While there maybe positive signs of let-up in the economic climate, at Safestyle we're doing anything but letting-up. Our drive and approach is still the same as it was before the downturn began: bringing you the latest energy saving double glazing technology to England and Wales, without compromise. Our resilience to the economic storm is now paying even greater dividends, with the calibre of our people rising and emphasis on recruitment at even higher levels than in the past. Our Sales, Canvass and Installation forces continue to expand and strengthen.

Ongoing training is also a main focus: improving the knowledge base and skill levels of our workforces, which will provide added benefits every aspect, including production and efficiency, enabling us to pass on greater benefits to our customers. The accreditations and qualifications continue to be gained, with many high level NVQ passes and ILM Team Leading successes, in partnership with local colleges.

With the Safestyle order book continuing to grow, production continues to increase. The volumes ordered and produced at our factory, Safestyle Manufacturing, are impressive and encouraging, particularly considering the industry's meant to be in a recession. New product updates and developments include improvements to inhouse composite door production with full PAS 23/34 and integrated stock management systems.

Our production team like to play hard as well as work hard and, as with all at Safestyle, our competitive streak is deeply ingrained. Recently they took to the racing track at P&R Karting Challenge Cup 2009, with Safestyle beating the Anglian windows team on the way to a respectable 4th place finish.

On the marketing and advertising front, the Safestyle Window Man has literally been in action in a new TV ad, the first of several coming very soon. Watch this space!

Safestyle is looking to expand our manpower in various areas, including Sales, Canvass and Installations. If you're looking for a job, or want a change to where the grass is greener, then Safestyle is the place to be. We're going from strength to strength, and our performance this year - especially considering the economic climate - has been impressive, so it's a great time to come and join our team.

While there have been encouraging signs that the recession is possibly easing up, including increases in UK industry output, house prices on the up, as well as ever-improving supermarket growth, this is tempered with expected job losses in the public sector, and rising overall UK unemployment. The knock-on effect has been quite hard in particular on sectors like the car sales industry, with May sales down nearly 25% compared to last year, despite 60,000 orders under the scrappage subsidy scheme.

Double glazing sales, though - at least at Safestyle - have been on the up and more new people are coming on board to work with us, knowing they have the backing of multi-million pound advertising campaigns, with new and exciting products coming from continuous development in technology.

Fitters, Salespeople and Canvassers have been joining the Safestyle team as new incentives, prizes and bonuses are being introduced to reward good performances. We are getting a fantastic response and encouraging more newcomers on board, you can even apply online. Now really is the time to get in touch with Safestyle and see what you could be earning with the nation's leading energy saving glazing company.

It's great to see despite this tough economic climate that when people work hard, their dedication is still rewarded and opportunities are given for everyone to aim for new targets and gain even more. At Safestyle we've launched several new and exciting in-house competitions in every branch up and down the nation. Almost everyone can take part, and the response we've had has been incredible, with a resounding thumbs up!

Our Market Research teams have kicked off their new June Canvass competition, which is Star Trek-themed this year, and has the best prizes yet. The better the performance, the better the prize you can win, and everyone can win a prize! The prizes get more impressive the harder your work - ranging from 4GB MP3/Video Players, Sony digital cameras, Diesel watches, PSPs, Nintendo DS, DVD tablets, camcorders, XBox 360, iPod Touch, Acer Netbooks, Nintendo Wiis, to laptops and PS3s. The top prizes are Apple iPhones and 32" LCD TVs - all to encourage our 800+ strong canvass force to work hard and prosper (as one famous Vulcan might say!). If you fancy winning some of this but are not already working for Safestyle, then it's not too late to join! Fill in the online application form - Safestyle is the place to be!

Other competitions are up and running for different roles within the company, including a Terminator Salvation-themed "Judgement June," which invites all Safestyle's Senior Canvass Agents to win Acer Netbooks, Armani watches, Siemens laptops, PlayStation 3s, Hugo Boss watches, Sony Vaio laptops, Xboxes, Nintendo Wiis and Raymond Weil watches.

And our Safestyle Appointment Agents are also in on the action with their own Transformers-themed competition: the prizes up for grabs include 4GB MP3/Video Players, Sony Cyber-shot digital cameras, Diesel Watches, Nintendo DSs and Wiis, PSPs and PlayStation 3s, DVD camcorders and tablets, Acer Netbooks, laptops, 32" LCD TVs and Apple iPhones. The prize line-up really is incredible and as it's related to how good your performance is, the best really do get the best rewards!

