Homeowners now have an alternative to standard aluminium, timber and UPVC glazing systems - a new aluminium wood grain and colour range of windows, doors and conservatories called the Heritage Range. The aluminium “wood” choices offered within this exciting new aluminium glazing system incorporate an actual wood grain effect, sublimated into the aluminium profile, producing unique and incredibly hard wearing double glazing frames.
The Heritage Range offers a high specification aluminium product in a series of seven attractive polyester coated colours, or three unique aluminium sublimated wood grain effect finishes of Oak, Rosewood and Walnut.
So what is unique about the new aluminium wood grain range? An Italian company called ‘Decoral’ spent years developing a process which allows high-quality wood grain to be produced on aluminium. Combined with all the protective advantages of powder coating, this new product offers a high quality robust alternative to traditional timber frame windows that require redecorating and maintenance.
How does the Decoral process work? Well, firstly, a special polyurethane powder coating is applied to the aluminium, and part-cured. Each wood grain design is printed onto a film, using inks which sublime when heated. The printed film is then wrapped round the coated aluminium, which is made to adhere firmly by vacuum processing, then heated to approx 200°C.
The colour from the ink sublimes onto the powder coating and diffuses into it, producing a permanently fixed decorative effect. Only certain powder coatings can be used because they must be capable of withstanding reheating to 200°C without damage. In this process the powder coating provides the protective effect, while the film-based technology applies the decorative wood grain appearance.
This type of process is well established in textile technology, where it is known as dye transfer printing. In layman’s terms the wood grain effect actually becomes part of the aluminium, so is literally ingrained and therefore extremely robust and hardwearing. Unlike timber frames, aluminium does not rot or need painting every few years.
Homeowners in the marketplace for windows, doors and/or a conservatory can choose this unique aluminium glazing system in three high quality sublimated wood grain effect finishes: oak, rosewood and walnut, or from a choice of seven attractive polyester coated aluminium colours: white, ivory, buttermilk, sage, hessian, slate and heritage green.
The Heritage Range requires little or no maintenance, and comes with a robust ten year guarantee. The compact design of the windows and doors delivers a positive closing action thanks to the aluminium strength. The sculptured contours are typical of traditional wooden designs, offering a high quality finish without the hassle and costs of having to upkeep actual timber.
Security wise, the Heritage Range external boxed glazing bead interlocks with the window and door frames so that it cannot be prised off without first removing the internal wedge gasket. Also each locking window handle simultaneously throws a central deadbolt and shoot bolts into opposite frame corners. There is a choice of black, gold, silver or white handles, as well as the usual range of accessories.
Environmentally, all relevant aluminium profiles are thermally broken to prevent heat loss and the formation of condensation on window frames. Foam infill is used in jambs and heads of outer frames to further enhance thermal insulation.
To see, feel and check out the durability of the Heritage Range, visit Hazlemere’s 4,000 square foot showroom, which opens seven days a week. Why not try out a Heritage Range full size front door and opening casement window for yourself?
Alternatively you can FREE PHONE 0500 011561 to request a free home consultation with one of Hazlemere’s experienced experts at your convenience, who will show you actual aluminium coated samples of this exciting new double glazing product range.
CATAGORY|Home Improvements, Windows & Doors
According to the BBC’s Business Editor Robert Peston (who broke the story on Northern Rock), UK banks could end up lending us more than they did during the boom times. On the face of it this seems crazy, but if you read Robert Peston’s blog dated 4th January 2009, he gives good eceonomic reasons why this may become a necessity, as well as a reality, in 2009.
A taxpayers insurance scheme for banks, according to Robert Peston’s article on the BBC News website on 4th Jamuary is under serious consideration. His article asks “Why would this encourage banks to lend more than they are doing at present?” and then goes on to give the two following very good reasons:
“First, the banks could take a bit more risk when lending, because the loss to them in the unlikely case that all the stinky stuff hit the fan at the same time would be knowable and manageable.” and
“Second, with the state sharing the risk, the banks’ capital ratios would look much healthier as their balance sheets expanded, because the formal regulatory risk-weighting of lending would be significantly reduced.”
Global financial markets all appear to be looking to shore up their home front, and therefore UK Banks are more likely to re-direct any loans they are prepared to make to the UK market where their money is going to be safest. It looks us British taxpayers who are going to guarantee the banks money, to give them enough confidence to lend us money to help regenerate the UK economy! Ironic huh!
