Firstly, earlier in the year we announced our investment in a state-of-the-art offline coater at Cowley Hill. The work, which is now well underway, has been acknowledged and celebrated with a ‘ground-breaking’ ceremony by the chairman of NSG Group Katsuji Fujimoto, as well as a visit from the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, who formally confirmed the Regional Growth Fund grant towards the project.





It is anticipated that the construction of the new plant will be complete in Summer 2012 with soft-coated products being available from November 2012.

With respect to product innovation, we reached another milestone with the launch of our new offline coated product, Pilkington K Glass™ S. The low-emissivity glass forms part of the Pilkington K Glass™ range which was first launched 21 years ago and is still the UK’s leading glass product.

David Pinder, Managing Director of Pilkington Building Products UK said: “The advance in the Pilkington K Glass™ products means that our coated glass range now offers the widest choice on the market. Our trade customers can now easily find a solution for any processing technique or achieve an A rated Window in any type of framing system, whether it be timber, pvc or aluminium.”

Pilkington was recognised and awarded by World Architecture News (WAN), winning Product of the Year (2011) for our Pilkington Spacia™ product. Described by the judges as “a revolutionary vacuum glazing technology that provides unrivalled thermal performance in a thin profile unit, which fits seamlessly into both older traditional properties to retain the aesthetics in existing frames or as a stylish solution for new builds.”

Also, other Pilkington glass products have been included in several architecture plans – Pilkington Planar™ was chosen for both a large scale refurbishment at Snow Hill, the second largest train station in Birmingham, and a new generator hall building at Rånåsfoss, a Norwegian hydro power station.









Since the announcement of the Coalition Government’s proposed Green Deal, we have been actively lobbying for the inclusion of energy-efficient windows.

Over the year, activities have included meeting with more than a dozen MPs, including Greg Barker, Minister for Energy and Climate Change. Efforts have also included raising public knowledge and awareness amongst consumers, including a day of radio interviews and live streamed video content on websites, with David Pinder and architect and TV presenter George Clarke.

We’ve had a busy year and are looking forward to 2012 and we’d like to wish all our readers a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.