If you're not already part of the Safestyle team, then join us today and get a piece of this fantastic action!

At our factory, Safestyle Manufacturing, the double glazing production performance continues to go from strength to strength, with targets being exceeded week on week. Our Factory Operations Manager, Keith Jones, has been monitoring progress.

“What is more pleasing is that productivity is improving, without any reduction in quality,” says Keith, “Which goes to prove you can have the best of both worlds: excellent productivity and excellent quality. The continuous improvements which have been achieved are attributable to the whole team at the Barnsley site, our performance is a credit to everyone. They are a culmination of a number of small projects which have resulted in a massive leap forward in output, while reducing our costs.”

The buzz word undeniably is “waste reduction” and now with greater emphasis on improving performance whilst minimizing wastage all round, the efficiency of our window and door production lines has never been better. Coupled with a more efficient and widespread recycling policy where we are recycling everything that can be recycled, the overall benefit to the manufacturing operation is huge.

With new developments coming online all the time, Keith is one of the key members of our Safestyle Manufacturing team who will be ensuring that all projects get the attention required to deliver them successfully. “We have an abundance of new projects just waiting in the wings to replace the ones reaching completion,” he says, referring to the multitude of ongoing product developments in the pipeline. “The focus for the projects will be predominantly based around reducing waste, costs and improving products and quality, which is the life-blood of any business. We are definitely winning the war on waste.”

You’ve seen Safestyle on TV, and now you can watch us on the internet! Check out the videos on the Safestyle YouTube channel, where you can view the whole Safestyle process from start to finish. Watch how windows and doors are sold, manufactured, installed and much more.

Take a look at the company background, advertising and marketing campaigns, and the different ways of getting in touch. You can meet the sales team, see how a surveyor measures up, gain an insight into the workings of our vast factory, the window and door manufacturing process, as well as the installation of Safestyle double glazing in the home.

What’s more, you can watch some fantastic out-takes and bloopers from our TV ads! Watch Cannon and Ball having a laugh on set, the Safestyle Window Man and other characters all on location and fooling around. It’s fun to watch!

Want to save your cash and shrink your carbon footprint? There are several ways to begin and here’s just a few tips from Safestyle to help you on your way:

• Be smart with your energy usage – its been shown by the Energy Saving Trust that UK families are using over two billion pounds per year just on house lights. Safestyle recommends you make sure all your bulbs are energy saving and that appliances are switched off instead of being left on stand-by can save you a small but good amount over the year.
• Get the best prices for your energy – have you compared suppliers to see if you could be saving by moving elsewhere? There are now several websites where you can compare and make a decision based on the results.
• Check your electric meter regularly – keeping an eye on how much energy you are using and cutting back when necessary will help you reduce your bills in the long run. Also getting a precise reading means you may be charged less than with estimated readings.
• Online billing and direct debits – another top Safestyle money saving tip is that many suppliers are now offering the paper-less alternative to printed and posted bills, which usually comes with a small but worthwhile discount. Check for this, you could be missing out on those small savings that will all add up in the long run.
• Investment in energy saving home improvements – the initial outlay for home improvements in the short term will be worth it as they pay their dividends in the long-term. For example, investing in wall and loft insulation, an energy efficient boiler, and Safestyle energy saving double glazing can all be massively beneficial in cutting your bills and reducing your carbon footprint.

Remember, there are lots of small, easy things you can start doing today, without much effort. See how you can make a difference today and ACT ON CO2 with Safestyle.

It seems the days of cheap credit have turned into a fading memory with lenders apparently restricting their criteria and lending only to those people with spotless borrowing history. The recent news has been that loan rates are now nearing 21 per cent, even for people with good history, seemingly leaving borrowers lost.

Reports are that the average rate for a personal loan of £2,000 is currently standing at almost 20%, as a result of a number of issues. It is also evident that borrowers may not be aware of the rates for the various forms of credit, the average person assuming that since the base rate have dropped, that loan and credit card rates has also fallen, and when they come to borrow money they are confronted with a harsh reality. Financing your home improvements could prove to be a headache.