CATAGORY|Commerce
On Saturday night, my wife and I were very kindly treated by very good friends of ours to a meal out in the main restaurant at the Crazy Bear Hotel in Wycombe End, Beaconsfield. Having watched the builders, painters and decorators come and go for nearly five years, and heard so much about the digging out of the basement and the apparent tens of millions of pounds spent, we were both intrigued to see the results.
The Crazy Bear is on the same site as the George Hotel and the old Georgian Coffee Shop next door. The old oak beams, subtle lighting, expensive drapes and lots of dark mirrors form a major part of the ambiance. The Crazy Bear Hotel Beaconsfield has two restaurants, one English, one Thai, ten bedrooms, two meeting rooms and two bar areas, one of which is in the basement. Despite the fact that most drinks are double pub prices, the place was packed last Saturday night and the restaurant apparently booked up for months.
The food is expensive, though no more than the Spice Merchant Indian Restaurant in London End Beaconsfield. Like the Spice Merchant the quality of the food is quite excellent, although after only one visit to the Crazy Bear, the service at the Spice Merchant knocks spots off the Crazy Bear. If you are going to charge around £59 for your cheapest bottle of Champagne and £7 for a large Barcardi, then you really need the service to match. Don’t get me wrong, the service at the Crazy Bear was not bad, it was just not good, and given, it appeared to me that most folk were spending over £100 a head on average, the service should not just be good, but exceptional, which sadly it was not.
Don’t be put off from trying the Crazy Bear out because of my personal views on the service we received, as on another day it might match the superb quality of the surroundings and food. It is certainly worth going for the experience, even if all you do is have a drink and venture to the toilets, which are unique and extremely unusual to say the least. However, take your American Express card and expect your drinks bill to be more than your food, as the drinks prices are really crazy!
CATAGORY|Eating Out
It started with Woolworths, then MFI, then Zavvi, the Officers Club, Whittards of Chelsea, Adams and now, according to BBC News, the French women’s clothing store chain Morgan has gone into administration.
With the income of many High Street retailers shrinking, combined with massively reduced margins caused by rising costs and heavy discounting, it is clear many retailers simply will not be able to cover all their outgoings, particularly in terms of rental and staff costs. Many retailers are tied into long term leases that they may be unable to get out of without going into administration.
2009 will no doubt be a testing time for retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers who have high fixed overheads. Through prudent management and decades of successful trading, Hazlemere Window Company Ltd. is in the fortunate position of not only owning the freehold of its Head Office, Factory and Showroom, but having its entire manufacturing site at Cressex Business Park, High Wycombe, unencumbered.
This strong foundation, along with its largest ever order book going into 2009, is very comforting news to the staff and the thousands of Hazlemere Windows customers. The company’s positive balance sheet also enables it to negotiate the best possible deal on high grade raw material and with all its suppliers, so despite the challenging trading environment in the UK at present, the Hazlemere Group is more than well placed to weather the difficult economic times ahead.
CATAGORY|Commerce, Retail
There really are some idiots around. Who in their right mind would shoot at windows, behind which sleeps a five month old child? Well according the the Guernsey Press webite, John Loveridge’s bunaglow in St.Martin’s has been the target of vandals with an air or BB gun.
Whilst double glazing is obviously not bullet proof, it has proved a blessing on the two mindless attacks so far, as Mr Loveridge comments “It is a good job that we have double-glazing because if we did not, the whole window would have shattered, which could have seriously injured my daughter or grandchild.”
Lets hope the States of Guernsey Police catch the misguided thrill seekers before they severely injure or kill someone.
CATAGORY|Home Security
Today marks the start of the closure of Woolworths’ 800 High Street retail stores in batches. More than 200 Woolworths stores to close later today.
Locally the Woolworths in Aylesbury, Maidenhead and Uxbridge close today, Amersham and Windsor Woolworths’ close down on 30th December 2008, Slough and Watford on 2nd January and the Woolworths’ stores in Beaconsfield, Bracknell, High Wycombe, Reading and Thame close in the final batch of closures of Woolworths high street retail stores on Monday 5th January 2009.
Unless a last minute buyer is found over 27,000 jobs will go by Monday 5th January, not the greatest start to the New Year. However my concern is that just like Northern Rock was the tip of the iceberg for the banking industry, is Woolworths simply the start of our High Streets changing forever? Since Woolworths announced £385m worth of unsustainable debt, MFI and Zavvi (formerly Virgin Megastores) have gone into administration, with another 15-25 chains under threat. When will we learn that you can not build a successful business on debt? Something that is coming home to roost big time in not just the UK but the Western World.
