At present the window industry does not have an exhibition. Well, of course there is EcoBuild; that does seem to have struck a cord with the industry. Last year I even saw a window machinery manufacturer exhibiting there. But the question arises: what is the visitor profile? Are the visitors people that the companies supplying the window industry actually want to see?

Perhaps we do need our own, dedicated, window industry exhibition. But then we had one – more than one actually if you count the regional exhibitions. In the end nobody came.

 Well of course people did come: marketing people, advertisement sales people, journalists, consultants. Those who didn’t come, at least in any significant numbers, were the trade visitors that the exhibitions were aimed at; the people who would actually buy the goods on display.

Though, perhaps they were not made sufficiently aware of what was on offer and if somebody did it right we could then have our own window industry exhibition.

 But, even then, why would the visitors come? Every manufacturer likely to exhibit has a web site with all of its products on display. Why drive several hundred miles to be bullied by car park attendants and security men, face a stiff walk, probably a significant distance, to the relevant hall, there to be overcharged for food and drinks when, in the comfort of your office, you can look at all of the new products on offer and, if you are interested in something, have a rep call on you.

 But then, on the website, you don’t actually get to handle the products. Don’t appreciate the scale. Nor do you get entertained by the exhibitor. Maybe they have better coffee than you do in your office, maybe that alone makes the trip worthwhile.

 Perhaps then we do need our own exhibition.

 (Tip: if it is the coffee you could always invest in a cafetière.)

And then there are the exhibitors.

Back in the ‘Golden Days’ of Glassex there were multi-deck stands, competitions, clowns roaming the aisles – people who were there (and some who weren’t) will tell you that it was vast. Actually, and I was there, every year from 1983 until the end, the number of exhibitors was pretty static. What happened was that the floor area got smaller as the exhibitors taking huge stands diminished. It was simple: through the eighties and into the nineties the home improvement sector was booming and systems manufacturers were out to recruit fabricators. The whole trade was in a volatile state with companies starting up, going bust and starting again. There was lots of business to be had and – pre-Internet – an exhibition was the best place to see everything in one place and maybe do some horse-trading.

 Then, through the nineties, everything went into reverse. The home improvement sector got tougher as there were fewer rotting wooden windows to replace. The systems manufacturers got more discriminating and targeted the fabricators they wanted to do business with. So where was the need to spend multi-thousands of pounds at an exhibition?

Nowadays the industry is pretty stable and it is mainly a matter of buying the consumables we need on a day-to-day basis to keep manufacturing flowing and the occasional new machine. Perhaps using the Internet?

Of course, if we had a dedicated window industry exhibition you could go along and see the products, handle them and order on the spot.

 But then, as I said, we had one and, in the end, nobody came.