It was a great feeling being back at FIT Show last month. Seeing the industry get together is always fantastic and it was the ideal opportunity to get an idea of the latest innovations on offer, as well as being able to show installers the level of support that they can receive as a Certass member.
After three years out, there was a lot of hesitancy around how many people would take a day away from site to attend the show. Despite fewer exhibitors, there was still an impressive turnout, and it was even more impressive to see the number of installers keen to learn how they could benefit from the latest innovations and how they can meet new regulations.
Installer Support Hub
Certass had a record number of installation companies visit the Installer Support Hub on our stand.
There were new customers, as well as existing members popping by just to say thanks for the unrivalled support Certass has been providing them, especially throughout the pandemic.
As has been the case for most of this year, there were lots of discussions regarding the new Building Regulations and we were able to speak directly to installers about what new benefits are available to support them, on our stand and also in the seminar theatre.
Following the success of our award-winning Facebook forum, we wanted to bring this to life with the Installer Support Hub, and we definitely achieved that.
We were able to provide on-stand Q&As on Approved Documents F & L, direct access to our Chartered Builders and technical team, a new scheme launch, and the chance to meet our show partners. Our stand was super busy from early Tuesday morning through to the final day.
The seminar theatre allowed us to support our customers with advice and guidance on how to prepare for the upcoming changes to Building Regulations.
The opening debate, ‘The Windows & Doors Market 2022/23 – Mill Pond or Tsunami?’, which was led by Paul Godwin, highlighted many of the key issues facing our industry, including how we can brace ourselves for the inevitable downturn.
With FIT Show coinciding with Mental Health Awareness Week, the issue that I was most keen to raise in that first discussion was the state of mental health in our industry and how we collectively need to do more to support those in need.
My seminar on ‘Tackling Mental Health & the Suicide Rate with Lighthouse Club’ focussed on these worrying mental health statistics in our industry, and what Lighthouse Club is doing to support construction workers and their families in the UK.
The digital revolution
Another noticeable aspect of the show was the level of new technologies on display to support installers. Tech companies have clearly taken advantage of the opportunities that have presented themselves over the last few years to create products and systems which make the workload of installers much easier to manage.
The Business Pilot stand was a hugely popular destination at FIT and with the level of features the platform offers, it’s no wonder. Business Pilot users can manage sales processes, contracts, purchases, service history, leads, documents, deliveries, work schedules and connect with their fitting teams, all in one system.
And it can also connect to accounting systems for seamless beginning-to-end job management. With plans for Certass to integrate later in the year, using the new information requirements for building work that are so obviously needed, we will see a slick new process for our industry.
This level of systemisation for SME companies has seen huge progress in our sector, and it’s great to see so many forward-thinking installation companies making use of these helpful programmes.
Future support
Being able to show installers the support available to them at FIT Show was very rewarding. As well as the new digital products and systems on display on other stands, the Installer Support Hub allowed us to show that installers aren’t on their own and Certass members have an unprecedented level of support available to them in a wide range of areas.
From mental health support to compliance and business guidance, we’re here to help.