Today is an extremely sad day for all the employees in Woolworths retail chain, but also for the entire retail industry, as I fear it will lead to the reshaping of the High Street in this country, and possibly affect how, when and where we shop in the future. When the banking crisis at Northern Rock became apparent, not even the City was expecting the Worldwide implosion of the banking system requiring governments across the globe to step in to prevent financial meltdown. It would not be prudent for the UK government to step in, as the management failures of Woolworths are now evident for all to see. The difference between Northern Rock and Woolworths is that we now probably expect a collapse in the High Street? Deflation here we come?
CATAGORY|Commerce, Retail
According to an article on the Energy Saving Trust’s website in December 2008, a report entitled “Lagging Behind” commissioned by the London Assembly Environment Committee, states that Londoners could cut energy emissions by a quarter, simply by fitting insulation and double glazing to homes that do not have it.
Assembly member Darren Johnson, Chair of the Environment Committee, said: “Our report estimates that between 40,000 and 55,000 insulation’s were carried out in London in 2007. While this sounds like a significant number, London has a lot of catching up to do if it is to match the rest of the country.”
He noted that insulation was not as attractive for “glossy magazines” as new bathrooms or kitchens but that it did save money and cut carbon emissions. The Energy Saving Trust’s own statistics prove that homeowners can reduce energy bills by 50% by fitting double glazing. So, if 25% of Londoners are not to continue lagging behind and paying higher energy bills they will need to insulate their homes and install replacement double glazing.
CATAGORY|Saving Energy, Windows & Doors
Another year nearly gone, and another highly successful one for the Hazlemere Group, which as every year, is entirely down to the thousands of Hazlemere customers, without whom the company would not be the leading home improvement specialists they are today. When George Braham and Stuart Braham co-founded the Hazlemere Window Company Ltd in 1985, I am sure they could not have dreamed how successful it was to become.
Hazlemere’s success is based on its customers, who collectively have ordered over 20,000 installations and double glazing repairs since the company’s inception. 2008 has been another record year for the family business, plus the order book for 2009, includes a £2.2 million pound commercial contract to fit all the new aluminium windows, doors and curtain walling for the new Bideford College in Devon. Click here for a birds eye view 3D virtual fly through video of this exciting sustainability project on the Bideford College website.
One of the secrets of Hazlemere Window Company’s success has been its diversification over the last two decades, whilst remaining independent manufacturers of bespoke aluminium windows, doors and conservatories in a choice of aluminium glazing systems. The Hazlemere Group also supply and fit manual or remote control garage doors, as well as UPVC cladding, gutters, downpipes, fascias and soffits, plus a wide range of UPVC windows, doors and conservatories, along with many other products.
All that remains is to once again sincerely thank our thousands of customers and wish every one of them a happy and prosperous 2009.
CATAGORY|Conservatories, Home Improvements, Windows & Doors
The benefits of the choice of colours and aluminium wood grain effect finishes offered by the new Heritage Range, enable homeowners throughout the UK to choose window, door and conservatory finishes to match local preferences, thereby restoring the option to make their property more individual. In the past some homeowners have been dissuaded from fitting aluminium windows by the wrong perception that all they could have was white or silver anodised frames.
Whilst painted finishes in other colours have been available for a considerable time, they usually came with very long lead times and deemed as “specials”, making repeat ordering onerous. The Heritage Range offers all its 10 different finishes as standard, so all have the same lead time. Also large colour samples of the actual product are available so customers can see what the colour will actually look like on the frames, rather than choose from a printed colour book, whose reproduction properties might not be reflective of the finished product. Looking for replacement windows, doors or a conservatory with a high quality, durable and lifelong finish? Why not check out the Heritage Range, which uniquely offers walnut, rosewood and oak aluminium wood grain effect finishes, enabling your home to have both individuality and a traditional look and feel, or a finish in a contemporary colour.
CATAGORY|Home Improvements, Windows & Doors
Yesterday’s 1-0 away win at 3rd placed Shrewsbury Town sent Wycombe Wanderers Football Club 9 points clear in Coca-Cola League Two, bringing much need Christmas cheer to the thousands of Blues fans who have seen us top the table several times before at Christmas (notably under former England Assistant Manager John Gorman), but then fall at the last hurdle and miss out in the play-offs. Could this season be different under former England Under 21’s Manager Peter Taylor? The signs are promising as Peter Taylor has gone for a younger side, giving it longer term potential should promotion be secured. However, it is not potential energy that matters, but kinetic energy, so lets hope Wycombe Wanderers can maintain the momentum into 2009 and secure automatic promotion this season and avoid the dreaded play-offs!
CATAGORY|Football
