When the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (or RRO as it’s known) came into effect in 2006 it provided a real shake up in the way the passive and active fire protection elements of buildings are specified, installed and maintained. It placed the legal responsibility squarely on the shoulders of building owners and operators – the Responsible Person – to conduct risk assessments on the buildings under their supervision with an emphasis on preventing fires and reducing fire risk.

All year we will praise, contradict, celebrate or criticise the decisions we make for new ideas, campaigns and processes. Sometimes a little to quickly so at this time of year when I’m planning for the future path of Norseal I find it’s a great time to reflect on the previous year. Did we achieve what we set out to do and did it deliver to our expectations?

It’s no secret that co-working spaces are on the rise. Why wouldn’t they be? In a post-lockdown world, they offer workers greater flexibility for hybrid working, whilst also being a more budget-friendly option for businesses. In fact, a 2020 study predicted that the amount of co-working spaces worldwide was set to grow by up to 21.3% a year from 2021.

Doors with an acoustic rating are being increasingly specified in commercial, healthcare, education and hotel settings. But the performance of an acoustic door is only as good as its seals. But how are these tested and regulated and what can they achieve?

It’s this time of year I am pestered by Amy in marketing to write my blog. Some of you might remember I used to write a blog back in lockdown 1. I’m not sure why it started but at its height I think it reached a readership of half a dozen which was enough to keep my creative juices flowing and me to continue until we were allowed outdoors.

It’s a nice time of year to write this. Reflecting is a time to look back at the highs and lows.

………………………If you say you love me too!

Ever tried to analyse what great customer service is? To give your staff a definition in a couple of sentences that is easy to understand, easy to execute and delivers every time?
I think every company strives to deliver ‘Great Customer Service’. It’s almost the go to phrase for most companies on their literature, web sites and social media. After all, surely all customers want a great service. I’m yet to see anyone advertise bad service. But what is this mythical thing we all strive to deliver?

The report, Raising the Bar – part of the post Grenfell review In the construction industry has resulted in the formation of a Competence Steering Group for High Rise Residential Buildings (HRRB). It is designed to ensure all companies and stakeholders responsible for the design, construction, refurbishment, and maintenance of such buildings are trained to a competence level relevant to their role.

It’s got to be the strangest start to a year I’ve ever experienced. I was fully geared up last month to tell you how Norseal were going to take on all door sealing challenges 2021 could throw at us.

I stared at my screen…nothing! I frequently avoided calls from marketing asking where the hell my blog was. I even occasionally lied “I’ve just finished it!” hoping the creative juices would once again flow…nothing!

Maybe I could get away with using an old one…does anyone actually read these bloody things?

… to leave me alone so I can get over 2020 in a darkened room.

In tradition with year-end, many will be dusting off their old anecdote book to write a fond recap of the previous year. Listening to Cliff on the radio whilst wearing their Christmas jumper and sipping their mulled wine. This year I opted for the ‘P*#s off and leave me alone’ jumper, Slipknot on Alexa and something a little stronger to drink.

So, deep breath and this was us – Norseal 2020! (apologies for the mild Christmas references. I’m trying to get in the spirit.)

For some time we have been telling you what we have been getting up to at Norseal. We’ve introduced Self Serve, our online trade account system. Bespoke drop seal cutting, our recently released Fire Stopping range and our soon to come fire door inspection app, Inspect…..all phenomenal ideas in my opinion. And that’s the problem, it’s my opinion!

Naturally, these developments were introduced in conjunction with customers, but not with all of our customer base so it is now time we spoke to you.

So here we are at the close of Fire Door Safety Week. A week where we have seen the industry become alive with awareness and advice for anyone responsible for building safety and employee wellbeing. Great advice it has been too.

Well, there has been a lot of talk recently about how we are now officially in our worst recession in history and the worst recession of any G7 country. We also have the highest Covid death rate of any European country.

On top of that, everyone’s rights are more equal than anyone else, if we leave the country we might not get back unless we take a dinghy from France; our students have been robbed of their future; the polar ice cap will melt and will drown us all and we’re all going to hell in a handcart.

Anybody else wondering what the hell they are going to do when the second wave comes?

It’s almost like we’ve come to the end of the book. People have translated it in different ways to suit their business, their budget or ambitions but all the same they started at chapter 1, ‘Crisis’ got through those difficult middle chapters where nothing new happened and got to the last chapter ‘ Recovery’, where the end was in sight. The time you can’t wait to finish and start skipping a few paragraphs and pages. I DON’T WANT TO READ IT AGAIN!

They say it takes 21 days to create a habit and 90 days for it to be part of your lifestyle. This got me wondering, now we’ve been in this current situation and approaching this time how many new habits have we created, are we totally new people or did we forget to seize the opportunity and now thinking it’s all too late.

When I first started these blogs I was unsure of who would read them and who would care about them.

Was this a vanity project or do they have a purpose. I finally decided that as an open and progressive company we should tell our customers what we are up to and allow them to add a personality to their supplier. Little did any of us know 2 months later we would be locked up at home with far greater things on our mind than the meandering muses of a blog fantasist.

Don’t we all wish it was just an April fool? I’m sitting here at my desk, its eerily quiet, no natter of last night’s TV. No one talking about the football and ‘will Newcastle United EVER be sold’ and no smiling face delivering my hourly cups of coffee. But I know I’m just a couple of mouse clicks away from my work family.

Well, we are well into 2020 and 2019 already feels like a blur. We’ve had Brexit, storms Ciara and Dennis. Hopefully seeing the back of Coronavirus and lost another beautiful soul to suicide….what a start!

Looking back at my last blog I’d like to give you some backstory to one of our achievements….our drop seal cutting machine.

The first in the series, this blog is from our MD, Michael Spoors. Michael has a passion for customer service and he would like to share his thoughts on changes in our business and the wider industry.