Letter to the Editor of the BPF Windows Marketing Group
Dear Nathan
As a former member of the British Plastics Federation (BPF) and Vice Chairman of the Windows Marketing Group, I had mixed feelings reading of its demise in last week's Glazine (Appetite for Change, 4.1.2011).
I was invited to join the BPF because there was common ground between what I was trying to achieve with our Fighting Back With Facts (FBWF) campaign, and what the BPFWMG had set out to do. However, it became clear that it wasn't a campaigning organisation and with its systems company focus, it had too narrow a base to energise the industry as a whole. We had different goals and timescales in which we wanted to achieve them, and I took the decision to leave to promote the benefits of PVC-U on a broader front working alongside the BPF for the good of the industry.
PVC-U has been slow to react to attacks in the consumer media, so consumers have taken the media's word as fact. But much of what the anti-PVC lobby has said about PVC-U is inaccurate and wildly off-target. As an industry, and in our own interest as well as homeowners' interest, we need to correct the continuing smears, spin and anti-PVC propaganda. If we don't remind people of the huge advantages PVC-U has over other materials we will all lose sales.
We have much to be proud of. As Jeremy Clarkson said in the Sunday Times before Christmas: "give me one good reason why [I shouldn't] replace them [wooden windows] with something cheap in long-lasting plastic. Fitting any other sort of window to your house is madness really."
I know PVC-U has many supporters from the emails and calls I get. But passive support is not enough. In order to succeed, as the Wood Window Alliance (WWA) has done in promoting timber, we need to unite in fighting back with facts. My intention is to organise an industry wide campaign to promote PVC-U directly to the general public and engage everybody in the supply chain so we can actively promote PVC-U and fight back against misinformation. I've already had a positive response from many leading industry players and would like to invite interested parties, from fabricators and installers to systems companies, hardware companies and the media to join me.
If you'd like to take an active role in the new campaign telephone 01462 489900 or email .
Our message will be more powerful and effective if it is delivered by one voice. Join me in fighting back with facts.
Yours sincerely
Martin Randall
Chairman of Crystal Direct and Founder of Fighting Back With Facts
As a former member of the British Plastics Federation (BPF) and Vice Chairman of the Windows Marketing Group, I had mixed feelings reading of its demise in last week's Glazine (Appetite for Change, 4.1.2011).
I was invited to join the BPF because there was common ground between what I was trying to achieve with our Fighting Back With Facts (FBWF) campaign, and what the BPFWMG had set out to do. However, it became clear that it wasn't a campaigning organisation and with its systems company focus, it had too narrow a base to energise the industry as a whole. We had different goals and timescales in which we wanted to achieve them, and I took the decision to leave to promote the benefits of PVC-U on a broader front working alongside the BPF for the good of the industry.
PVC-U has been slow to react to attacks in the consumer media, so consumers have taken the media's word as fact. But much of what the anti-PVC lobby has said about PVC-U is inaccurate and wildly off-target. As an industry, and in our own interest as well as homeowners' interest, we need to correct the continuing smears, spin and anti-PVC propaganda. If we don't remind people of the huge advantages PVC-U has over other materials we will all lose sales.
We have much to be proud of. As Jeremy Clarkson said in the Sunday Times before Christmas: "give me one good reason why [I shouldn't] replace them [wooden windows] with something cheap in long-lasting plastic. Fitting any other sort of window to your house is madness really."
I know PVC-U has many supporters from the emails and calls I get. But passive support is not enough. In order to succeed, as the Wood Window Alliance (WWA) has done in promoting timber, we need to unite in fighting back with facts. My intention is to organise an industry wide campaign to promote PVC-U directly to the general public and engage everybody in the supply chain so we can actively promote PVC-U and fight back against misinformation. I've already had a positive response from many leading industry players and would like to invite interested parties, from fabricators and installers to systems companies, hardware companies and the media to join me.
If you'd like to take an active role in the new campaign telephone 01462 489900 or email .
Our message will be more powerful and effective if it is delivered by one voice. Join me in fighting back with facts.
Yours sincerely
Martin Randall
Chairman of Crystal Direct and Founder of Fighting Back With Facts
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