Lonsdale Metal Company Limited Has Secured A Deal With Network Rail To Provide Roof Glazing At More Than 40 UK Railway Stations

Lonsdale Metal Company Limited has secured a deal with Network Rail to provide roof glazing at more than 40 UK railway stations.

Roof Glazing

The North London based company has previously installed glass roofs for many Network Rail properties. Major work undertaken so far includes a 16,500 sq/m roof at Liverpool Lime Street, a 28,500 sq/m roof at Waterloo and an intricate canopy at St Pancras as well as glass roofs at a number of other stations including Carlisle, York and Derby.

While Lonsdale will be manufacturing the roof glazing, the company’s strategically located dealers throughout the UK will be installing the roofs.

Lonsdale’s sales director Richard Burgess commented on the deal, saying: “It’s really a question of the right product for the job at the right price. You only have to look up at most rail stations to see evidence of patent glazing from years gone by in various states of repair all over the country. The modern systems Lonsdale supply can be installed 60-70% cheaper than sloped curtain walling and at half the price of cassette style, linking panel type systems.”

Patent glazing can have a life span of up to 40 years, with very little maintenance required during that time, as well as an excellent safety record. Burgess added: “When you are suspending glass over the heads of thousands of members of the public who flow through these stations, you have to be sure everything stays put. At Waterloo, for example, there is over 264 tonnes of glass sitting up there. It is not the time to be specifying questionably inferior products and our systems are tried and tested.”

Key considerations for safety in roofing include regulations regarding non-fragility. Safety glass that stays in place even when broken and ensuring the system can cope not only with the usual design wind and snow loads, but also exceptional forces such as the vortex caused by express trains travelling through stations at speeds in excess of 100mph.

Burgess said: “I think our expertise in providing good, reliable technical information and the ability to perform structural and impact testing to comply with the latest regulations, gives engineers and designers the confidence they need and know they are dealing with the right people”.

Network Rail has committed to spending £2bn in a refurbishment programme across the UK.

About Lonsdale:
Established in 1946, Lonsdale Metal is the UK’s market leader for aluminium patent glazing and rooflight systems. Lonsdale has been responsible for recent installations at 10 Downing Street, Buckingham Palace and Legoland.

Via EPR Network
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Redesigned ContractorsCompare.com Launches

ContractorsCompare.com, the comparison site established for the benefit of tradesmen, has undergone a major renovation in order to deliver a more user-friendly experience by increasing visitors’ ease of usage.

The first change visitors will notice is to the homepage of ContractorsCompare.com. This page has been redesigned to include key services in prominent places, guiding the majority of users to their desired destinations.

The bulk of the reconstruction has taken place with the site’s navigation. Pages are now more easily found and accessed, leading to a reduced search time for users. Other benefits from the refurbishment include a tradesmens news page with regular updates from the contractors’ world and an RSS feed to help readers stay up to date.

Mark Farrimond, director at ContractorsCompare.com, said: “We hope the new look of the site will enable tradesmen to get a greater understanding of the products and services available from ContractorsCompare.com, not only insurance but also employment law advice, health and safety advice and tax advice. Tradesmen can compare quotes for public and employers liability insurance from leading insurers; AXA, Fortis, Groupama and MMA with more insurers to be added to the panel later in the year.

“Tradesmen can also compare prices on tools and equipment from some of the UK’s largest online retailers.”

The site was originally launched in December 2008 but has since undergone redesigns to increase usability and add function to the site – such as additional products and improved services, like the enhanced tool finding service.

ContractorsCompare.com also includes services such as an online chat facility for users to get instant help and advice as well, and a renewal reminder that will notify members when any of their insurance policies are running out.

About ContractorsCompare.com
ContractorsCompare.com is owned by ContractorsCompare.com Ltd, a company established by the directors of Allied Insurance Services Ltd to deliver tradesmen’s insurance to customers via the internet.

Allied Insurance Services were formed in 2001 and have for many years specialised in providing insurance to tradesmen and contractors in the UK. They became the appointed insurance broker to the Federation of Window Cleaners and the Painting & Decorating Association due to this specialism and excellent customer service. Using this expertise and their strong relationships within the insurance market ContractorsCompare.com was born.

ContractorsCompare.com Ltd now acts as an appointed representative of Allied Insurance Services Ltd for the purposes of introducing non-life insurance business. The company also acts as an introducer of life and financial services business to Allied Financial Services Ltd.

Via EPR Network
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Optima Products Launches New Environmentally Friendly USB Version Of Its Designer’s Guide

In line with Optima Products’ corporate responsibility and environmental awareness policies, the innovative glass partitions company has come up with a new, eco-friendly way of getting vital information to its clients.

optimasystems

Optima Products is now using an ingenious and eco-friendly alternative to the heavy paper version of their Designer’s Guide.

The Designer’s Guide contains in-depth information on office partitioning and other architectural and construction issues spread out over 100 pages of A4. In previous years Optima Products printed in excess of 1000 copies of the Designer’s Guide for its glass partition customers and associates. To bring the production of this year’s Designer’s Guide in line with the glass partition company’s energy efficiency and waste minimisation policies, Optima Products will be providing this fantastic portfolio of information on a small and stylish USB storage device.

This new system will save thousands upon thousands of sheets of paper, not to mention large envelopes, as well as cutting down on the huge postage costs that come with sending out bulky paper packages. This, in turn, cuts down on the amount of fuel used for delivery of the Guides, reducing Optima Products’ overall carbon footprint.

Shaped to resemble a capsule pill, the new USB format Guide will help thousands of Optima Products clients by ‘taking the pain out of detailing.’ It includes:

• The full Designer’s Guide
• 3D interactive Explore-a-Product technical specifications
• Detailed CAD drawings (.dwg files) for designers and architects
• Optima’s Project Photo Galleries
• 3D animations of the Deflection head and Nebula joint solutions
• In-depth case studies of Optima’s latest projects
• Links to Optima’s highly popular Optiman game

The new USB format Designer’s Guide is the latest in a long line of ingenious ideas from the glass partitions specialist to curtail the environmental impact of Optima Products business activities.

Managing Director, Nigel Westray said, “Our products are installed in the offices of some of the most prestigious companies in the UK, companies who are totally committed to Environmental Management, and it is only right that we meet or exceed their standards of environmental best practice”.

Optima Systems’ environmentally ethical practices recently earned the company IS014001 accreditation for its Environmental Management System and the glass partition company has also drawn up plans to make further emissions reductions across all sectors.

Paper copies of the Designer’s Guide will still be available this year by request; however Optima Products aims to faze them out entirely over the coming years.

To find out more about Optima’s eco friendly glass partition systems and services or to learn more about the Designer’s Guide, please visit: http://www.optimasystems.com.

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