FENSA (the Fenestration Self-Assessment Scheme) was established by the window and double glazing industry to help protect homeowners from rogue companies. It checks that window companies in England and Wales meet certain standards and guidelines, guaranteeing a quality product that will last for many years.

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This is very useful for people who want new windows but do not know how to check for quality. According to FENSA, using a registered company can help you to save time and money; for example, you will not have to register your doors and windows with your local authority yourself.

How to ensure a double-glazing company Is trustworthy

One of the easiest ways to check that a double-glazing company is trustworthy is to see whether it is registered with FENSA. FENSA has issued over nine million door and window homeowner certificates and is recognised as the leader in the double-glazing industry.

Companies do not necessary need to be approved by FENSA to be popular and effective, of course, as they may already have a large customer base through word of mouth. If you are looking for double glazing in Dublin, for example, check out companies such as http://keanewindows.ie/. Some companies that are not FENSA approved have been in operation for many years and have excellent reviews.

The main concern is new companies that claim to be FENSA approved when they are actually inexperienced and are likely to do a poor job; in fact, it is a criminal offence under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 and Trade Marks Act 1994 to fraudulently claim to be registered. This is because it will influence customers to use their business and it is likely that they will be unhappy with the results due to false advertising.

Companies that have been prosecuted for false advertising

Let’s look at two examples of companies that have been prosecuted in 2016 for falsely advertising as a FENSA-registered business. In March 2016, Highgrove Widows was prosecuted for eight counts of fraud with regard to its services. The director was sentenced to two years’ custodial sentence, suspended for two years. In January, Summit Roofguard Ltd was prosecuted for 64 criminal offences under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008. The directors were sentenced to jail terms of two and a half years each.

Manufacturing industries are increasingly looking at the role automation can play in improving efficiency and production levels, reducing safety issues, minimising costs and limiting expenditure on materials. One of the ways that businesses can achieve this is by the use of pneumatic vacuum conveyors, which can introduce a number of benefits to the manufacturing line. Continue reading Reducing Costs with Pneumatic Conveyors →

2017 is only a matter of days away now, and businesses should be ready to hit the ground running with their editorial and content calendars in place. Content is growing and is being allocated more cash and bigger headcounts, and that doesn’t look like changing any time soon.

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Mobile

There is now more internet traffic on mobile devices than on desktop computers. With that in mind, make sure you are optimising your content for mobile phones. People squinting to read a lengthy document will create a problem. That could potentially be helped by having an app, and if you don’t have one yet, that should be a focus.

Video content

Images, and particularly video, are so crucial now to users experience online that social media platforms have evolved rapidly in the last few months. Video-focused platforms like YouTube and Snapchat have been joined by Facebook Live, which threatens to take over. Just look at your timeline on social platforms and you’ll see how important video is becoming to brands. That trend looks set to continue for the foreseeable future so be sure to build it into your content plan.

Social media

Facebook remains the most-used social media platform for small business, so ignore it at your risk. It’s still a very valuable tool for reaching potential customers, be they B2C or B2B. Other platforms are still valuable, the trick is to match them to the customer.

User-generated content

Time and time again, polls show that content made by other users is considered more trustworthy than content produced by brands. As most brands are trying to build trust, having others able to do that better can be an uncomfortable thought. UGC is shares and reviews, comments, even videos and photos. If your content is engaging enough to produce UGC, you’re winning.

For more ideas on what is going to be big in the content marketing world in 2017, see the Content Marketing Institute. To help with planning your content strategy for 2017, consult a brand and strategy innovation agency like www.lightbulbinnovation.com/.

Ultimately, content is all about your audience and the formats they want to use. If you want to communicate successfully with your potential audience, make sure you are using the formats they are. The focus must remain the customer.