RegaLead is delighted to report business continues to be brisk in both the UK and across many of our international markets, as we tentatively appear finally to be coming out of the global economic crisis. But - and it's a big but - we all need to temper this quiet confidence with caution, due to the ever increasing global raw material prices.

Already in 2011, most window, door and IG manufacturers and installers have received price increase letters on all the major lines they buy in, ranging from glass to sealants and hardware to aluminium based components. Not only do these price increases threaten to damage the sustainability of the industry’s recovery, we also need to keep an eye out for when such hikes genuinely represent a supplier’s requirement to recover costs outside their control, and when they just provide a hidden opportunity for them to increase their own profitability.

RegaLead has always viewed price increases as a last resort, and have endeavoured to reduce manufacturing costs by improving our own internal efficiencies. This is why in a time of increased pressure on margins, we decided to put 14 of our staff through Business Improvement NVQs and we are already reaping some benefits - which you can read more about later in this edition.

Our largest material usage in RegaLead is of course the raw lead itself and the costs are determined by the London Metals Exchange where lead is traded as a commodity. As our customers will all be aware, lead prices are highly volatile and over the past 4 years alone have risen from a low level of £650/ tonne to as high as £1900. These are the types of material price changes that even the most efficient business cannot absorb, and RegaLead like all our competitors have been forced to raise prices.

RegaLead understands that raising prices is inevitable against the current inflationary backdrop, but maintaining a fair, and more importantly, transparent pricing structure is critical because our business is built on trust from our customers. The traditional ‘price rise letter’ on commodity based products is not a fair system where prices can fall as quickly as they rise. Ask yourself how quickly suppliers reduce their prices after costs come back down again... I suspect it is not as quickly as they were to put up in the first place.

We believe that the system of LME surcharges that we introduced in 2006 has accurately reflected the changing costs of raw materials and customers have recently seen large reductions in surcharges from the high levels seen in March as prices on the LME have reduced. To see how the calculations work go to regalead.co.uk/lmesurcharges

It is easy to get hung up on price, but it is also important to also work with suppliers we can trust and who deliver on the wider business support issues we also face. At RegaLead, we are continually developing and expanding our offering to ensure our customers have all of the tools they need to ensure decorative glass provides a profitable solution. This issue of Leading Light is filled with news of our expansion to our Signature Options range, the launch of our CadRam design library and the introduction of our fully automatic sandblaster with double venturi guns -each initiative designed with customer satisfaction and cost effective productivity gains in mind. You can also read more about our investment in the expansion and development of our facilities to include our new dedicated training facility as well as a move around and revamp of our Head Office. With lots of changes to show our customers, we have decided to celebrate with an Open Day read more here, which we will tell you more about in our August edition. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy this issue of Leading Light.

The requirement for cost effective decorative glass accessories continues to grow, as customers look for ways to differentiate from their competitors. With home owners increasingly exploring the opportunities to make an individual statement of style on their properties, glass accents are becoming increasingly popular and our newly extended range of Roundels and Fusion Tiles can further satisfy those requirements.
Read More ».

Our range of Automatic Sandblasters have been well received by the market and with sales into countries as far apart as Guatemala and Kazakstan. These cost effective yet robust machines are great for customers looking to create more artistic sandblast designs using techniques such as shading and carving, we are now able to offer a high quality pressure pot sandblasters aswell.
Read more »

Sometimes standard sized sheets of Stained Glass Art Films are not quite big enough for the design you have envisaged, which can cause a problem. Now that problem is solved with our extended range of textured films available in larger format rolls. With 14 products to choose from and all manufactured to the same exacting standards as our standard sheets, you will be spoilt for choice. See the range... or contact our sales office for a swatch. ...Read more »

With the expansion to our new sites complete, our dedicated facility is now open, and available for one on one and group training sessions. Equipped with a resin machine, an automatic sandblast unit and a full ColorSpray set-up, this latest investment provides us with the space for demonstrations of our core Overlay technologies. We have always offered training and support to our customers and our new facility will allow us to continue to do so in a dedicated environment. If you are interested in seeing our products in action or would like us to conduct staff training, we would be pleased to welcome you to Manchester. Just contact our sales office to arrange a suitable date.

We are pleased to announce that the new CadRam design library will shortly be available to all CadRam machine customers. With over 1000 designs available in .eye (GlassEye) .cdr (corel draw) .plt (plot files) and jpegs for brochure and website production, this new service will be a major help to our customers worldwide. We are putting the finishing touches to the supporting catalogues and regular updates will be made available via our dedicated CadRam Partners intranet site. There has never been a better time to be a CadRam partner as demand for the product continues to grow and machinery costs have been recently reduced. For further information on CadRam visit www.regalead.co.uk/cadram

In this edition we are highlighting 2 very different projects, both using materials supplied from RegaLead.

Using ColorSpray to create 450m² of stunning internal glass walls in the Middle East, this Aspire Torch Tower Building project was designed and manufactured by Spectra Arts of Qatar...More»

Using our Overlay materials to create a beautiful ceiling design for RAF Wyton in Cambridgeshire, our April "Project of the Month" winner was Leadbitter Glass of Kettering, UK. Well done Francis!! More»

Exhibitions 2011
Project Lebanon
31st May- 3rd June 2011 (stand no. is N56 Hall 2)

Vitrum
Milan 26th - 29th October 2011

Glasstec Asia
23-25th November 2011, Jakarta, Indonesia

Glass South America
17-19th May 2012, Sau Paulo, Brazil


Where we have been »

Staff training and development

At RegaLead, the importance of investing in the training and development of our staff is paramount, as ultimately it means we are providing a better service to our customers. The Business Improvement Techniques National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) covers effective team working, continuous improvement and problem solving techniques, as well as workplace organisation - all skills that are integral to the smooth running of an organisation like RegaLead. We are delighted to announce that 14 of our staff have recently passed this NVQ, which was delivered by Warrington based CEL Training Ltd, and customers are already benefiting.

Familiar face

We are really pleased to welcome back Gemma to our export team. Gemma has worked in both UK and Export sales previously and rejoins RegaLead after 6 years away.  With a wealth of experience in our business and a can-do attitude, we are sure Gemma will be real asset to our business and our customers.

Interested in joining the RegaLead team?

As our business continues to expand into new markets and product areas, we will continue to strengthen our sales and customer support teams as a result. We are looking for energetic staff with experience in the decorative glass business to work in our busy sales team and for a hands-on experienced glass artist, who can assist in customer training and product development. If joining a fast moving customer focussed environment with a growing business interests you, please contact guy.hubble@regalead.co.uk