emphasised the willingness of Members of the European Parliament to work with Trade Associations.

Arjen Koole revealed his findings and demonstrated with graphs how the Hardware Market is suffering from the economic downturn. ARGE will strive to help its members through this hard time and wish to see growth in the Market at its 60th Conference.

For more information about ARGE visit www.arge.org



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Garador's fittest go Commando and get on their bikes

A team of seven fit men from Garador recently completed the gruelling Royal Marine Commando Challenge.

The team raised £750, including a contribution from Garador, for the Devon Air Ambulance and the Royal Marines Charitable Trust Fund. The "The Expendables" completed the 10K assault course in an impressive 1hr and 45 minutes. The team members were Neil Bond, Rob Dash, Phil Wareham, Dave Burton, Martin Rice, Dean Curwen and Pete Rice.

The participants said; "It was a great day and we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, although it was extremely challenging. We were pleased with our time, however it is fair to say that a number of unavoidable incidents along the way created some delay!"