Door Industry Journal - Spring 2016

Also online at: www.dijonline.co.uk 22 THE door industry journal spring 2016 industry news EVANDER GLAZING & LOCKS ACQUIRED BY VPS Evander Glazing & Locks (Evander), the nationwide 24/7 emergency response and repair provider of glazing and locks, has been acquired by VPS, the vacant property, site security and property services specialists. VPS has acquired Evander from Bridgepoint Development Capital (BDC) and Lloyds Development Capital (LDC), who have co-owned the business since 2011. Headquartered in the UK, the VPS Group leads the European vacant property services market, providing a full suite of specialist solutions across the complete property lifecycle, as well as offering a wide range of services covering remote sites and occupied property. It has a national network of 20 depots in the UK and operations across mainland Europe including France, The Netherlands, Germany, Spain and Italy. VPS has more than 1,100 employees, with 750 based in the UK. Evander, headquartered in Norwich, is the UK’s leading nationwide emergency response glazing and locks business. Through its national infrastructure of 19 depots and 297 engineers, it provides 24/7 response and fulfilment services to both the insurance and commercial sectors as well as direct to consumers. Two thirds of its business comes from the insurance sector and include the largest domestic home insurers in the UK. Commenting on the acquisition, VPS Group CEO Mark Silver said: ‘Evander’s excellent reputation for providing responsive security services is a great fit to our market- leading property security and services business. With very similar customer requirements and challenges, we are confident that by working together we can expand both our operational spread and develop into new segments, as well as being able to enhance our services offering to our shared customer base. We look forward to working with the Evander team to expedite this.’ For further information, visit: www.vpsgroup.com or www.evander.com TRAINING IS THE KEY TO DRIVING UP INDUSTRY STANDARDS, SAYS DHF The Door & Hardware Federation (DHF) has accelerated its drive to raise industry standards by announcing a significant expansion to its Safety Assured training programme. Personnel from all DHF member companies which manufacture, install and maintain industrial doors and garage doors will be attending the DHF safety diploma training scheme courses which are to be held throughout 2016. The courses will cover all aspects of door safety - from initial risk assessment through to testing and commissioning - so that training candidates can obtain their coveted DHF safety diplomas. Topics covered in the courses will include law and regulations, use of standards, risk assessment, testing and inspection, documentation, repair and maintenance. Managers, engineers, installers and maintainers will be attending the training courses. The DHF represents the key players in industrial, commercial and garage doors and automated gates, as well as the leading UK manufacturers and suppliers of building hardware. It says the development of its training programme is the latest stage in an ambitious plan to raise the standards of its members’ products and services to new levels. The plan has seen the introduction of the DHF Quality Assured Standards scheme and Codes of Practice. Also, the DHF has grown its technical and safety advisory team with the addition of audit inspectors and a training officer. Said DHF CEO Bob Perry: “Our vision has been to establish DHF member companies as the recognised source of products and services which are legally compliant and are both quality and safety assured. The forthcoming expansion of our training programme is a significant step to us achieving this ambition. ‘Raising standards’ has long been the clarion call underpinning our drive for higher quality and compliance. “Specifiers, contractors and end users are benefitting from the knowledge that the level of safety, quality and compliance of all our members is reinforced by comprehensive training and is subject to rigorous audit and inspection. “Our success in achieving this is being increasingly recognised in the marketplace. There must be no place in our industry for untrained personnel who supply and install unsafe and illegal products.” Membership of the DHF is at its highest level ever. There are now more than 300 members and it is confident its growth will continue throughout 2016. To learn more about the benefits of specifying from DHF members, visit the website: www.dhfonline.org.uk Mark Silver CEO of VPS Group and Rick Francis CEO Evander