News

Exeter Chiefs players open new RGB branch

Players from Exeter Chiefs were the VIP guests at the official opening of RGB Building Supplies’ new Okehampton branch on Thursday 20th October.

Local tradespeople and members of the community were invited to join Chiefs’ Back-Row Kai Horstmann, Prop Carl Rimmer and former player Chris Bentley as they took part in the ribbon cutting, helped serve customers and dished out the free celebratory breakfast.

Leading industry suppliers, including Grant, Makita, Keylite, Maincor and Polypipe demonstrated products and all customers who spent over £25 on the day were entered into a prize draw to win a signed Exeter Chiefs shirt.

Freezing For 30 Years

Freeze Master have been freezing for 30 years.

Established in 1986 specifically to manufacture their own patented invention, Freeze Master introduced the UK Plumbing and Heating industry to Electric Pipe Freezing Machines.

Freeze Master transformed the Industry.

Plumbers were fed up with the hit and miss products and methods previously offered to them and found the Freeze Master method so revolutionary they would not go back. For 30 Years contractors have been using Freeze Master small domestic or larger industrial machines so that they can work more effectively and efficiently. Contractors prefer Freeze Master because they manufacture “Pipe Freezers You Can Trust”.

Methven Celebrates Award Win and a Move into Europe

Aio Overhead wins at House Beautiful Awards
Products listed in Europe’s biggest department store group

Methven, the global designer and manufacturer of premium showers and tapware, is celebrating another award win and an increased presence in Europe.

The brand’s Aurajet® Aio Overhead Shower won gold in the Best Bathroom category at this year’s House Beautiful Awards.

Don't waste energy, get a hot tap from Insinkerator®

Replacing the kettle with an instant steaming hot water tap from InSinkErator® will not only reduce water wastage in the home, but can also help reduce the rising cost of utility bills.

According to the Energy Saving Trust, 40 per cent of households boil the kettle at least four times a day, with 75 per cent admitting to boiling more water than they need1; accounting for a significant amount of water and energy wasted every year. Homeowners can save water, and time, with a steaming hot water tap from InSinkErator®.

APHC questions fesibility of ofqual plans for development of vocational qualifications

APHC has expressed doubts about the feasibility of plans for the development of vocational qualifications, following a speech made by Phil Beach CBE in collaboration with Ofqual last week. Speaking at the GovNet Skills and Employability Summit, Mr Beach discussed the development of vocational qualifications and assessments, suggesting how trust in them might be maintained in a period of reform.

Mr Beach begun his speech by detailing the many changes occurring in the vocational qualifications sector, in particular the Post-16 Skills Plan which has been designed to provide 16-19 year olds with valued routes into the workplace and the new trailblazer apprenticeship standards.

Bristol plumber scoops brand new truck courtesy of Graham

Graham Plumbers’ Merchant recently surprised one loyal customer – naming him as the winner of Graham’s Give a Truck prize draw. Andrew Crookes from Bristol was the lucky name chosen from the thousands of entries to scoop the brand new Nissan Navara.

Andrew Crookes, of P&N Property Solutions based in Keynsham, was drawn from the thousands of qualifying purchases and was presented with the prize at his local branch in Bristol during the Graham Customer F1rst Tour.

“I thought they were having a joke at first! I can’t quite believe it,” Andrew said after being told he had won. “The timing of this is amazing, I’ve been looking at a pickup as my next vehicle for a while now, so to be handed the keys to the new Navara is fantastic.

Plumbers go digital!

There’s more to winning work in 2016 than just being skilled at your trade. Jonny Lawrence, Digital Marketing expert at Logic4training, explains how digital marketing can marry together with traditional methods to make a powerful combination.

Powered Now the award winning app for Electricians now available for Mac, PC, Smartphone and Tablet.

Powered Now, the people making life easier for electricians, has announced a major new release of its app for simplifying paperwork.

The release also adds a raft of new functionality designed to help teams work closely together in the most efficient way possible.

Powered Now helps electricians by:

Getting their evenings back. Especially true for small businesses who hate paperwork and often have to waste their evenings on it.

Growing their business. Powered Now users win more business as they can raise and track quotations faster and more easily.

Alpha gives away boiler in fundraiser for eight year old boy with Meningitis

Alpha Heating Innovation has donated one of its most popular boilers as part of a money raising campaign for Kye Vincent – an eight-year-old boy who has had both his legs removed after he contracted meningococcal septicaemia caused by meningitis.

Alpha installer Shaun Wilson of Weston Plumbing Heating Services has fitted the boiler free of charge, in support of Kye.

APHC promotes advantages of trade associations following small businesses' confidence drop

Following a new survey by the Federation of Small Businesses, which reveals that small firms are more pessimistic than positive about the future for the first time in four years, the Association of Plumbing and Heating Contractors (APHC) is reminding industry members of the many business advantages to be had from belonging to a trade organisation.

The report, which involved surveying 1,035 small firms between July and August this year, revealed the second largest fall in confidence in the Index’s history and was also the first survey undertaken by the Federation of Small Businesses since the Brexit vote. The results mark the third quarter in a row that confidence amongst small businesses has fallen.

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