However, with Safestyle, we have a tremendous business relationship with lenders such as GE Money and Hitachi Capital, partnerships with a significantly high number of customers and approaching a million pounds per week. With Safestyle our customers can not only be sure they can receive loans at competitive rates with the High Street, they are arranged in the comfort of their own home, with no deposit or set up fee.

But one of the most important features about the Safestyle finance package is the flexibility of the loan, as bank loans in the main are fixed term. Safestyle’s Diamond Account payments package gives you the flexibility to pay for your home improvements to suit your budget, a flexibility you wouldn’t normally get from any other source.

Reviews from customers on Safestyle double glazed windows and doors online can be seen on the Safestyle website customer reviews section, where it’s now even easier to for customers to give their feedback and let us know what they think about our products, service, and their general Safestyle experiences.

Customers writing reviews have a variety of options, including a star ratings system where they can rate specific areas of their Safestyle experience, like home visit. There are also other feedback factors they can provide in the form of a star rating, including product value and quality, the all-important customer service, and finally customer’s rating of the overall experience of buying new windows and doors from Safestyle.

Currently there are over 570 reviews, and you can use the “Find reviews in your area” function to locate feedback from customers with Safestyle installations near where you live, or change the order of reviews according to rating, date, or city/town.

You can also rate any review if you find it particularly helpful. An example is from Droitwich, Worcestershire, where Safestyle customer Mr Richardson said he’d read negative reviews on some websites and so was “Sceptical but no need” as he’d had an excellent price from Safestyle to supply and fit ten windows, and was very glad he accepted. The fitters were on time and professional, covering everything to prevent any mess or damage, and once complete they swept and vacuumed everywhere to make sure the only evidence of their presence was the fantastic new Safestyle double glazing.

You can review all customer feedback about Safestyle windows on safestyle.co.uk/reviews.

We are excited to announce the latest winners in the Safestyle Diamond Account Prize Draw, Jamie Farrell and Ryan Bain, of Brighton. The prize draw takes place quarterly and was set up in 2007 to reward customers who set up a Diamond Account Club to finance their double glazing home improvements with Safestyle. Winners of the draw automatically have their full outstanding balance paid for in full, allowing them to enjoy their energy saving windows and doors without anything further to pay.

Jamie and Ryan won their balance of £4,081, and a winner’s certificate with a bottle of bubbly was presented to the couple by one of our senior managers from the Safestyle Brighton branch.

“It was an unexpected and wonderful surprise to us!“ said Jamie, “We are delighted to have won, and now we can look at further home improvements and getting the rest of our house done.”

"I was very happy to present the latest winners of our Safestyle prize draw," said Steve Wellbourne, from our Brighton branch. "For our salespeople it's an important additional benefit, unique to our customers taking advantage of our flexible monthly payments package, and it's a nice thing to tell people they've won something quite substantial."

To all Safestyle Diamond Account Club customers, look out for the next Diamond Account Prize Draw in August – it could be you!

At Safestyle UK, we won’t stand still, even while the nation’s in the grips of an economic crisis we’ve got our eye on the future and know we must invest and innovate to stay ahead. Whether it’s new and improved advertising media campaigns, sales and canvass techniques and training, surveying and installation processes and standards, every area is continually being reviewed, assessed, and revised with the aim of greater efficiency and constant improvement.

Product innovations and testing at our Safestyle manufacturing factory have continued relentlessly, with technical developments such as the Ultra Low PVC Threshold already in production and introduced seamlessly into the entire supply chain. This is the culmination of extensive testing and development to hone products to the highest standards, while still remaining affordable to our customers.

Our new “Evolution” rebate door hinge has undergone tests which included weather testing to British Standards PAS 23, then the doors were cycle-tested 50,000 times and then weather-tested again to ensure no deterioration in performance. The new Safestyle hinge performed exceptionally well and will be rolled out to benefit our product range and the entire business.

Safestyle French doors are also undergoing revisions with new single shoot-bolt strikers being introduced to all door sets, giving both improved security and flexibility with ease of set up for our installation teams.

Several other manufacturing projects are in development, as well as collaborations with our supply partners, to continue to bring only the very best innovations in energy saving double glazing to our valued customers – watch this space for more news from Safestyle Manufacturing!