Howard Trotter, General Manager of Birmingham window and door business Shelforce, was among a select group of experts invited to speak on the future of the glazing sector at a major conference.
Held at the St Johns Hotel and Conference Centre, Solihull on May 22nd, The Glazing Summit drew 400 key decision-makers from throughout the UK to debate Brexit, the skills shortage and the state of the window and door industry more generally.
“I was delighted to be asked to speak at The Glazing Summit,” comments Howard. “It was a fantastic opportunity to talk not just about Shelforce and our vision of a fully-inclusive world-class workforce, but about disabled people, and how they can make an exceptionally loyal, dedicated, hard-working employees in this and any other industry.
“At Shelforce, we’ve benefitted hugely from the in-built resilience of disabled workers throughout our long history. They overcome bigger obstacles every day than many of us will face in a year – and that means they’ve got a toughness and a determination that’ll see them through any business or production issue in the workplace.
“It’s our aim to encourage other businesses to adopt our inclusive approach – and I hope that, by speaking about it at the Glazing Summit, I was able to convince some of the window and door firms present to give it a try.”
Founded in Harborne in 1839 as part of the Royal School for the Blind, Shelforce made everything from brushes, furniture, beds to mattresses for the Air Force before becoming a window and door manufacturer in the early 1990s. Today, it provides high-quality products to local authority building projects around the country, including Birmingham City Council.
For more information call Shelforce on 0121 603 5262 or visit www.shelforce.com